After two unsportsmanlike penalties disqualified Northview Chiefs quarterback Brandon Sheets from the final quarter of the game against Freeport last Friday night, the team could be without him for their semifinal match up with Chipley this Friday.

Sheets, a senior, has been suspended for Friday’s game by the FHSAA following the two unsportsmanlike calls.

The calls came on a touchdown run by Sheets where he was tackled by a defender upon entering the end zone. Upon standing up, Sheets dropped the ball in the area of Freeport player and received the first flag. The second pentalty came seconds later when Sheets returned to the field for the extra point and allegedly clapped in the direction of the official.

Northview Chiefs quarterback Brandon Sheets is swarmed by Freeport defenders in last week’s playoff game at Northview High School. Sheets has been suspended by the FHSAA for this week’s semifinal match up against the Chipley Tigers.

The Chiefs are currently attempting to appeal the suspension, but if it is upheld then Northview will start junior Kevin Vaughan.

If Vaughan does start, the Chiefs are still confident that they can win the game, head coach Sid Wheatley said.

“Kevin is getting a lot of reps this week,” he said. “He is a tremendous athlete that can make a lot of plays. The team is confident in him, and if that is the direction we have to go in then we are prepared to go with him.”

With their minds focused on a semifinal and not the controversy, the Chiefs are hard at work preparing for a rematch with a team that handed them an early loss.

The Chiefs were 1-0 on the season when they played Chipley, but had some lapses during the game as the Tigers escaped with a 34-27 win.

As the two teams head on a collision course for a rematch, the Chiefs look to come away with a win for a berth to the state championship game.

This time around, Northview is a much better team, Wheatley said.

“We are a better football team than we were the first time around,” Wheatley said. “I’m sure Chipley has also improved, but our defense is playing much better and our offense has more confidence. We have to continue to play well in our special teams because last time, we gave up a touchdown on a kick off return. We must play better there in order to be able to win.”

The focus of the Chiefs in practice has been working to control the line of scrimmage.

The team that does a better job of winning the battles up front will put themselves in a place to win, Wheatley said.

“More than anything this game will be a battle of fronts,” he said. “Whoever controls the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball will have a leg up in this game. It’s also going to come down to controlling the ball. We need to hang onto the ball and not have turnovers and we need to force them into turning the ball over to us.”

The Chiefs and Tigers will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night at Northview High School in Bratt, Fla.