Playing a complete game is of the utmost importance for Northview as the Chiefs visit top-ranked Maplesville, Ala. on Friday night.

NHS is coming off a dominant 25-3 performance over Vancleave, Miss., the first of a two-game road stretch. In the win, Chiefs senior quarterback Luke Ward rushed for 125 yards on 18 carries, and scored three touchdowns. He had 58 yards passing. Hunter Edwards had nine tackles, one sack and caught one interception, and Jared Aliff had six tackles and two sacks.

Chiefs head football coach Derek Marshman said the need to play all four quarters against Maplesville is great.

“They play extremely hard,” Marshman said. “Watching them on film, they probably play harder than any team we’ve played. You can tell the intensity they play with and things like that. It’s going to be critical to play four quarters.”

Offensively, the Chiefs are going to have to sustain drives and keep the ball out of the Red Devils’ (4-0) hands. MHS, on offense, is averaging 50 points per game so far this season.

Marshman said by watching film, the only way he could describe how the Red Devils play on offense is through a boxing analogy.

“Everybody paid $100 a couple years ago to watch Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match,” he said. “It’s kind of like a high school football game. You throw a jab here, you throw a jab here and kind of feel each other out for a while, trying to fit in your haymakers in there. Maplesville, on the other hand, the reason they’re so good is that they don’t throw jabs and try to feel you out. They’re just constantly throwing haymakers.”

The Red Devils are led by Terence Dunlap, a senior running back who has received division one offers from Nebraska and other schools. Nathaniel Watson, a junior receiver, is also a threat at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds. Brent Schoener at quarterback is also a threat, and plays scrappy, acting like a third wheel to Dunlap and Watson, Marshman said.

On defense, Tristen Antinoro, who plays tackle and is a tight end, leads MHS. Ken Mims, an outside linebacker, also likes to create havoc for offenses, Marshman said.

A big key for the Chiefs this week is to try and create some adversity for the Red Devils, Marshman said.

“Like last week, we’ve just got to continue the dominance,” he said. “We’re playing a good football team. Fortunately, we’ve been playing good football teams. We can compete with these guys.

“They’ve beaten everybody by 30-40 points so far this season,” he said. “We need to start fast and see how they react to being down or tied at some point in the game.”

Marshman said Northview is in a good position for this week’s game because it has already dealt with a lot of adversity.

“We’ve kind of seen every situation so far,” he said. “Our goal is to have to put them in a situation they’re not used to and see how they respond.”

Kick off in Maplesville is at 7 p.m.