Crestview, FL — The Niceville gunslinger dropped back, saw Azareyeh Thomas flash across the middle on a slant route and lofted the third-and-long pass, the southpaw oblivious to Crestview linebacker Willie Harrison camping underneath the route. For 336 minutes of play during the regular season, the Eagles hadn't trailed once. Harrison's pick-six changed all that, the Bulldogs jumping ahead 7-0 just 81 seconds into Friday's Region 1-7A play-in game at Jack Foster Stadium. "I was down on myself because I thought I let the team down," Wainwright said. "We got the ball first and we wanted to set the tone, then I go and make the worst pass I've made all year." As it turns out, that adversity lasted all of 14 seconds. Niceville QB Trey Wainwright races to the end zone for a touchdown against Crestview during their playoff football game at Crestview. On Niceville's next play from scrimmage, Wainwright tucked the ball and found a gap up the left sideline thanks to Dramarian "Juice" McNulty's block. Wainwright wasn't touched once en route to a 65-yard score. The senior would end up with 291 yards and four touchdowns, pushing his tally to 24 touchdowns compared to one interception on the year. Niceville (8-0) would end up with yet another running-clock win, Thomas and Shawn Parker tacking on two scores each and Dom Annichiarico, Roland Clay and Alex Houston each finding the end zone as part of Niceville's 56-20 win over the short-manned Bulldogs (1-7). "That one was so emotional and I knew it'd be a tough game," said Grant Thompson, now 20-1 during his two-year tenure at the Niceville helm. "The score indicates it. I wasn't panicked early on. No one was. We just knew this was gonna be a game. There was no way we were gonna roll them like last time. They played hard and they had a bad injury and I hated to see that. It could have been a different game." That bad injury was to Marquis McCoy, who entered the night with 17 touchdowns as Crestview's Mr. Everything — captain, playmaker, leader. But on a first-down keeper on Crestview's second drive, McCoy suffered a gruesome ankle injury that immediately had Niceville players running to the sideline and an ambulance on standby. Niceville DE Joshua Scannell reacts after the Eagles defense stopped Crestview RB Corey Siler during their playoff football game at Crestview. He gave a thumbs up as he was carted off in a stretcher, but Crestview's offense wouldn't be the same. And the Dawgs, who earlier in the year lost 56-14 at Eagle Stadium, had no answer for Wainwright and Co. Wainwright's redemption run started it all. "Juice made a really good block and I was able to go all the way down the sideline," Wainwright said. "Coach Brigman got me fast." Soon later, he threw touchdown passes to Thomas, Annichiarico and Clay to make it an insurmountable 28-7 lead early in the second quarter. Niceville WR Roland Clay hauls in a pass for a long gain over Crestview LB Thaddeus Atchison during their playoff football game at Crestview. And here the Eagles are: One win down, five to go. STAT OF THE NIGHT: Eight Eight wins, eight running clocks. When Parker's 8-yard touchdown run pushed the lead to 49-14 with 1:38 left in the third quarter, so started Niceville's 2020 calling card. Action from the Niceville-Crestview playoff football game at Crestview. "As a senior it feels pretty good to get that first playoff win down," Parker said. "And a against a rival too, it's just a special feeling." Parker wound up with 52 yards and two scores on eight carries, yet he deflected all the praise to his teammates. "Blocking was the main thing and everybody tonight did that," Parker said. "They executed blocking perfectly." Action from the Niceville-Crestview playoff football game at Crestview. OFFENSIVE MVP: Azareyeh Thomas, Niceville junior In the open field, double-covered or one-on-one, Thomas is a matchup nightmare. Thomas racked up 107 yards and scored his ninth and 10th touchdowns of the season Friday night, yet his paths to the end zone couldn't have been more disparate. One was a one-on-one jump ball in the left corner of the end zone, Thomas gaining separation and hauling in the 29-yard touchdown pass as he somersaulted out of bounds. "Me and Trey, we have this little check," Thomas said. "When I look at him, he knows that it's going to be a mismatch between me and the bandit and he can throw it up where only I can get it. "He done made a great throw and I caught it." The other was a simple catch in the flat, Thomas making one man miss and stiff-arming another 28 yards to paydirt. "On film I saw that every time someone ran to the outside, they'd turn their whole body. So I just stuck my foot in the ground and then scored," Thomas said. Action from the Niceville-Crestview playoff football game at Crestview. DEFENSIVE MVP: Austin Firestone, Niceville junior Sure, the 6-foot-5 Firestone is this lauded offensive lineman destined for the Power Five. Yet he understands his roots at defensive end, which got him to the varsity level as an underclassman. Another 1.5 sacks Friday night pushed his area-leading total to nine sacks on the season in just eight games. All while still being that dominant left tackle. "This defense, we're grinding every day," Firestone said. "It's always that one of us is going to make a play. We count on each other. And coach Martin is amazing at calling plays. He's always setting us up for success. We kind pf give him the look, and he's like, 'OK, we're calling 22 Angle.' "We're all one the same page." The same can said offensively for a crew averaging more than 50 points per game. "We don't really have one thing we have to rely on," Firestone said. "If a team is great at defending the run, we're going to throw to Azareyeh or Roland or Dom or Juice. If a team has Azareyeh and Juice locked down, we're going to run it right up the middle. "It's just so cool to have a balanced offense." QUOTABLE Grant Thompson on this storybook year: "We got big goals, big aspirations. I'm just having a ball coaching these guys and being around these other coaches. We just want this to go as long as it can possibly go." UP NEXT Niceville hosts Leon (1-3) in the Region 1-7A quarterfinals at 7 p.m. on Nov. 20. "It's going to be a great atmosphere," Thompson said. "It's been three weeks, I'm getting homesick." Crestview's season is done at 1-7.