Fort Walton Beach runs all over Mosley in key district win

PANAMA CITY — Barring an upset Friday by Crestview, Fort Walton  Beach has earned a playoff spot in District 2-4A.

The Vikings (5-3, 2-1) did so by handing Mosley (3-5, 0-3) its fifth straight defeat, 23-6 Thursday night at Tommy Oliver Stadium.

Fort Walton  Beach started sophomore Ryan Thompson at quarterback, subbing for injured standout Luke Barnes. Thompson was efficient in guiding the offense, but this was a game decided by the Vikings’ offensive and defensive lines.

Coach Mike Owens said that he challenged both fronts during the bye week in preparation for the key district showdown.

“Definitely, we wanted them to play physical football and they bought into it,” Owens said. “Our quarterback did a good job managing the game, and we were able to do well maintaining the line of scrimmage.”

The FWB staff kept it simple for Thompson, running out of the power-I, or calling mostly safe pass routes. Many were wide-receiver screens to Brandon Goldston, who caught six of Thompson’s eight completions for 54 yards. The sophomore was 8 of 11 for 85 yards overall, benefiting from a running attack that overpowered the Dolphins.

It was basic football, and it was effective.

Hard-running sophomore T.C. Carter romped for 136 yards on 12 carries, including touchdown dashes of 45 and 55 yards as Fort Walton  Beach opened a 17-0 halftime lead. J.T. White added 126 yards on 14 carries, as the Vikings piled up 310 yards in the first half and finished with 290 yards on the ground.

Eric Leurinda added field goals of 26, 42 and 39 yards as the lead swelled to 23-0 with 2:32 left in the third quarter.

Mosley managed a meaningless touchdown on Jabbar Manning’s 9-yard run with 10:49 left. The Dolphins were held to 94 total yards by halftime, and only had 177 for the game, well under their season average.