Crestview looking to return to playoffs (with VIDEO, PHOTOS)

By TRAVIS DOWNEY

travisd@nwfdailynews.com

CRESTVIEW - For Crestview senior Darius Robbins, Thursday night's preseason game at Gulf Breeze can not get here soon enough.

For Robbins, the 2008 season is one he has been anxiously looking toward since the disappointment that was the 2007 campaign finally came to an end.

Last year, the Bulldogs limped their way to a 3-6 record, including a 1-2 mark in District 2-4A play that witnessed Crestview suffer one-sided losses to Fort Walton Beach (17-0) and Navarre (42-23) down the stretch.

"It was rough," Robbins said, shaking his head. "We were falling apart."

It marked the first losing record and first season without a playoff appearance since 2004 for the proud program.

"It was really bad," senior quarterback Jason Parker said. "We had the players and we had the talent, it just didn't work for us."

For a program with eight district titles to its name, the 2008 season has since become one that is focused on a return to excellence.

Leading the way is coach Matt Brunson, whom like his players, had grown accustomed to the Bulldogs' winning ways in his eight years at the helm.

"We had some young, inexperienced guys last year and we made it through the year, albeit, we didn't have the success that we had been accustomed to," Brunson said. "These guys are hungry to get back to where we were and make the playoffs and make a run for the district title."

In all, 11 starters return (six on offense, five on defense), but faced with a daunting schedule, Brunson said the Bulldogs have an uphill climb ahead of them.

"There's not a lot of gimmies," Brunson said. "There's no easy ones, we play a very tough schedule. You better be on your ‘A' game every week."

Brunson and the Crestview staff have used the school's 2002 team as a model for the current Bulldogs to follow.

More than that team's march to a district title and an appearance in the state playoffs, players on this year's team are looking to emulate that team's sense of unity.

One year after citing "chemistry" as an area in need of repair, Parker said there is already a noticeable difference in the Bulldogs' locker room.

"Coaches have told us a lot about them," Parker said. "They never gave up, they worked their butts off all the time and they never complained.

"We're trying to get to that level."

Following the 2004 setback, Crestview came back the following season to capture the school's most recent district title.

When asked if this year's team could respond similarly, Brunson grinned.

"We're hoping so," he said. "We understand that Fort Walton Beach is loaded and Navarre and Choctaw have new coaches, so to win a district title is tough.

"Our goal is to definitely win a district title and make the playoffs, but we also understand what's down the road and what we have to contend with to get there."

PHOTOS: Click to view photos