West Florida Downs Northview

November 10, 2012

Two state championship hopefuls met Friday night in Bratt, with the Northview Chiefs,  ranked No. 4 in the state in 1A, more than holding their own against a much larger West Florida, ranked No. 4 in Florida in 5A. In the end, the Jaguars prevailed, 41-28.

“We had a couple of early turnovers that really hurt us,” said Northview head coach Sid Wheatley. “But basically from that point on basically every time we scored with good ball control, running the clock offense.”

“Two good football teams played tonight,” Wheatley said after the loss. “I thought out kids fought hard tonight.”

Click here for a photo gallery. (Cheerleader and dance team photos will be published Sunday, along with Northview Senior Night pictures. Band photos will be published Monday.)

The Jags took an early 7-0  lead with 9:53 to go in the first on a one-yard run from Joey Baker. Northview tied it up in with 7:41 in the second on a three yard touchdown run from La’Mikal Kyles, 7-7. Baker added another touchdown run with 5:29 in the second, and it was 14-7 at the half.

West Florida scored again with 9:31 to go in the third on a 27-yard pass from Baker to Daylan Abrams, 21-7.

But Northview wasn’t going down without a fight. Brannon Freeman scored on a 10-yard touchdown run for the Chiefs, 21-14 with 7:07 in the third. About five minutes later, a two-yard touchdown from Kyles tied it up 21-21.

West Florida pulled ahead less than a minute later with a 46-yard touchdown from Chris Mitchell on a pass from Baker, 28-21 headed into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth, Kyles scored again on a two yard run with 10:08 to go, 28-28. West Florida scored again on a one-yard run from Baker and a 23-yard run by AJ McMillion for a 41-28 final.

Kyles had 161 yards and three touchdowns for the Chiefs.

Both teams head into round one of the state playoffs next week.  The Northview Chiefs, District 1-1A champions, will be at home against District 2-1A runner-up  Cottondale. West Florida (10-0), the District 1-5A champs, will host District 2-5A runner-up Tallahassee Godby.

“I know Cottondale has some good athletes that are going to come over here and play real hard. So we are going to go work early Monday morning and go full blast on Cottondale,” Wheatley said. “We will be fully focused on Cottondale next week.”

Click here for a photo gallery. (Band, cheerleader and dance team photos will be published Sunday, along with Northview Senior Night pictures.)

NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

18 Responses to “West Florida Downs Northview”

  1. chief player two years ago on November 14th, 2012 10:34 am

    i played on the northview team two years ago and west florida most certaintly did not beat us. we made sure they didnt.

    So to jaguar senior, get your facts straight before opening your mouth

  2. .... on November 13th, 2012 3:20 pm

    to jaguarsenior.. Yall did not beat us two years ago. Yall do not play the “good” teams with winning records from pcola. Godby is going to show yall whats up

  3. lllll on November 11th, 2012 11:47 am

    how does wf recruit its a lottery we had a bunch of athletes get in at once an wf didnt have some of their best athletes playing yall can get over it, take your loss an deal with it

  4. JaguarSenior on November 11th, 2012 11:23 am

    To Chief Nostradamus:
    We may have a lottery. But we lost all our games three seasons ago, except against you. Two seasons ago we lost half our games, but we still beat Northview. Last season we still beat you and this year we did to. If what you were saying was true then we would have always been undefeated, not just the last two seasons.

  5. Ninji chop on November 11th, 2012 9:36 am

    We all should be happy for both teams due to the fact that both of them have the talent to possibly become state champs. Also it was a good game to prepare both teams for the next games leading up to the state final. Yes everyone doesn’t like to lose but the best 11 on both teams played no matter if tech has more or less players.

  6. Chief Nostradamus on November 11th, 2012 8:26 am

    West Florida should be playing in the largest classification in the panhandle, which is 6A, because it recruits players from all over the county in a lottery that everyone should be skeptical of. Isn’t it interesting how this so called “lottery” provides just the right players for good teams year-after-year. Anyway, how WF gets all those good players really won’t matter much after this week’s upcoming game because WF will lose to Tallahassee’s powerhouse Godby.

  7. John on November 11th, 2012 5:45 am

    People with excuses and unnecessary comments should just hush… Good luck to both these local teams in the playoffs! Give it everything you have and leave it on the field!

  8. FYI on November 10th, 2012 10:06 pm

    Figured wft would say that! Northview didn’t have two of its best players on defense either. Both linebackers that have been starting all year did not play last night.

  9. WFHS Fan on November 10th, 2012 8:03 pm

    Yeh, it was a close game for a while. Little did y’all know their 4 best players were injured and sitting the bench. If y’all hadn’t of fumbled, y’all might have won. If those 4 players were in the game, y’all most definitely would not have won. Life isn’t based on ifs though.

  10. JaguarSenior on November 10th, 2012 3:13 pm

    I figured Northview fans were going to say “Its because they were 5A team” The Jags played hard. So did the chiefs. Either way I am proud to be a Jaguar.

  11. ..... on November 10th, 2012 2:18 pm

    Godby is going to show west tech who they are really suppose to be playing next week

  12. Vicki Baggett on November 10th, 2012 10:59 am

    Awesome game for both teams. This should prepare you well for next week!

  13. mom on November 10th, 2012 10:04 am

    what a game….in my opinion if we had of not had the turnovers we could have beat them……yall played great tonight. go chiefs!

  14. downtown don on November 10th, 2012 8:35 am

    I am a WF fan, but agree that Northview has a great team. I believe this game makes both teams better heading into the play-offs. Good Luck!

  15. Chiefs Fan on November 10th, 2012 7:41 am

    Our Chiefs played with heart last night and not one of them has a reason to hang his head because 1A Northview came very close to knocking of the best 5A team in the panhandle. I can tell you from where I was standing there were a bunch of West Florida fans who were thankful to escape without loss.

  16. well on November 10th, 2012 7:33 am

    What a game. You guys gave em all they wanted. Can’t wait till next weeks game.

    GO CHIEFS

  17. Willene and Preston Bryan on November 10th, 2012 7:17 am

    Way to go Chiefs, a great year.

  18. Northview Fan on November 10th, 2012 3:48 am

    Sure are proud of you, Chiefs!