NICEVILLE — “I told y’all, ‘Just believe in yourself.’ Y’all are the best team in the Panhandle.”
Adron Robinson, his postgame huddle speech affirming Niceville’s journey into 3A state contention and seaped in tears of joy under the same Eagle Stadium lights he helped lead Niceville football to its only state title 38 years ago, was having fun Tuesday night during Niceville’s 20-12 win over defending 2A state runner-up Choctaw.
Katherine Newkirk, doing the unthinkable with a punt block to set up the start of Niceville’s scoring, was having fun.
Kate Robertson, climbing the ladder on a first-quarter touchdown grab, was having fun.
Peyton Carter, who threw for 240 yards and three scores to give her 33 touchdowns on the season, was having fun.
Eden Shaw, who preserved a 12-6 halftime deficit with a deflection at the goal line, was having fun.
Jori Brechler, whose catch and 50-yard sprint to the end zone early in the third quarter proved to be the game-winner, was having fun.
RaMyan Tripeaux, mobbed by teammates after a fourth-quarter interception on future Shelton State quarterback Diaris Morales, was having fun.
Avery Cowles, whose high-flying 25-yard touchdown grab and point-after catch in traffic exposed “the truth” behind her steel-trap mits and gave Niceville the insurance it needed with 4:20 left to play in the game, was having fun.
Jayda Gilyard and Gabby Valdez, helping preserve the second-half shutout with a pair of sacks, were having fun.
Assistant coaches Seth Watts (DC), Hannah Langston and Xavier Graham, chirping from the sidelines all night in what become a heated-yet-contained back-and-forth with the refs and Choctaw’s sideline, were having fun.
The scene of playing loose, free and fun exemplified the root of where we are in Niceville’s unprecedented run:
Seven and zero to start the season, outscoring foes 255-30, four shutouts to its name, and now opening up the new turf field at Eagle Stadium with inarguably the biggest win in program history.
“If you want to be the best, you gotta beat the best,” Robinson said. “And there’s no doubt Choctaw has been been the best team, outside of Robinson High School, they’ve been the best team in the state of Florida. If we want to compete and be on their level, these are the teams we have to beat.”
Easily the biggest play of the night came from freshman speedster Brechler, who out of the halftime locker rooms collected a pass from Carter over the middle and dodged and weaved, zigged and zagged her way through five defenders and a host of flag pulls all for naught.
“She’s a dog,” Robinson said. “She’s a freshman, so we’re gonna be seeing that for a few more years to come. She just works so hard in practice and she has a no-quit attitude. They had trouble all night with her.”
Choctaw (6-2), usually so sure-handed in their flag pull, argued flag guarding on the touchdown to no avail. Brechler was just that fast, that elusive, causing fits for the Big Green and piling up around 80 yards after the catch.
“I saw a couple of girls and I hit a right, I hit a left and no one pulled my flag and I was just down the field,” said Brechler, who has seven touchdowns and over 400 combined rushing/receiving yards on the season. “It was one of the best feelings.”
So what goes into evading flag pulls, Jori?
I would say like moving your hips and getting lower are the best things you can do in flag football, because there’s a lot of height difference and full speed I’m trying to make them unsure of how to pull my flags,” she said.
Peyton spread the love to three different receivers on touchdowns, but it was Newkirk’s punt block inside the red zone that set up the first to Robertson. The 6-foot-1 playmaker simply rushed up the middle, raised her hands and caught all ball, turning what was a 6-0 deficit into Niceville’s ball on the 14-yard line.
“Hey, we’ve worked on it for about 10 years. We finally got one,” Robinson laughed.
Carter’s third touchdown went to the team’s leading receiver, Cowles, who after extending the lead to 20-12 celebreated by emulating the crane kick for “The Karate Kid.” It was her eighth touchdown of the season to put her over 450 receiving yards on the season
“She’s the truth,” Robinson said. “She’s one of the best players I’ve ever seen.”
On the subject of Carter — she of 33 touchdowns and more than 260 passing yards per game — Robinson’s happy tears from the post-huddle celebration returned.
“I absolutely love coaching Peyton,” Robinson said. “She wants to be coached hard. She wants to be better. She takes everything you say to her and improves. If you’re a coach, it’s the type of quarterback you want, boy or girl.
“I know I’m emotional, but hell, I love this s**t.”
“He does get emotional,” Valdez laughed. “But when he gets hype, it’s our signal that we need to be as hype as him because he’s our No. 1 fan.”
Carter’s last touchdown to Cowles was set up by Tripeaux’s third interception of the season, which preserved the 13-12 lead and gave Niceville positioning inside Choctaw’s red zone.
Robinson, who coached her older brother Rymar for the boys football team, said playfully, “We need to tell Rymar she might be the best DB in the family.”
Speaking of defense, it was Valdez’s flag pull in the waning minutes that kept Choctaw from sniffing the end zone for the game-tying score.
“We’re pretty deep at rusher, and we’re trying to rotate them as much as possible so they stay fresh,” Robinson said. “Look, we didn’t get to (Diaris) in the first half, but we got to her when it mattered because we were fresh.”
Valdez said the team took that 12-6 deficit personally at halftime. The second-half shutout validated their renewed focus.
“I think it was just locking in and realizing we’re better than we played in that first half, that we can shut them down,” she said.
The outcome has no impact on the playoffs. Choctaw is 2A and Niceivlle is 3A, both ranked tops in their Region 1. Choctaw remains a favorite to return to the championship game versus Robinson, and now Niceville is on the short list of state title contenders in 3A.
“I want it to be known that I have so much respect for coach Jim Bay and that Choctaw program and the way he’s carried the torch for the Panhandle,” Robinson said. “I just hope he lets us have a little of that flame.”
Niceville flag next travels to Pace Thursday.
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Niceville flag outscores Choctaw 14-0 in 2nd half for statement win
Reporting by Seth Stringer, Northwest Florida Daily News / Northwest Florida Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
