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Baker Barely Gets Past Northview (With Photo Gallery)

September 14, 2019

A Friday the 13th full moon in Bratt turned out to be unlucky for the Northview Chiefs as they lost a hard fought battle 14-12 to the Baker Gators.

Baker was forced to punt it away, and Northview’s Jayden Jackson took it to the house to give the Chiefs a 6-0 lead with 19.8 seconds to go in the first quarter. It was first of two big touchdowns for Jackson, a Boston College recruit, on the night.

With less than 14 seconds to to in the half, Baker answered with a touchdown and a good kick for a 7-6 lead over the Chiefs.

For a photo gallery, click here.

In the third, Joe Brunson, son of Baker coach Joe Brunson, was in from the 2 to expand the Gator’s lead to 14-6. But the Chiefs were quick to answer as Jackson added a 61-yard TD for the Chiefs. A critical two-point conversion was no good, 14-12 Baker on top.

With under two minutes to go in the fourth, the Chiefs recovered a fumble in the endzone for a touchback. On their final drive, quarterback Ben Wilson found Jackson on passes of 24 and 34 yards as the clock ticked down. But with just seven seconds remaining, another Wilson pass was picked off by Baker to seal a win for the Gators.

“There are a not a lot of words honestly,” Northview head coach Derek Marshman said. “We had opportunities, but didn’t capitalize. The defense played a heck of a game. The defensive staff did a heck of a job, kudos to them. We didn’t score enough points; we didn’t run the ball well enough. That’s really what it boils down to. Like I said we had opportunities, we just didn’t capitalize.”

Friday night was the 32nd straight win for the Baker Gators (3-0), their eighth straight win over the Northview Chiefs. Northview (1-2) has not beat the Gators since 2012 when the Chiefs won the 1A state championship.

But the story of the Chiefs and the Gators may not be over for 2019. Both teams were ranked in the top 10 in state in class 1A headed into Friday night. Baker was the runner-up for state last year, and the Chiefs other loss was to Flomaton, the defending 3A Alabama state champions. Baker and Northview could easily meet again this season in the playoffs.

In the meantime, Northview will be on the road next Friday night at Holmes County in Bonifay (1-4).

For a photo gallery, click here. (Look for a cheerleader, band and fan photo gallery in the next few days.)

NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.