By JOSH FRYE
News Sportswriter
Trent Peebles scored four touchdowns to lead Northview’s Chiefs to a 34-22 win over Holmes County in Florida high school football competition last Friday, September 20.
Peebles was the man of the night, piling up 170 yards and the four scores on 15 carries.
Peebles got his first touchdown of the night early in the first quarter on a 2-yard rush into the end zone. He followed it up with scoring runs of 75, 11 and 15 yards as the Blue Devils fought to keep up with the Northview squad.
The initial score was followed up with an unsuccessful two-point conversion try, and NHS led 6-0. Trent Kite’s 2-point conversion followed the second Peebles TD and gave the Chiefs a 14-0 lead.
A Blue Devils punt return for a touchdown with less than one-minute left to go in the second quarter closed the scoring gap to 14-7. The conversion attempt after Peebles’s third TD, which came early in the second half, left the NHS lead at 20-7.
Holmes County answered back with another touchdown run during the next series, and a two-point conversion closed the gap to 20-15.
NHS came right back, answering the Blue Devils scoring drive with a Jayden Jackson 50-yard touchdown run. A two-point conversion put the Chiefs in front by a 28-15 margin.
During the start of the final quarter, HC scored an early touchdown which was followed up with an extra-point kick that cut the Chiefs lead to 28-22.
Peebles found the endzone again late in the fourth quarter, giving NHS the 34-22 victory and evening its season record at 2-2.
Jayden Jackson carried 7 times for 107 yards with a touchdown, and quarterback Ben Wilson completed 4 of 10 pass attempts for 45 yards.
Aunterio Minor led the defense for the Chiefs with 7 tackles, two of which were for a loss. Jacob Hawkins chipped in with five tackles, two for a loss, and a fumble recovery, and Isaiah Walker registered four tackles.
“We did not play our best game,” NHS head coach Derek Marshman said. “However, a bad win is better than a good loss. We started out pretty flat, but we put things together during the second half.”
The Chiefs are slated to play at North Bay Haven this Friday, September 27.
“North Bay has a really good football team,” Marshman said. “This team is going to be very different from anyone that we have faced this season. They really spread you out on the field, and we have to tackle in the open field. We are primarily a running team, but we have to get better on our passing game and make completions when they count. This week is going to be a healthy challenge.”