BAKER — A talent Northview football team had too much fire for Baker as the Chiefs rolled to a 40-6 District 1-1A win over the Gators on Friday before a Senior Night crowd at Doug Griffith Memorial Stadium.
The win gave Northview the district championship and eliminated Baker from the playoff hunt..
Before the game Gator coach Matt Brunson predicted the only hope Baker (5-4, 1-2) had was to control the clock and the offense become the best defense by keeping the high-flying Chief offense away from the football.
Baker converted on five fourth-down attempts in the first half as the Gators ran 39 plays to 18 for Northview.
Aided by holding call that negated a Northview touchdown, Baker held the Chiefs without a first down on Northview’s firs possession of the game.
The Gators took over at their own 19-yard line following the Chief punt and marched the ball to the Northview 14 with D.J. Thomas doing most of the work on the 15-play drive. Twice the Gators converted on fourth down play to keep the drive alive – the first time on a fake punt as Gator punter Kodi Nixon hit Richard Stroheker with a 28-yard pass, and a second time on a 7-yard run by quarterback Adam Crowson, but the Gators came up empty as they approached the end zone and the Chiefs took control of the ball.
Northview took over on the Baker 21 and was immediately called for an illegal procedure penalty.
Chief quarterback Kevin Vaughan mishandled the snap on the next play and the football turned hot potato bounced around until Baker’s Andrew Allen recovered the lose ball in the end zone for the only Gator score of the night with 3:38 left in the first quarter. The extra point failed and the rest of the night belonged to the Chiefs.
Thirty-two second after the Allen touchdown Vaughan hit Neiko Robinson, a Penn State commit, with a 69-yard touchdown pass. Vaughan added the extra point to give Northview the lead once and for all.
Vaughan and Robinson teamed up for a second time on a 24-yards pass-play with 11:09 left in the second quarter.
Baker continued to control the ball most of the second quarter and the score was 14-6 at the half.
Northview took over in the second half as tailback LaMikal Miles scored on runs of 12 and 88 yards in the third quarter to stretch the Chief lead to 28-12 after three.
A 3-yard run by Vaughan with 3:13 left in the fourth capped a 12-play, 69-yard drive.
Northview’s final score of the night came on a 30-yard interception return of a Jon Beck pass by Neino Robinson with 2:08 left in the game.
The Chief defense was as impressive as the offense holding Baker to 249 yards in total offense. Thomas was responsible for more than half of the Baker offense as he rushed for 133 yards on 40 carries and had one pass reception for two yards.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Northview too strong for Gators