Northview defense shuts out Central

Chip Harris chewed on his victory Zero candy bar after his Northview team pulled an exciting 21-14 upset over Central of Phenix City at Rip Hewes Stadium on Friday night.

“The defense promised I would weigh 300 pounds by the end of the season,” Harris said. “I told them I would eat a Zero bar for every quarter they didn’t let Central score.”

Harris now says the challenge will remain every game.

The defense held Central scoreless in the second half while the Cougars put two touchdowns on the board, the final coming with just 39 seconds remaining in the game when quarterback B .J. Chitty broke loose for a 30-yard touchdown run.

Setting up in the shotgun on a first-and-10 play with just under a minute to play, Chitty said he was preparing to throw deep.

“I looked down field and nobody was on the left side,” Chitty began. “I saw a man get knocked on his butt, and I said I can get 10 or 12 yards. Instead, I went all the way for the touchdown.”

Northview improves to 2-1, 1-1 in region play, while Central is 2-1, 1-1 in region play.

The dazzling run capped off a tremendous second half showing by Northview on both sides of the football.

Northview had pulled even at 14-14 with 2:47 to play in the third quarter when Joe Almond powered his way up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-goal play. Ryan Allis added the PAT.

It was Almond’s only run of the game.

“You’ve got to believe, you’ve got to believe,” Almond said as Northview was putting the finishing touches on the win.

The Cougars came up with a blocked field goal attempt in the final quarter when Jordan Teague got a hand on a 32-yard field goal try with 10:14 remaining.

“With the blocked field goal, you could feel the electricity start flowing through the sidelines that we’re about to win this thing,” Harris said.

Central moved down into Northview territory late in the fourth, but the Cougars survived the threat when Central quarterback Darren Daniel threw incomplete on a fourth-and-5 play from the Cougars’ 26.

Northview then began its winning drive, putting the ball in the hands of power runner Matt Mims.

Mims ran the ball five times for 20 yards on the first seven plays in the drive — and Brandon Burks caught a 5-yard pass and ran for 5 yards — as the Cougars moved down to the 43 of Central.

Chitty ran for 4 yards, and then Mims went for nine more to put the Cougars on the 30 with 57 seconds remaining.

Following a timeout, Chitty put the game away with his long touchdown run.

“One thing we did better than we’ve done in about five years is we punted the ball better,” Harris said, speaking of punter Cam Cobb. “There were no boomers, but we were consistent.”

Central scored on its first possession, going 61 yards in 13 plays, capped off by a 1-yard run up the middle by Cordary Clark.

The Red Devils almost made it 14-0 following the first punt of the game, but a 65-yard return by Taurance Bass was called back due to a Central penalty.

Two plays after Central took over at the Northview 25, the Cougars’ Craig Shirley came up with a fumble recovery in the Central backfield.

Early in the second quarter, Central lined for a 25-yard field goal try, but the snap was fumbled and the kicker was tackled in the backfield.

The Red Devils’ B.J. Sanders came up with an interception on the Cougars next possession at the Northview 35 and returned it to the 7.

On a fourth-and-goal play from the 1, tailback Orwin Smith lined up behind center and took the snap, then ran up the middle for a score. The extra point made it 14-0 with 8:19 left in the first half.

Northview put together an impressive 11-play, 85-yard scoring march to pull within 14-7 by halftime.

Three plays into the drive, Chitty and Burks hooked up on a 20-yard completion, then Chitty ran for 18 yards and 11 yards back-to-back to get into Central territory. On a fourth-and-5 play from the Central 28, Chitty hit Kendall George on an 18-yard completion to the 10.

After a 3-yard gain by Derrick Thomas, Chitty connected with Joe Coachman over the middle at the goal line for a touchdown pass with 40 seconds left to swing the momentum in Northview’s favor at halftime.