The Niceville High School football team (11-0) beat Chiles (6-5) 31-10 in Friday’s Region 1-7A quarterfinal playoff game behind Dom Annichiarico’s four touchdowns.

NICEVILLE — It’s not Niceville running back Dom Annichiarico’s style to demand the ball.
Not with quarterback Will Koch and his 23 touchdowns under center. Not with 1,000-yard back Shawn Parker’s elusiveness demanding totes.
Not with a receiving core featuring the likes of Luke Unterseh, Roman Prestarri and Nick Morrison.
But sometimes the situation — “Heavy!” the play call constantly raining down from Niceville’s sideline Friday night — demands it. As does the opponent.
The 6-foot, 185-pound Annichiarico rushed for 139 yards and four touchdowns to help lead Niceville (11-0) to a 31-10 win at Eagle Stadium and into the Region 1-7A semifinals, a round the Eagles haven’t advanced to since 2015.
“I’m not asking for (the ball), but I want it,” said the junior. “When they call my number I just know we have to get the first down, so it’s at this point where I’m like, ‘I just gotta follow my blockers and muscle it through there.’ I can’t try to do too much. It’s an awesome feeling when they trust me. I mean, it’s a lot of responsibility, but it’s good they trust me and the O-line like that.”
From his coaches. From his teammates. And also from the crowd, who could sense this was Dom’s time with the team clinging to a 16-10 lead in the third quarter.
He’d earned that, proving Friday he could score any way.
On two goal-line carries in the first half, including a fourth-and-1 plunge to help the Eagles to a 16-0 halftime lead.
Dom again, this time from 1 yard out.
And on a 28-yard highlight-reel run where he ran through five tacklers and carried a linebacker a good 10 yards before going into the end zone standing up.
Perhaps right tackle Kimo Makaneole said it best surrounding the legend of Dom.
“Every time you see Dom’s number, we’re like, “Let’s go Dom! We’re gonna get some! Let’s eat!” laughed Makaneole. “Plus it’s good to get Dom his numbers because you know he has such a bright future next year with all kinds of colleges looking at him.”
Yet those four scores weren’t a season high for Dom. Nah, he had five in the first half alone to tie Ozzie Willhite for the school record in a 57-8 regular-season win over Chiles.
Dom’s heroics paired with four sacks and three turnovers from Niceville’s defense, the undefeated Eagles brushed aside three straight first-round playoff exits and are ushering in a new era under first-year coach Grant Thompson.
“Some teams fizzle out. We’re still going hard,” Dom said. “We want that next game. We want it.”

The skinny on Niceville football

Key players: Quarterback Will Koch, a senior (No. 12, 6'-3", 200 lbs.), has 1398 yards passing with 17 touchdowns and just one interception. Koch holds a 137.7 QB Rating (158 top rating). Koch is accurate; 103 catches on just 145 passes for a 71 percent completion rate.
On the ground, the Eagles have 1,974 yards total with four main carriers; junior Shawn Parker (No. 27, 5'-7", 165 lbs.) who has 863 yards on 128 carries for a 6.7 yards per carry average with seven touchdowns. Parker's best game was a 224 yard effort against Tate in a 41-28 win. Parker also has 12 catches with three scores averaging near 10 yards per catch.
Niceville's second running threat is Koch with 477 yards out of the pocket and six touchdowns. Koch does have one 100-plus yard game on the ground.
Junior Dominic Annichiarico (No. 14, 6'-0", 185 lbs.) has five touchdowns (3 vs. Chiles), but just 173 yards on the ground.
Through the air, Koch's favorite targets are Annichiaricho with 30 catches and senior Luke Unterseh (No. 11, 6'-2", 175 lbs.) with 26 with three scores.
On defense, seniors Aidan Dark, a safety/outside linebacker (No. 13, 6'-1", 210 lbs.) and defensive tackle Logan Schaeffer (No. 38, 6'-1", 260 lbs.)are the core with 76 tackles and 61, respectively. Schaeffer and Dark both have an impressive 14 tackles for losses. Both also have five sacks apiece.
The menace on the outside rush is senior Mi'Quel Coward who has nine quarterback hurries.
In the secondary, with nine interceptions, the Eagles defense has sophomore Azareyeh Thomas (No. 8, 6'-2", 171 lbs.) as the lockdown corner with 21 pass defenses and three picks, plus a safety on a blitz.
Niceville has a decent kicker in senior Jacob Dunne (No. 45) who has 38 of 42 PAT kicks and is two of four on field goals with a 28 yarder.