Trinity Conquers Northview In State Semifinal Game (With Three Photo Galleries)

December 4, 2010

The Northview Chiefs’ state championship dreams were crushed Friday night by the Conquerors of Trinity Christian in Jacksonville, 49-14, in the Class 1A State Semifinals.

The finals stats were good for the Chiefs, controlling the ball three times more than Trinity, three times the running plays and twice as many passes. But five Conqueror drives in five minutes gave Trinity over three times the points on the board.

For more photos from the game, click here.
For a second photo gallery, click here.
For submitted fan photos, click here.

The Chiefs (11-2) took the lead with 5:47 to go in the first quarter on a 12-yard touchdown run from Dustin Yuhasz to cap an 80-yard, six minute drive. The point after kick was  blocked, and Northview held a 6-0 lead. But on the next sequence, Trinity answered with a 12-yard touchdown run of their own and a good kick. The Conquerors were on top 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second, the Trinity advantage increased to 14-6 with a 22-yard touchdown pass with 8:35 on the clock.

“We did what we needed to do in the first half,” Northview Head Coach Sid Wheatley said.”We controlled the ball about 18 of 24 minutes in the first half. Taking the lead with that first touchdown was big, and overall we controlled the ball well.”

The first few minutes of the third were also looking up for the Chiefs. Trinity scored on a 15 yard run on the opening drive of the second half. Down 21-6, a 2-yard touchdown scramble from Roderick Woods put it at 21-12. The Chiefs were successful on a two point conversion attempt, put Northview within reach at 21-14.

But then there was the last five minutes of the third. “In those next five minutes, we lost the game. We didn’t play well at all during those five minutes,” Wheatley said.

In those five minutes, the Conquerors conquered the Chiefs with successive TD’s — a 20-yard pass, a 23-yard pass and a 23-yard fumble return — to end the quarter at 49-14. The fourth quarter was scoreless.

It was 1979 when the Eagles of Ernest Ward High School last brought the only modern time Class A football championship back to the area. Ernest Ward would later merge with the Century Blackcats to create Northview. Friday night marked the first ever Semifinal appearance by a Northview team.

“I”m extremely proud of the season we had. They were the first team to go that far in the playoffs, and that says a lot,” Wheatley said. “We are going to work hard and  build on it next year.”

NorthEscambia.com photos on this page an in first listed gallery by Will Dickey, the Florida Times Union, click to enlarge. To purchase photo reprints from this article, visit jacksonville.com. Photos in the second gallery by Heather Leonard for NorthEscambia.com. Photos in fan photo gallery courtesy Megan Carroll and Wayne Holland for NorthEscambia.com.

Florida Hunters Could Be Required To Report Every Deer Harvested

December 2, 2010

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is considering new rule proposals requiring all hunters to tag harvested white-tailed deer and report the harvest to the FWC.

However, the commissioners directed staff to provide a menu of options regarding exempt hunters, showing how those hunters would report their harvest. Exempt hunters include individuals 65 and older and 16 and under.

Tagging and reporting game harvests is commonly done in many states, and FWC staff reviewed several other states’ harvest-reporting systems to see what might work well in Florida, according to a FWC news release The agency is seeking to craft a system where hunters would report their harvested deer, to better track where and how many deer are harvested in Florida.

FWC staff presented a draft proposal at five public meetings across the state and gathered input and feedback through an online poll.

The proposed harvest-reporting system would utilize a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week telephone and Internet system, and tags to attach to harvested deer.

Some of the information hunters would have to report includes their customer number, date of harvest, county, method of take, hunting with or without dogs, type of deer (antlered buck, button buck or doe) and number of antler points on bucks. All compiled statewide harvest data would be available to the public online and updated daily, but would not include hunters’ personal information.

“We want to make this system as friendly as possible for Florida’s hunters,” said Cory Morea, FWC biologist and deer management program coordinator. “We need the data to give Florida hunters what many of them have asked for – that is better management of the state’s deer herd, and at a more local level. This will give us one of the tools to enable us to do that.”

