Chipley using victory over Baker as momentum heading into state semifinals

The Chipley football team is preparing to take on the top-ranked 1A team in the state following their huge region finals victory over Baker.

Junior quarterback Neal Adams said that the win was big for the Tigers, and not many people expected that result.

“Everybody said we couldn’t do it,” Adams said. “And Baker, they’ve been the big dog in the panhandle for the past, you know, forever, the past 10 years, and we just kind of showed everybody that we could do it.”

The Tigers went 4-7 in the 2020 season, but with a new coach and some new players added to the mix, they seem to have found the right recipe. Junior wide receiver Dequyavious Sorey said the win over Baker has proved they can beat anyone.

“It was crazy, many people doubted us and said that we couldn’t do it,” Sorey said. “And I don’t know when was the last time Chipley beat Baker in anything really, so it was really like a turning point for the program and us as a team.”

Chipley’s next challenge, however, is the top-ranked 1A team in the state Hawthorne, but head coach Marcus Buchanan said they aren’t scared of the challenge.

“Like Mike Tyson used to say, everybody has to play until they get hit, and they haven’t really been hit yet,” Buchanan said. “Everybody wants to spread them out and try to play 7 on 7 and play flag football with them and that’s not really our plan. We want to go down there and establish the run, and when they give us shots down the field we’ll take them, but no doubt about it we’ve got our hands full, they’ve got a good football team, but at the same time we’re not backing down from anybody.”

The Chipley seniors are thrilled for their first winning season since they’ve been in high school, senior defensive lineman Blaine Suggs said they’re playing for more than each other.

“It definitely means a lot to this community,” Suggs said. “Like the community is one hundred percent behind us and there is a lot of fans that like to travel and support us, there was a lot in Baker and I guarantee there’s going to be a lot when we go down south, so that community is definitely 100% behind us.”