For the second straight year, Choctaw has beaten Niceville, this time rolling to a 49-28 victory behind a punishing ground game.
“We’re pretty excited about this, it’s obviously a big game for our community, our players, and our coaching staff,” Choctaw Head Coach Frank Beasley said.
The Indians set the tone early. Carter Marracco opened the scoring with a 59-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter, but after that, both defenses held each other in check as the score stayed 7-0 heading into the second quarter.
Niceville had its chances. The Eagles put together a first-quarter drive highlighted by a key third-down conversion where Deegan McCoy connected with Austin Stanley for a first down before keeping it himself for a long scramble. But the drive stalled and Nate Martinez‘s field goal attempt missed wide. Later in the quarter, another Eagles drive reached Choctaw territory, with McCoy hitting Jason Leach for a field-flipping catch. However, Caleb Leonard dropped a would-be touchdown pass, and Martinez’s second field goal attempt hit the crossbar.
Choctaw pounced each time. After the first missed field goal, Baker Giles, who entered at quarterback off the bench for Isaiah Collins, scrambled for a first down. A facemask penalty on Niceville moved the ball further, and Giles found a wide-open Ryne Burks for a 26-yard touchdown to put the Indians up 14-0.
- After the second missed field goal, Von’Tavious Keller needed just one play, taking it 80 yards to the house to make it 21-0. On Niceville’s next possession, McCoy was intercepted by Isaiah Matthews, who returned it all the way for a pick-six to push the lead to 28-0.
Niceville finally got on the board before halftime. McCoy hit Jaxon Dark for a field-flipping catch, then Jakobe Gilyard carried the ball down to the 2-yard line. Noah Renes took the direct snap in Niceville’s signature “heavy” package and punched it in from two yards out to cut the deficit to 28-7 at the break.
The Eagles’ first drive of the second half stalled, and Choctaw answered as Dante Whidbee took it in to extend the lead to 35-7. Niceville got the ball back and McCoy moved the Eagles near midfield behind Gilyard’s hard running, but the drive again stalled.
The back-and-forth continued from there. Collins returned at quarterback for the Indians, but his pass was intercepted by DJ Stafford, who returned it deep into Choctaw territory. The Eagles wasted no time as McCoy found Leonard for a touchdown to cut it to 35-14.
Choctaw answered right back.
Keller ripped off a 40-yard run, then took the direct snap on fourth down and punched it in for his second touchdown of the night to make it 42-14. A pass interference penalty on Choctaw gave Niceville new life, and McCoy connected with Leonard for his second touchdown to cut it to 42-21. But the Indians again had an answer, this time capped by Keller finding the end zone for his third touchdown, completing the hat trick to make it 49-21.
“Von’s starting to come into his own, we’ve got three really good running backs,” Beasley said. “Von took the lead tonight, Carter had a big run in the first quarter that started the scoring, then Dante had some really big tough runs.”
“It felt nice being back. O-line did their stuff tonight,” Keller said.
“I started slow, but in the second half I started to pick it up,” Whidbee added.
“The o-line went off tonight. They allowed us to have over 350 rushing yards, they just protected amazingly tonight,” Marracco added.
Right before the final whistle, Niceville tacked on one more score when McCoy took it in from 12 yards out, but the game was well in hand as Choctaw won 49-28.
Both teams turn to district play this week. Niceville hosts Tate in its second district game, while Choctaw begins five consecutive weeks of district matchups, starting with Milton and followed by Escambia, Fort Walton Beach, Booker T. Washington and Gulf Breeze.
“The quest for a district championship starts this week, starting with Milton, so we’ll see what we can do,” Beasley said. “I’m hoping we can win another district title.”
