Northview’s defense flexed its muscles Friday night in Bratt, Fla. as the Chiefs shutdown the West Florida High School of Advanced Technology Jaguars 28-7 as they prepare for the playoffs next week.

Chiefs head coach Sid Wheatley said the play of his defense has been key the past month as it continues to dominate leading the team into the postseason.

“I want to give a lot of credit to our defense, they have played tremendous football lately,” Wheatley said. “Coach (Steve) McCord, our defensive coordinator, has done a great job with them. I think our starting defense has given up 14 points over the last four games. Anytime you’ve only given up only two touchdowns over that course of time, you’re going to win ballgames. It all starts with defense and those guys are playing extremely hard and I’m extremely proud.”

Quarterback Brandon Sheets put the home team on top late in the first quarter on a 1-yard keeper. Following the extra point, the Chiefs (9-1) led 7-0 and would remain in front the remainder of the night.

The Jags answered back with 9:08 remaining in the half on a 3-yard run and tied the game with an extra point, but it would be all Chiefs for the rest of the game.

Northview gained some momentum heading into the locker room when Roderick Woods pounced on a West Florida fumble at the 24-yard line. Following a sack that backed the Chiefs up to the 33, Dustin Yuhasz scampered 30 yards to inside the five. Two plays later, Woods bulled his way into the end zone from 1 yard out. The extra point was good giving the Chiefs a 14-7 lead at the half.

“We did enough offensively and had a couple of big plays that really busted the game open a little bit,” Wheatley said after the game. “Then when we had opportunities down there to punch it in, I thought we did a good job of doing that.”

After forcing the Jaguars to punt three times in the third quarter, the Chiefs padded their lead when Yuhasz raced 39 yards bouncing off defenders for the score with 28.6 seconds remaining in the game. The kick was good giving NHS a commanding 21-7 lead.

Sheets added the last points of the game to the scoreboard when he ran in from 4 yards out with just over five minutes to play in the game. With the extra point, Northview went on to win 28-7.

The Chiefs travel to Blountstown next Friday night in the first round of the playoffs. Wheatley said his team will need to be focused heading into the game.

“We know that they’ve got a good football team,” he said. “They’ve got eight wins and there’s a reason for that, so they’re a good football team. We’ve got to go play well on the road; it’s a pretty good trip over there. We’ve got to take care of the football, no mistakes and continue to play great defense.”

The Chiefs are no strangers to long road games having taken several throughout the course of the season and been successful. Wheatley said that should help his team to build confidence.

“I think right now the really good thing is that we’ve reached our peak of playing good football,” he said. “We know that if we go and play well, we are going to have a great opportunity to win the football game, and I think the kids are confident and can go on the road and get that done.”