DESTINFM SCOREBOARD SHOW WEEK OF 3/30

The Destin FM Scoreboard show is a Weekly Show hosted by DestinFM's Sports Director Rich Quinones, who takes an in-depth look at the local HS and College Sports scene, from recaps, to previews to in-depth interviews and breaking news! 

Q has you covered! If you are looking for 100% local sports coverage in the Emerald Coast, this is the podcast for you. 

On today's show, Q reacted to the recent news that Niceville HS Football HC Richard Morgan abruptly resigned after going 6-5 in his lone season. 

Q also had an update on how quickly the school intends to fill the position, while also breaking down Rocky Bayou Christian School's recent hiring of Mike Conway to lead the football program and why he really likes this move for the school, players and community. 

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Catch Q with the DestinFM :60 scoreboard every Tuesday and Thursday during Surfs up in the Mornings. 

Get the latest by downloading the free DestinFM app in the App Store, Google Play, or at DestinFM.com.

DESTINFM SCOREBOARD SHOW

Transcript

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Hey sports fans, Rich Cunis here, and we welcome you to another edition of the Destin FM Scoreboard show. We've got a lot to get into, so let's start things off. And we mentioned this earlier in the week, kind of um big news and shocking news, if you will. We mentioned the uh resignation of Niceville High School varsity football coach Richard Morgan, who promptly resigned after going 6-5 in his own season with the Eagles. We kind of teased it during our 60-second scoreboard update. And this is major news in the region. And I think the timing's tough. The challenge is going to be finding a replacement. You got to worry about candidates. Uh, they're going to be in for it in the long haul. Not saying that wasn't the case for Coach Morgan. You certainly never want to speculate. Sometimes a better offers on the table, the heart's not in it, your gut tells you it's not the right fit. Certainly, you feel for the kids and the community because it's rare for a coach to take a job and then resign after one season, not even a calendar year. Now, a couple little side notes here. Before Morgan, Grant Thompson resigned in March 2025, but he had six very successful seasons at the helm, going 64 and 10. And another side note, Daniel Griffin serves as the athletic director for Niceville High School. That is a position he took over in July 2022, becoming the last school in Oklaosa County to split the head football coach in AD roles. Now, you can't do that anymore. Now, Destin FM Sports reach out to the school's principal, Charlie Morello, who wrote me back, quote, hey Rich, the head football position is currently advertised and will close on Friday with interviews the week of 4-6 and a new coach hired by 4-10. So there is quick turnaround. They understand the sense of urgency, right? This program has high expectations. They have a long-standing transition. Morgan's departure marks one of the shortest coaching tenures in recent program history. Now you got limited time to kind of regroup and prepare for 2026. And I think they're going to be able to get their ducks in a row and just make sure that whoever they bring in, look, are you in this for the long haul? Now, I kind of equate it to a bridge quarterback in the NFL. A bridge quarterback is only going to last one or two years and then move on because you're only there pretty much to pay the wave for a rookie and a mentor or get that young quarterback ready. In this situation, you're talking, you know, you build trust within the community, you kind of plant the flag in the community, and you want to stick around for several years and you want to be part of the growth. And I think that's one of the reasons that school officials are going to focus on finding the right leader. And it's all about community, consistency, continuity, and then you hold uphold the program's uh tradition. And uh again, I think you got to have full transparency, but look for a new head coach to be named sometime next week and keep it locked in to Destin FM, our 60-second scoreboard updates. Uh, hopefully, we'll be the first to kind of lay that out for you on the air. All right, sticking with movement in the coaching ranks. Uh, how about this? Rocky Bayou Christian School, naming Mike Conway, their new head uh football coach. I love this hire. This team last year, they were 0-5. They ripped off six straight to end of season six and five. Uh, they've got a lot of confidence heading in to the offseason and the fall, and certainly they are led by a bunch of very good players. This team is on the rise. Quarterback Isaiah Gale is going to be a junior. He understands the offense. He's shown leadership. They scored a ton of points during that winning streak, 40 or more points three times the average right on 41 a clip. And now you're bringing in a head coach in Coach Conway that has over 25 years in college coaching experience developing collegiate football and baseball players. He's