By By Matthew Nascone
Senior cornerback Deonta Davison kick started the Northview Chiefs home opener Friday night against the Freeport Bulldogs when he intercepted a pass on the second play of the game and took the ball to the Freeport five-yard line.
Another senior, running back Travion Lockett, scored the first touchdown of the game on the next play and the Chiefs grabbed an early 8-0 lead after Nakita Myles scored a two-point conversion.
"Deonta made a great read on the ball and made a great play to get the pick," NHS head coach Cody Keene said.
The Chiefs (3-0) fired on all cylinders from that opening drive on. The Bulldogs picked up one first down on their next drive and had to punt. After a 20-yard punt return by Sean Little, Lockett again busted through the FHS defensive line for a 40-yard touchdown run to put the Chiefs up 14-0.
Lockett finished the game with 61 yards rushing and two touchdowns on eight carries and he caught two passes for 34 yards. Nakita Myles had 17 carries for 64 yards and Kenny Wilson piled up 22 yards and one touchdown on five carries. Myles' total could be considered an off day compared to his normal production, but Keene said he knows Myles will be focused for the next game. And with the Bulldogs defense shutting Myles down, it provided an opening for other players to shine.
"They had a good plan to take away the run and we had a good job of offensive coaching by our guys to do things differently out there," Keene said.
In the second quarter Freeport took advantage of a NHS turnover and closed the gap to 14-7 on a quarterback keeper up the gut. Davison entered the picture again late in the second quarter with 4:41 left in the half. He caught a wide receiver screen pass, put a move on the defender and was off to the races for a 70-yard touchdown strike from NHS quarterback Kyle Sebestyen to increase the NHS lead to 20-7 before the half.
Sebestyen finished the evening going 4-for-5 for 107 yards and one touchdown. Davison caught one other ball to finish the day with two receptions for 78 yards and one touchdown.
Lockett added a big defensive play to his stats for the night with a fumble recovery with 1:01 remaining in the half to prevent Freeport from scoring before halftime.
Darius Austin took the reigns of the NHS offense to open the second half and led the Chiefs down the field for a scoring drive as Wilson rumbled in from the three yard line for the score and 26-7 NHS lead. The strike would end the scoring for the game as NHS's defense took over in the fourth quarter as the Chiefs protected the lead.
"I was proud of our kids," Keene said. "I was very pleased with our defense. They work hard every day and they are going to continue to work hard."
The Chiefs know how it feels to start the season 3-0, but Keene said he hopes this year's squad does not repeat the performance from last year. In 2005 the Chiefs made it to 3-0, but slipped to 3-3 through the next three games, but Keene said the maturity of this year's team will prevent that from happening.
"I hope these kids are more mature," he said. "And we have to get ready for one game at a time and cut out our mistakes and we will be fine."
The Chiefs had an unfortunate event happen prior to game time Friday. Junior John "J.T." Thompson was traveling to school Friday morning and was in a one-car accident. He was taken to West Florida Hospital and no specific details of Thomas' injuries or condition were available at press time. But Keene did say he was on the minds of every Chief.
"I know he was on our minds and we all hope everything goes good for him," Keene said. "We hope he gets well and has a speedy recovery."
The Chiefs face Holmes County High School next Friday at home at 7:30 p.m. in the second game of a three-game home stand.