It wasn't just coachspeak.
Northview coach Sid Wheatley told anyone who would listen this week that you could throw out that 42-0 score from the Chiefs' previous meeting with Freeport.
He vowed it would be a different game this time around.
Just a few minutes into the second quarter, a stunned crowd knew exactly what Wheatley meant when the visiting Bulldogs took a 14-0 lead.
Northview battled back to tie the game at 14-14, and briefly take a 21-14 lead in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs refused to go away.
It wasn't until LaMikal Kyles bulled his way into the end zone in overtime that the capacity crowd could breathe a sigh of relief as the Chiefs overcame five turnovers and a game Freeport squad to advance to the state semifinals for the third straight year with a 34-28 win over the Bulldogs in the Region 1-1A championship.
"I don't know that we (listened to Wheatley's warning) in that first quarter there," Wheatley said. "We have a good drive going and stall out and they move the ball right down the field and score and I think at that point some of us woke up.
"I thought we had played pretty good defense in the first half, we just set them up on some short fields. Our kids played hard and competed all night. I didn't see any doubt in them. They felt like they could get the job done and they did."
The Chiefs (9-3) will now travel to play Liberty County in the state semifinals this Friday. The winner advances to the Class 1A state title game in Orlando.
For a while Friday night, it appeared as though the Bulldogs were ready to punch their ticket to the state semifinals as they took advantage of three first-half turnovers by Northview to take a 14-0 lead over the shellshocked Chiefs.
The Chiefs fumbled on three of their first four possessions of the game, and punted on the other possession as they repeatedly shot themselves in the foot.
That all stopped midway through the second quarter, when the Chiefs took advantage of a short field on a failed onsides kick attempt by Freeport to bring it to 14-7 on a 17-yard run by Kyles.
The Northview defense then went out and got a quick stop and Neino Robinson did what he does best, fielding a punt at his own 40-yard line and making a few Bulldogs miss en route to a touchdown to tie the game at 14-14.
It stayed that way into the half and late into the third quarter as both defenses settled into the game. But Northview put an end to that with a 9-play, 76-yard scoring drive to take their first lead of the game on an 8-yard pass from Kevin Vaughan to Kyles.
Freeport didn't seem fazed by the touchdown as quarterback Gabe Moore completed a 42-yard pass to Owen Cole on a critical fourth-and-three conversion to tie the game at 21-21.
The turnover bug continued to plague the Chiefs as Vaughan was intercepted by Zack Fordem and the Bulldogs were back in business at the 28-yard line.
Five plays later, Moore -- who missed the second half of the first matchup with an injury -- rumbled in from 15 yards out to give the Bulldogs a 28-21 lead with 5:41 left in the game.
The Chiefs wasted little time tying it back up, though, as Vaughan bounced back from the interception to toss a 4-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Newsome to tie the game at 28-28.
"I thought the kid showed a lot of character, coming back when he could have gone into a shell," Wheatley said of Vaughan, who completed 17-of-27 passes for 136 yards and two TDs. "He was determined to come back and make plays for us and help us win the game."
Freeport got the ball first in OT, and immediately dug themselves into a deep hole as they were flagged for holding in the backfield on what would have been a 10-yard touchdown run by Owen Cole.
Faced with a first-and-goal from the 24-yard line instead, the Bulldogs defense couldn't get into the end zone and turned it over on an incomplete pass on fourth-and-goal from the 13.
"That's tough, because it completely changes the complexity of that series," Freeport coach Jim Anderson said. "I told the kids before overtime the two things we couldn't have were turnovers or penalties."
It took Northview only two plays to capitalize, as Kyles gained nine yards on first down, then scored on a 1-yard run to get the victory.
"I wasn't going down without getting my team in the end zone," said Kyles, who finished with 122 yards and two TDs. "I was just determined to get the touchdown and the win."
At Northview
NORTHVIEW 34, FREEPORT 28 (OT)
Northview...0 714 7 7 6-- 34
Freeport...7 7 0 14 0-- 28
First Quarter
FREE -- Joseph Scapaci 29 pass from Gabe Moore (Moore kick), 3:05.
Second Quarter
FREE -- Owen Cole 1 run (Moore kick), 7:06.
NOR -- LaMikal Kyles 17 run (Kevin Vaughan kick), 5:34.
NOR -- Neino Robinson 40 punt return (Vaughan kick), 3:58.
Third Quarter
NOR -- Kyles 8 pass from Vaughan (Vaughan kick), 0:15.
Fourth Quarter
FREE -- Cole 42 pass from Moore (Moore kick), 9:18.
FREE -- Moore 15 run (Moore kick), 5:42.
NOR -- Cameron Newsome 4 pass from Vaughan (Vaughan kick), 4:06.
Overtime
NOR -- Kyle 1 run (no PAT attempted)