The new rules could be approved for final adoption at the February 2011 Commission meeting and would become effective July 1, 2011, and apply to the 2011-12 hunting season.

For more detailed information on the proposed harvest-reporting system, go to MyFWC.com/Deer.

Northview Splits Games With Ponce de Leon; Aggies Get Wins

November 30, 2010

The Northview Chiefs split games with Ponce de Leon Monday evening, while Tate picked up two wins

Northview  — Ponce de Leon

In boys action, Northview’s Chiefs defeated the Ponce de Leon Pirates 48-41, while the Lady Chiefs fell 66-23.

The JV and varsity boys will host Pensacola Christian Academy on December 2, while the varsity and JV boys and girls will host the Baker Gators on December 3.

Tate 58  Gulf Breeze 57

The Aggies picked up a 58-57  big win on the road Monday against Gulf Breeze, taking the lead with just 7.3 seconds on the clock.

Tate 60 Niceville 46 (Girls)

The Lady Aggies defeated Niceville 60 to 46. Tate improved to 4-1 with the win. Courtney Brown led the Lady Aggies with 19 points .

Class 1-A Playoff Brackets

November 29, 2010

Northview will face Trinity Christian at 6:30 Central time Friday night in Jacksonville in the Class 1-A State Semifinals.

Video Highlights: Northview Beats Freeport For Regional Title

November 28, 2010

Here are video highlights by Keith Garrison from Northview’s win Friday night over Freeport.

For game details, click here for the NorthEscambia.com story.

(If you don’t see the video, it is because a setting at your home, work or school firewall or computer is blocking YouTube videos.)

Northview Chiefs Win Regional Championship

November 27, 2010

The Northview Chiefs made school history Friday night as the only team to ever bring home a Regional title. And for the Chiefs, the victory was also sweet revenge over Freeport, the only team to beat the Chiefs this season.

In the Regional 1-A finals, Northview (11-1) defeated Freeport (9-3) 21-12 to advance to the state semi-finals next week in Jacksonville.

“I can’t put into words how proud I am of this group,” Northview Head Coach Sid Wheatley said. “They went on the road to a tough place to play and a tough place to win. It was a huge win, a huge win for this football program.”

Less than a minute into the game at Freeport Stadium, Northview’s Taylor Martin picked off a Bulldog pass, returning it 35 yards. With a good kick from Lance Bushaw, the Chiefs held 7-0 lead with 11:12 to go in the first quarter.

“Taylor Martin’s interception was really, really big for us,” Wheatley said. “It was a really big boost for us and a good way to start a game.”

Freeport answered with a four-play, 70 yard drive that ended with a 16-yard touchdown run. The Bulldogs missed the extra point kick, and the Chiefs held a 7-6 lead at the end of the first.

In the second quarter, the Chiefs drove hard on 16 plays for 62 yards, all the way down to fourth and goal from the Freeport four. Roderick Woods, who ended the night with 80 yards on 17 carries,  plowed in for the touchdown. Bushaw put the pigskin through the uprights again, and the Chiefs held a 14-6 lead.

After a scoreless third quarter, La’Mikal Kyles was in the end zone in the fourth on a 43-yard dash through the Bulldog defense. Bushaw’s kick was once again good, and Northview was up 21-6 with 10:40 in the ballgame.

Freeport managed a two-yard touchdown run with 9:03 to go in the fourth.

Neither team could find the end zone on the following downs, and Northview sealed win with a big interception by Kyles with 1:49 remaining in the game. Kyles finished the game with 86 yards on a dozen carries.

“I thought we played extremely well on both sides of the ball. The defense made stops when we needed to, and the offense was able to produce enough points,” Wheatley said.

Northview will be on the road next week in the state semi-finals in Jacksonville to take on top-ranked Trinity Christian at 6:30 p.m. Central time. The winner of that game will be in the Class 1A state championship game in Orlando on December 10.

“It’s going to get tougher,” Wheatley said. “But we are in a routine, and we will continue to work to stand up to the challenge.”