got a wonderful track record, resume, pedigree, the focus on leadership, discipline, building, purpose-driven program. And I think that's exactly what Rocky Bayou's looking for. And I reached out to their athletic director, Christian Sampson. He wrote me back, and I'll read a little bit of the uh email, the excerpts. Rocky Bayou Christian School took a prayerful and intentional approach in hiring Mike Conway as its new head football coach. The school formed a hiring committee that included members of the athletic department, school administrators, and parents, allowing for a well-rounded perspective throughout the process. Now, this is the important part to listen to. Uh, it continues. Quote, the position drew strong interest with more than 70 applicants applying. After careful review, the committee narrowed the pool to three final candidates. From the beginning, Coach Conway stood out as a top choice and continued to separate himself throughout each stage of the process. So that tells you this opening was very appealing. You're talking 70 applicants. In any market, that is very appealing. And I think they had the right man for the job. So congrats to Coach Conway. We're going to try to get him on the show as well over the next week or two. Switching gears to softball, baseball, softball first. Ooh, tough loss for Destin. Coughed up a big lead. Fell to Golf Brees 12 to 11. Gold Breeze rallied with nine runs in the sixth inning on Tuesday. The offense, uh Julian Forrest, Anita Palmer stepped up big time. Forrest went four or five, three ribies, and a double. Palmer went one of four or three runs, one stolen base, two ribies. Keely Ellis was another key cog and key player. She got on base three of her five plate appearances, two runs, and one RBI in the win. Now, if you think about this too, Sharks have really struggled against the Dolphins recently. Because this is the third straight time they've lost. Destin now has a losing record of eight and nine. Golf Breeze. They were able to end a three-game skit on the road. They sit at 10-8. Both squads were in action Thursday night. Recaps next week. Destin took on Mosley. Golf Breeze went out and they battled against T.R. Miller. So updates on Tuesday's scoreboard. Fort Walton Beach lost to Springboro. They got doubled up four to two on Wednesday. Springboro got on the board with two in the second, tacked on two more in the third. Fort Walton Beach got back and run in the fourth and in the fifth. Got shut down over the final two frames. It's been a tough season for the girls. They've dropped five of seven. They sit with a three and eleven mark. Next four games all on the road beginning Friday against Franklin. And how about Franklin? They turned things around against South Laurel on Wednesday. They defeated the Cardinals 8-2. And not only did they get the win, but they posted their biggest margin of victory since May 21st, 2025, when they earned an 11-1 win. Talk about spotlighting some of these players. Shay Lee Rabbi spent all seven innings on the mound. She surrendered two runs, both of which were unearned on three hits. How about this? Racked up nine strikeouts. Nine strikeouts at a new season high mark for her. She got the win, moved her record to four and four. Speaking of nice wins, Southwalm Beach with an impressive win over Paxton, 13-3. They erupted for four and a second, broke it open, seven and a third to broke this baby wide open. They won two in a row after getting hammered by North Bay Haven Academy 17-2 last week. Now they will take on a winless Chotaw team next Tuesday, April 7th. The Indians currently are uh 0-11. They actually played Rockcastle County Thursday recap. So fingers crossed, maybe they got to W, but they'll have another opportunity over the weekend and early next week. Speaking of which, the varsity softball team has a non-conference game against South Walton. That's on Tuesday, April 7th. All right, Niceville battled pace Thursday, and they entered that contest with an eight and six record. Some players to watch for Niceville, junior outfielder Quinn Graham, batting over 400, red hot from the plate, four for five during an eight to one win over Ford Walton. Four hits were career high. She followed that up, scoring the lone run and a 3-1 setback against Crestview. Speaking of, they have been in a roll winners of six straight. They entered play Thursday night, and they'll take on Ohio's Jonathan Alder Pioneers. And if you followed Crestview, the reason they're so dangerous, yes, they're offense, but they know how to play small balls, I like to say. Manufacture runs. They're one of the better base dealing teams in the region. They have three players with 10 or more stolen bases, two with more than 20 this season. How about sophomore Presley Hauser? 