By By Matthew Nascone
Panama City is known as a vacation spot on the coast of Florida, but to the Northview High School Chiefs, it is known as a stomping ground.
The Chiefs football team (1-0) traveled to Panama City to face the Bozeman Bucks (0-1) Friday night and on the trip back to Bratt they celebrated a 43-0 drubbing of the Bucks. And that was the score at halftime.
"The kids played good," NHS head coach Cody Keene said. "We executed very well at times and the effort was great as they played hard all night. I was pleased with how the defense played."
The Chiefs were able to jump on Bozeman early as they scored on their opening possession and Deonta Davison returned a punt 48 yards after the NHS defense shut down the Bucks offense.
"Deonta kind of got us rolling," Keene said.
And Northview was able to get every player on the bench into the game because of the score.
"Our first-string guys played the first series in the third quarter and then we started substituting guys in there and we got everyone some playing time," Keene said. "And I was proud of how that young defense did not let them score."
Several starters did well in their limited action. Junior running back Nakita Myles rushed for 146 yards on 14 carries with two scores and caught a 28-yard pass from Kyle Sebestyen for a touchdown. Sebestyen finished the game 3-for-4 in pass attempts for 46 yards and one touchdown.
Davison rushed for 80 yards on two carries and one touchdown, Travion Lockett carried the rock nine times and racked up 49 yards and Kenny Wilson rushed for 31 yards on seven touches.
The success on the ground can be credited to the play of the offensive line, Keene said.
"The offensive line blocked really well in this game and they adjusted to the different looks Bozeman gave us very well," he said.
Keene said the team suffered the normal bumps and bruises of the first game of the season, but nothing serious and that was good. And he said with a better opponent up next in Sneads, the team would have to get better through the next week of practice.
"We have to cut out the penalties and we have to condition a little bit more because we had some guys getting tired," Keene said. "But the effort in this game was great and the enthusiasm was high.
The Chiefs hit the road for the second straight week and face Sneads High School Sept. 1.