High School Football: How's special teams has boosted Navarre into the area's hottest team

There’s been any number of factors that have contributed to Navarre’s current five-game winning streak.

Junior running back and area rushing leader Connor Mathews has made repeated trips into the end zone while the junior linebackers Vinny Villanova and Andre Spence are sure-handed tacklers that lead the team’s defense.

But there’s been an additional, underrated element that’s certainly made its mark. From big plays to steady improvement on their weaknesses, the Raiders’ special teams have played a key role in this recent surge.

Navarre plays at 7:30 p.m. Friday in a massive District 1-4S game at Pace. The two teams enter that contest unbeaten in district play. And with near-perfect results in the kicking game, huge chunks of yardage on returns and a few critical blocks, don’t be surprised if the Raiders’ special teams unit makes an impact.

Week 9 Football Preview:Pace or Navarre can take a step closer to a district crown

FHSAA Rankings:Pace reclaims title for area's top team in state. How did everyone else do?

“We take a lot of pride in special teams,” Navarre head coach Jay Walls said. “Every year when we start the season, we have our staff meetings and I always talk about coaching special teams as if your life depends on it. So we take it very seriously. We try to be aggressive with it, we want to try and make big plays. And our kids have responded and done very well with it.”

No area place kicker has made more field goals or has nailed a kick through the uprights from a greater distance in 2023 than Tyler Daniell. The junior is 6-for-7 on field-goal attempts and is perfect on 35 extra-point tries.

His 42-yard make in the final seconds of the Raiders’ regular-season opener against Pensacola Catholic not only sent that game into overtime, but still stands as the longest make from anyone this season. Three weeks later on Sept. 15, Daniell’s 34-yard field goal served as the game-winning points in Navarre’s 45-42 win against Tate. That victory was preserved thanks to a field-goal block from senior defensive back Tyrell Marshall with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter.

Last week, Navarre’s return unit got in on the fun as Nate Hanson delivered the team’s first kickoff return touchdown of the season: a 70-yard return during the team’s 51-14 rout at Milton.

“I think every week we are getting a little bit better on special teams which I think is the mark of a good team; just steadily improving, not just relying on athleticism and trying to coach kids up,” Raiders assistant coach Garrett Bagley said. “We’ve been trying to emphasize the importance of special teams, especially in a game like the one coming up on Friday where I believe it’s going to be a dogfight. It’s going to be a battle, so that can be a competitive edge.”

Raiders' slow start leads to current buy in

The results during the regular season are a far cry from how poorly the unit performed during the team’s Kickoff Classic against West Florida.

Navarre made numerous mistakes on that side of the ball, which either resulted in points for the opponent or took points off the board for itself. The most notable error was a penalty which wiped out a Marshall kickoff return score.

Marshall also had a gaffe, as he failed to field a kick until after the ball took a Jaguar bounce and could only return it to the Navarre 8-yard line. On the very next play, West Florida senior defensive back Trevor Knott scored on a 10-yard pick-six. Mix in two bad snaps on punts – one of which resulted in a safety – a missed extra-point and Jaguars senior Marquez Jones sprinting into the end zone on a 94-yard touchdown kickoff return, and the special teams couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start.

“I’m kind of glad things started out that way to see what not to do during the regular season,” Daniell said.

Walls recalls not being surprised or taken aback by the performance, considering the plethora of mistakes that generally occur in a preseason tilt. But the biggest message to the unit after the game and the following week was getting the players to buy in.

“It’s tough at the beginning of the season because you’re trying to get the other two aspects of the game in line. Being coachable was probably the biggest point,” Bagley said. “I knew we had the athletes to get the job done, but some of that stuff on special teams you can rep and practice, but there’s nothing really like learning from game experience. … It was a rough start, especially on the kickoff team, but we told them to keep their nose down, keep working hard, trying to improve and fixing mistakes.”

The Raiders sharpen their special teams throughout a normal practice week. On Monday, kickoffs, punts and extra points are the focus, followed by kickoff returns, more punts and extra-point blocks on Tuesday. Punt-block work is added on Wednesday before all elements are practiced on Thursday.

Ready to bust out

Bagley says the team’s kickoff return coverage was “poor” at the beginning of the year, as Navarre did allow a 60-yard touchdown return to Miequle Brock during the team’s Week 2 defeat at Pine Forest.

But he adds that return coverage has improved more than any other area as the year has rolled along. The team has not relinquished a punt or kickoff return score since.

PNJ Football Leaderboard:Escambia, Santa Rosa County stats entering Week 9 of 2023 season

PNJ Power Poll:Behind its fifth-straight victory, Pace surges to top spot of area rankings

The Raiders’ effort on that end has been a work in progress, as the coaches hold special teams meetings every other night and are constantly rotating players in hopes of figuring out which are suited best for the unit and establishing the right mix.

However, the area that's been the team’s strength over the last number of years is kickoff return, with Terence Marshall usually a threat to take it to the house. He totaled five kickoff return scores during his sophomore and junior campaign. After missing the first few games with an injury, the senior wide receiver has yet to produce a return score, according to Walls, but he and Hanson have been mighty close on multiple occasions.

As a result, opponents have opted for sky kicks rather than booting it deep.

“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to our coaches,” Walls said. “The blocking that we’ve had has been really good. The coaches have worked really hard to improve our scheme and it’s paying off for us."

Terence Marshall did block a punt in the win against the Panthers. Spence has as well, doing so during the team’s Week 3 victory over Rickards. The duo has come close to swatting down other field-goal and extra-point attempts.

But their success at actually getting to the ball is a product of other teammates opening the opportunity while the coaches have moved the point of attack around to avoid predictability.

“On your blocking, whether it’s field-goal or punt block, especially, there’s a lot of guys that go unnoticed setting up the block,” Bagley said. “Those guys aren’t just free to block the kick without somebody taking on blocks and taking one for the team to free a teammate up.”

Daniell provides 'a big thunder, a big boom'

Walking onto the field to try and tie a game in its latter stages can rattle most players at any level, especially teenagers at the high-school level.

But not Daniell.

The junior said he felt no pressure during his Week 1 clutch moment.

“I wasn’t too worried about it. I’m super consistent from 40 (yards) in practice,” he remembered. “I just focused on all the little things and did my part, and so did my team.”

Daniell is capable of hitting from much further. During Wednesday’s team practice, he was 3-for-3 on field goals of 50-plus yards, making a long of 53.

The junior entered this season knowing he was the top kicker on the team’s depth chart after serving as the backup kicker last season. With that, range wasn’t his initial concern, as he trained all summer with kicking coach Steve Gardner to fine tune his game.

“Coach Gardner and I did the same thing everyday,” Daniel recalled. “Working on consistency and technique, I didn’t actually work on distance until the season started. It was just working on the little things and keeping all the little things in mind.”

There will be more kicks to nail, but so far, Daniell has been the area’s best kicker.

“Knock on wood, but he’s had a great season. He’s only missed one field goal, so I’m really proud of that as far as his consistency," Walls said. "He’s a guy that just has a lot of natural ability. He just really hits the ball really well; you can hear a big thunder, a big boom when he hits it.”

Walls adds that the kicking game hasn’t just been a one-man show. He’s been happy on how the protection, snapping and holding elements on field goals and extra points has improved.

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at (772) 985-9692, on X at @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Football: Navarre special teams turns into key asset after rough start