25 swipes. Junior Avis Accor 23. Avis batting 342 on the season, and an on-base percentage is 500. You got to be kidding me. Baseball now, Dustin started off with a bang opening up the season with a 10-2 mark, one of their best starts in school history, considering they only won six games last season. I think a lot of it has to do with the leadership of their coach, former major leaguer Scott Hemun, who's really turned things around. They are a scary team, especially come June in playoff time. They have shown great poise, plate discipline. They currently sit at 13-5. So three and two are the last five. Little adversity never hurts anyone. It's good for a team on the rise, builds character, and this team has it. The difference to me is starting pitching. That's the egg factor. They give up a touchover three runs per clip. And if you talk about those three out of four that they've just lost, they were against solid teams. Chipley, Norfew, combined marks of 26 and 13. Now, the other loss was against Walton in an 8-4 setback. I think Walton was due for a win. That was only their fourth of the season. Speaking of which, Ford Walton has three on the road beginning Thursday. How about Chucktaw? One of the hottest teams in the region. They have won, count 'em up, 10 straight, 12 of 13, a brilliant mark of 13 and 4. All right, let's switch gears to college quickly. Uh, University of West Florida, they are, as I like to say, in boxing turns, stepping up in weight class, moving to NCAA Division I, which the school announced earlier in the week. They've had a heck of a run in D2. They have built arguably one of the strongest programs in Division II history, leading the Gulf Sof, uh Gulf South Conference and all-time championships. Uh, they have, if you if you look at their 15 varsity programs, they have combined for this is a staggering number, 11 national championships, over 130 conference titles, and their student athletes are not only succeeding on the field, but off of it with a 3.37 GPA accumulated in spring of 2025. Now, their athletic director, uh UWF athletic director Dave Scott, said to get to coast, and those guys do a phenomenal job. Love those guys to get to coast. Quote, this transition represents the next chapter in the evolution of our athletics program. As we prepare for Division I competition, we remain focused on building champions for life. Minor League, Pensacola, they'll open up their 2026 season starting with three home games set against Montgomery Friday. They finished a 2025 season 569 and 69. If you're not familiar with them, they compete in the Southern League as the AA affiliate of the Miami Marlins, managed by the former pro Nelson Prada. Recaps next week on the 62nd scoreboard. You got Final Four this weekend, March Madness. Uh, you've got, you know, very good games. A lot of people actually, believe it or not, think that the Arizona and the Michigan game is really the national championship game, right? Because sometimes you get two of the Goliaths in there in the final four. That'll be the second game. The first will be Illinois against Yukon. UConn coming off Damira going to Duke. Um, the winners of those two games will have the right to play for the national championship. We're still early on in baseball. We'll talk a little more about the Braves, Miami and Tampa maybe next week. We'll mix in a little bit of that on the show. And then finally, NFL former Falcons, quarterback Kirk Cousins. Uh, he might not be a Hall of Fame quarterback, but he might be a Hall of Fame quarterback when it comes to contracts. One year, 20 million, fully guaranteed with the Vegas Raiders. I love this move. I mentioned during the show about the bridge when we were talking about finding coaching candidates and not having them kind of be a bridge for a couple years. Well, Kirk Cousins now, at this stage of his career, is the definition of a bridge quarterback. And we know that the Raiders, you hate to say 100%, but it's 99.99999 come April in the NFL draft. They're going to draft Indiana's Heisman Trophy winner, Fernando Mendoza. The question is, with Cousins now backing them up, potentially mentoring this young kid, will he start week one or will they throw the reins over to Mendoza to start things off? And that's only something that Clint Kubiak can answer. So Kirk Cousins getting paid, getting paid, getting paid. Every stop he's gone, he's getting paid. And I think it was an absolute disaster. Atlanta gives them that guaranteed money, and then they turn around and they draft Michael Penix Jr. And now maybe a little buyer's remorse with Michael Penix Jr. So we got a lot more NFL to talk about down the road with the draft right around the corner. We'll start to get into some SEC football as well. Bama and Auburn. But as we said, we go hyperlocal on the show. It's all about the high schools. Um, and we do that on a weekly basis. Hey, as always, that's gonna do it for this edition of the Destin FM scoreboard. We want everyone to remember get social with us. It's very easy to do. Follow us on Facebook, Destin FM, on IG Instagram at Destin FM, on X, formerly Twitter at Destin underscore FM, and TikTok at Destin FM Radio. Very easy to follow me on IGNX at RichQ on Q, TikTok at RichQ on the mic. And as always, I'm Rich Knionis. Get the latest by downloading the free Destin FM app in the app store, Google Play, or at DestinFM.com.