Trinity Christian earned their trip to the semis with a 42-41 triple overtime win over Providence of Jacksonsville Friday night.

Pictured top: Northview defender Tyler Brooks closes in on the Bulldog’s quarterback Friday night in Freeport. Pictured top inset: La’Mikal Kyles scored a fourth quarter touchdown for the Chiefs in the fourth quarter. Pictured bottom inset: Taylor Martin returns an interception 35 years to put Northveiw on the board. Pictured below: The Chiefs score. Submitted photos and courtesy WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Fans Welcome Their Region 1A Champion Chiefs

November 27, 2010

A crowd of Northview Chiefs fans gathered early Saturday morning to welcome the Region 1-A Champions back to Bratt. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

EA Cougars Win Thanksgiving Tournament

November 27, 2010

Escambia Academy opened their season by winning the Lowndes Academy Thanksgiving Tournament in Lowndesboro, Ala.

The EA Cougars (2-0, 0-0) won their first games against Evergreen’s Sparta Academy Warriors 57-54. The Cougars took the championship game 41-40 over the Longhorns of Marengo Academy from Linden, Ala.

Escambia Academy’s Darron McGhee finished as the Lowndes Academy Thanksgiving Tournament MVP. McGhee, Tanner Kirk and Keaton Maher were named to the All-Tournament team.

Pictured top: The Escambia Academy Cougars (front, L-R) Brandon Goddard, Jaylen Henry, Dillon Anderson, (back row) Tanner Boatwright, Tanner Kirk, Blake Quimby, Chris Macks, Keaton Maher, Jordan Sasser, Darren McGhee, coach Kevin Woods. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Northview Honors Volleyball Players

November 24, 2010

Several members of the Northview Lady Chiefs volleyball team were honored during the team’s annual banquet this week.

Receiving awards were:

Best Offensive Award

  • JV – Lana Clayton
  • JV – Paeton Hadley
  • Varsity – Ashley Digmon

Best Defensive Award

JV – Danielle Steadham

Most Improved

  • JV – Danielle Steadham
  • Varsity – Morgan Payne

Coaches Award

  • Varsity -Ashley Digmon

Best Attitude Award

  • JV – Ali Martin
  • JV – Danielle Steadham
  • Varsity – Sarah Killam
  • Varisty – Katie Wieborg

Effort Award

  • JV – Paeton Hadley
  • Varsity – Raylin Spence

Special Thanks!

  • A special award was given to Kara Hardin for her continuous hard work for the volleyball team.

Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

FHSAA 1A Rural Division Approved, To Include Northview And Jay

November 22, 2010

The Florida High School Athletic Association’s new rural school division to include Northview and Jay high schools was approved Monday.

The new 1A Rural division includes 36 schools for football — 47 for other sports — with among rural schools with a  student populations of 44 to 600.

“When the FHSAA originally went up to six classifications in team sports in 1999, we had 517 member schools, with 480 of those playing team sports. Now that we have 670 member schools and 650 of those in team sports, the number of teams in individual districts is too large,” said FHSAA Executive Director Roger Dearing. “Moving to eight classifications allows for fewer teams in each district, which allows for more flexibility in scheduling for the season.”

District 1-1A Rural includes Jay, Baker, Freeport and Northview, plus Central and Laurel Hills for volleyball only. For boys and girls basketball, baseball and softball, Northview and Jay joins Baker, Freeport, Holmes County and Vernon in District 3-1A.

With 549 students, Northview is the largest school in the two districts. Jay has a student population of 286.

The FHSAA plan approved Monday also includes an Urban Division 1A composed of the state’s small schools in larger cities across Florida.

Dearing recommended the approval of the new classifications for the 2011-2013 school years, allowing for schools to appeal between November and January with the final classifications to be approved in January, 2011. Every two years, the classifications would be restructured based upon student enrollment.

The invitation deadline  for the new classification was September 15 for schools with students populations under 600 and located in areas designate rural by the Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development.

Pictured above and below: Action from Northview’s 34-0 defeat of Jay earlier this season. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

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