By By Chandler Myers
After the clouds parted and the weather left the area lightning struck again in Bratt, Fla. Friday night as the Northview Chiefs and their new head coach Sid Wheatley took the field and defeated the Graceville Tigers 34-16.
The Chiefs (1-0, 0-0) started the 2009 season strong with their offense putting up huge numbers and the defense handing out huge hits throughout the game.
Chiefs’ head coach Sid Wheatley said his team brought the hard work they put in during practices to their game against the Tigers (0-1, 0-0).
Offensively, the Chiefs moved the ball up and down the field picking up 381 yards of offense with 355 of those yards coming on the ground.
The Chiefs offense came out swinging on the first possession of the game driving 50 yards in three plays with running back Dustin Yuhasz, who finished the game with 159 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns, breaking out on a 44-yard dash to the end zone to put his team up 7-0 with the extra point by Brad Lowery.
Following the touchdown, the teams felt the effects of the weather as the ball slipped out of each team’s grasp a combined five times.
After the Tigers recovered the final fumble by Northview, Graceville landed on it in great field position on the seven-yard line. Four plays later Tigers fullback Leron Hoover punched the ball into the end zone with a one-yard touchdown. The Tigers took the lead 8-7 as Hoover again pushed his way into the end zone.
From that point on, the Chiefs did what they wanted to on the field as they marched down the field with drives of 77 and 33 yards. After touchdowns by running backs Kadaris Grice and Jeremy Jackson the Chiefs went into halftime with a 20-8 lead.
Wheatley said jumping out to an early lead helped the Chiefs continue to capitalize on their opponents.
Northview came out with even more fire than they showed in the first half as they recovered a Graceville fumble on the opening kickoff, and then moved the ball courtesy of Yuhasz who had runs of 17, six and one yard in route to his second touchdown of the game, which put the Chiefs ahead 27-8.
The Chiefs then showed their defensive prowess again, but this time with Montaio Mitchell picking off a pass and returning it five yards to the 48-yard line.
Wheatley said his defense did everything they were supposed to coming into the game.
The running game again punished the Tigers’ defense as La’Mikal Kyles ran the ball three times during the drive for 45 yards, which was capped off by an 11-yard sprint past the goal line. The score marked Northview’s final time in the end zone with the home team ahead 34-8.
The fourth quarter saw the Graceville offense move the ball 87 yards down the field on an eerily similar march capped off by another touchdown and two-point conversion by Leron Hoover to make the final 34-16.
Following the game Graceville head coach Todd Wertenberger said his team was just beat by a much improved Northview squad.