Mosley head coach Tommy Joe Whiddon played quarterback at Niceville. He served as an assistant coach for the Eagles from 2013 to 2019. His father, Paul, was the principal at Ruckel. His father-in-law is none other than legendary former Niceville coach and athletic director John Hicks.
Yet Whiddon has become the biggest thorn in his alma mater’s side.
The Dolphins returned to Eagle Stadium on Friday night and claimed their fourth straight win over Niceville, and this one may have been the most impressive. Mosley won 28-9, dropping the Eagles to 1-2 while improving to 3-0 with wins already in hand over Choctaw and Godby.
The Dolphins look like the clear-cut favorite for the No. 1 seed in Class 4A Region 1.
Mosley came out strong on its opening drive, with Ga’marcus Halstead consistently gaining yardage on screens and Samuel Chisholm making things happen on the ground. Chisholm appeared to open the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown, but the play was called back due to a holding penalty. The Eagles defense forced a stop, leading to a John Mahoney field goal attempt that sailed wide left.
Niceville took over and overcame an early holding penalty as Jakobe Gilyard ripped off a long run. Deegan McCoy picked up yards on a quarterback keeper before Gilyard broke another run into Dolphin territory, with extra yardage tacked on after a Mosley personal foul.
The Eagles drove inside the Mosley 5-yard line, but a would-be touchdown from Gilyard was wiped out when he fumbled just before crossing the goal line plane. The ball went out of bounds through the end zone, resulting in a touchback.
Backed up deep, Mosley faced third-and-long, and quarterback JP Holsombake was called for intentional grounding, forcing a Dolphin punt from its own end zone. That gave Niceville the ball in Mosley territory, but the Eagles quickly stalled out, and Nate Martinez missed a field goal.
Mosley needed just two plays to answer. Holsombake connected with Gavin Mauldin, who took it the distance for a Dolphins touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
Niceville found a spark when McCoy hit Caleb Leonard for a field-flipping catch, and the Eagles picked up another first down. But the Mosley defense held firm, bringing Martinez back on for another field goal attempt. This time he connected, cutting the deficit to 7-3.
The Dolphins responded with a long drive capped by a one-yard touchdown run from Chisholm to push the lead to 14-3 heading into halftime.
Niceville received the opening kickoff in the third quarter, but Cole Archambeau sacked McCoy, putting the Eagles in a third-and-long situation. McCoy’s pass was intercepted by Tripp Moore.
Mosley’s ensuing drive featured strong runs from Chisholm but was undone by multiple holding penalties, and the possession ended when DJ Stafford intercepted a Holsombake pass.
The Mosley defense immediately forced a three-and-out, and Holsombake made Niceville pay on the very first play of the next drive, hitting Tanner Page for a field-flipping gain. He then found Halstead for a first down and connected with Halstead again for a touchdown to put Mosley ahead 21-3. The score held through the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth, Mosley put together another long drive, capped by Chisholm’s second touchdown of the night to make it 28-3.
Niceville answered when McCoy hit Malachi White for a 37-yard touchdown with 5:48 remaining, but the two-point conversion was no good. Mosley held firm from there and came away with the 28-9 victory.
