Saint Augustine, FL — ST. AUGUSTINE — The 2023 Choctaw high school football team will be remembered as one of the best in Big Green history for many reasons. For its district championship and shutout of crosstown rival Fort Walton Beach. For its revenge win against Columbia in the region quarterfinal. For its subsequent Sweet 16 rout of powerhouse Lincoln on the road. For the program's first 10-win season since 2014. For its individual stars like Cole Tabb, Isaiah Johnson, Jashawn Armstrong, Tristan Jackson, Jesse Winslette and the many more who will soon play on Saturdays. But following Friday's 35-26 Region 1-3S championship loss at 12-0 St. Augustine, a "heavyweight fight" that exposed no glaring difference between the two programs which have split the past two years postseasons, Choctaw coach Frank Beasley couldn't help but sound like a proud dad. "I love each and every one of you," he told his players in the postgame huddle. "You seniors made this program special again." Head coach Frank Beasley won the sidelines during the Choctaw- Escambia football game at Choctaw. That they did. Many played as freshman for an 0-8 team during the pandemic. They went on to win 24 games, make back-to-back Elite 8s and twice earned the Emerald Coast designation of last area team standing. That's no small solace for a 10-3 team which had state title aspirations. A team that conjured up talks of 1990, the last and only time Choctaw won it all. "We could say all we want about coaching and Frank Beasley and his staff, but it's all about the players," Beasley said. "Football is a players driven game, and when you have players that buy in and do the things you ask, things like this happen. Man, winning is hard. A 10-win season is hard. "You come into a place like this and it's difficult to win. They're undefeated for a reason. They're really good and resilient. We battled. It was a heavyweight fight and they came out on top in the end. I hurt for our kids but I'm proud of the program." Choctaw fought through the adversity of a ton of whistles to lead the majority of the first half. Jonathan Boyd scored on the game's opening drive, Jesse Winslette connected with Isaiah Johnson on a 76-yard touchdown and Sam King kicked a 21-yard field goal to put the Big Green up 17-7 in the second quarter. But, as Beasley said, St. Augustine was resilient. The Yellow Jackets scored 21 unanswered on back-to-back touchdown runs from Devonte Lyons and an 11-yard score from quarterback Locklan Hewlett. Choctaw stopped the bleeding with a 40-yard field goal by King. It had a chance to knot the score after a Jabori Weeks interception set up an over-the-shoulder, 24-yard touchdown from Winslette to Johnson, but the two-point conversion fell incomplete. A 43-yard touchdown reception by Carl Jenkins Jr. followed to make it 35-26, and Winslette was picked twice in the fourth quarter to seal a win that avenged last year's 42-35 win by Choctaw in the region quarterfinals. Tabb finished a high school career in which he earned USA Today 3S Player of the Year and has him headed to Stanford, with 167 yards on Friday. Tabb's senior classmates also had impactful games. Johnson had 151 yards receiving and two scores on passes from Winslette. Boyd had a touchdown. Armstrong delivered two sacks. "They set the foundation for our program and our younger guys," Beasley said. "I fully expect we'll be back. Yeah, we'll lose a lot of great players, but we're Choctaw. We're the Big Green and that's what we do. We come to work. They've created a program that's now on an elite level and we'll continue to thrive and get better."