PENSACOLA, Fla. - Due to the threat posed by Tropical Storm Isaac, all University of West Florida campuses, including main campus and the Emerald Coast, will close on Monday, August 27. The university has cancelled all classes, events and related campus activities through Wednesday, August 29.  For more information, visit http://uwfemergency.org.
All updates related to the storm will be posted on www.uwfemergency.org, www.facebook.com/westfl, www.twitter.com/univofwestfl and news.uwf.edu <http://news.uwf.edu/> . Weather information is also available by tuning into WUWF at 88.1FM or streaming online at www.wuwf.org.

Luke Barnes, the 2010 Fort Walton Beach High School grad who broke several school passing records set by Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel, set a new mark Saturday in his first game at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College.

Barnes passed for 459 yards in the Blue Dragons’ 58-26 rout of Coffeyville, a new single-game record. He also passed for five scores and ran for another to help Hutchinson, ranked 10^th in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association poll, beat the No. 17 Red Ravens.

Both teams compete in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference, which also includes Independence. Dwayne Carter, Navarre High School’s all-time leading rusher, is a freshman on the Pirates’ roster.

The Pirates’ season opener against Garden City (Kan.) Community College was suspended Saturday night because of lightning. The game is scheduled to resume at noon today with the Broncbusters leading 7-6.

Barnes missed the 2010 season while recovering from an injury and red-shirted at Troy University in 2011 before transferring to Hutchinson.

Milton outscored the host Navarre Raiders 27-19 in a high school football preseason "kickoff classic" Thursday at Bennett C. Russell Stadium.

The teams traded touchdowns through three quarters. Tied at 19, a Navarre drive stalled at the Panthers' 30-yard line and Chandler Moorer missed a 45-yard field goal attempt. Milton tookover at the Raiders' 20 and took the lead for good after Roy Wise capped an 11-play, 80-yard scoring drive with a five-yard touchdown run. Receiver Andre Flakes turned in the key play of the drive when, on second-and-eight from the Panther' 34, he eluded Navarre tacklers, reversed field and turned a short pass from Cody Lowe into a 39-yard gain. Later in the drive, Lowe hit Flakes for 11 yards on third-and-14 from the Raiders' 21 and Lowe pushed his way to the Navarre five on fourth down, setting up Wise's score. Milton chose to try for two points, and Lowe found tight end Trevor Wheeler alone in the end zone for the conversion and the game's' final points.

The junior varsity and varsity backups played the first and second quarters, respectivley, which ended 6-6 and 12-12. The varsity played the final two quarters of the contest.

For more about the kickoff classic and the Raiders' season-opening game against Pensacola-Washington, see the Aug. 30 edition of Navarre Press.

Navarre’s Raiders will host the Milton Panthers at 7 p.m. tonight at Bennett C. Russell Stadium in a dress rehearsal for the 2012 high school football season.

The preseason “kickoff classic” is one of several being played around Northwest Florida this weekend. The scrimmages let players test their skills against someone other than their teammates and give coaches a chance to assess their teams’ strengths and weaknesses.

“It’s real competition, and you want to see who will rise to the competition,” first-year Navarre head coach Jay Walls said in published reports. “Some guys get stuck in that practice mode, and the game is kind of a shock to them. We want to see how our guys will respond.”

The Raiders return starters at 11 positions, five on offense and six on defense, from a team that finished 5-5 last season. The Panthers were 4-6.

The teams feature some of the area’s top talent, especially catching the ball. Navarre senior Jordan Leggett, a 6-foot-6, 220-pound senior tight end/receiver, caught 41 passes for 566 yards and four touchdowns in 2011. He has committed verbally to play football at Clemson, but has received interest from several NCAA Division I programs – including an official offer from new Southeastern Conference member Missouri.

Milton features two receivers with verbal commitments to D-I schools: Isaiah Jones (Florida State) and Pensacola-Washington transfer Dejon Funderburk (South Alabama).