Niceville, FL — Just seconds after Niceville's 28-21 come-from-behind win over district foe Mosley, Grant Thompson didn't want to explore the playoff ramifications. He wanted to savor this. Soak it in. Reflect on life, success, friendships. So Thompson lingered a bit at midfield as the “I love it" chant from his players reverberated through Eagle Stadium, the young head coach unsure of how to digest the “emotional win" that validated why he returned to his alma mater in 2019. He'd just beaten one of best friends in life, fellow Niceville alumnus Tommy Joe Whiddon, who last year led the Dolphins to the region finals. "I was the center here. He was the quarterback here. You know that?" he said. He'd witnessed his team respond to a 21-7 deficit with 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, the capper a 45-yard run by DJ Shorts that featured four broken tackles, two change of directions and highlighted the best kind of running back controversy in Niceville. "We're a young team. We've been down a lot," Thompson said. "We've been down about every game and just the resilience to bounce back and fight, that says a lot." Most importantly, his 8-1 team was District 2-4S champion — Niceville's fourth straight district crown since Thompson took over. Attached to it is no worse than a No. 4 seed in Region 1-4S. "This is what we say every year: We want to be Okaloosa County champs. We want to be district champs. Check both of those boxes four years in a row," Thompson said. "That's not easy." Here are five takeaways from the win. Defensive second-half adjustments seem to be a theme Down 21-7 at halftime after Mosley quarterback Sam Freitas and wideout Isaac Paul carved up Niceville's secondary for a pair of touchdowns, Niceville’s defense buckled down. Two drives resulted in punts, the other a missed 40-yard field goal off the crossbar and the last a turnover on downs following Ramon Cruz's sack on third-and-15. Nada. Zilch. Nothing. Mosley was shut out in the second half. After piling up 219 yards of offense in the first half, Mosley mustered just 115 after. Six of the Dolphins' nine foes — including all three Okaloosa County opponents and two district adversaries — have been blanked by Niceville in the second half. "They shut 'em out. They tend to like that. They tend to do that," Thompson said, Credit the coaching. Credit the adjustments in the secondary and the play calling. Credit the athleticism up front. Most importantly, the stops allowed their offense to cure its offensive ills. "Defense, I tell you what," Thompson said in the postgame huddle," if y'all keep not letting them score in the second half, we're gonna win a lot of games." The Eagles can beat you on the ground in many ways Collectively, the Eagles had 41 carries for 289 yards. Let's break it down. Quarterback Harrison Orr got 14 carries and, per usual, found success ad-libbing in the pocket and keeping plays alive with 67 rushing yards. He'd also throw for 105 yards and a touchdown to Maddax Fayard, who finished with seven receptions for 102 yards. Christian Caballero and Micah Turner once again shined in the "heavy package," the latter linebacker-turned-tailback carrying three tacklers into the end zone on a 10-yard keeper to knot the score at 21 with 7:04 left to play. But it was Shorts that shined brightest, the junior rushing for 135 yards on 14 carries, including a 10-yard bruising touchdown run to begin the fourth quarter that closed the deficit to 14-21. He later tacked on the run of the night. On first-and-10 from Mosley's 45, Shorts busted up the middle through initial contact, dismissed two tacklers a few yards downfield, broke another tackle and then cut to the right sideline, where he outran a member of the secondary and then cut it back up the middle for the touchdown. Ballgame. "I hit the hole and all I saw was grass," Shorts said. "I knew from my coach telling me on the sideline and halftime, he was just saying 'we need to hit it. We need to hit it. We need to punch them in the mouth every play.' " "What a run," Thompson said. Not getting swept up in the rankings As it is currently, the Eagles and Dolphins would face off in the region quarterfinals as the respective 3/6 seeds. That may still hold true next month following the regular-season finale next week. Buchholz has a solid cushion on Niceville for the 2 spot Mosley is firmly in at 6. Had Niceville lost, Thompson didn't want to even think about the FHSAA strength of schedule algorithms. "District 2-4S champ, that's so massive. You don't understand. I don't want to get into the playoff stuff — you lose this one, you lose the next one," Thompson said. "That stuff's so over my head. They don't even release the rankings, so it's done. It's taken care of. We're gonna be a higher seed and we're right where we want to be." Three of Mosley's losses have come by a single possession and all four have come by 10 or less points. The Dolphins have a gifted quarterback in Freitas, who was 23-for-37 for 251 yards and finished with three scores. They have two dynamic receiving options in Randy Pittman (12 catches for 103 yards) and Paul (four catches for 91 yards and two scores). And they have an imposing defensive line that was successful in pressuring Orr and limiting the run game en route to that 21-7 lead through three quarters. "So, you know, what a job (Tommy) did calling plays early on and putting them ahead," Thompson said. "What they were able to do early on and those three catches they had, just unreal. A lot of things could've happened for us to lose the game, but it was just a couple of plays and the momentum kind of swung back. Then we were able to kind of grind and run the ball validates our resiliency." A future clash of 8-1 teams? If Navarre, currently ranked fourth in Region 1-4S and in line to win a District 1-4S title, beats Gulf Breeze Friday night, the environment for the regular-season finale against Niceville on Nov. 4 will be electric at Bennett C. Russell Stadium. Jay Walls used to own Niceville. Now Thompson has reasserted dominance in the rivalry. Both teams were humbled by 3S's top-ranked Pine Forest, only to score a quality win over Mosley and discover district glory. Both have amazing special teams (Terence Marshall, Brendan Giddings, Logan Marise, etc.). Both have playmakers at wideout (Fayard and Jadon Reese). Both have highlight-reel tailbacks (E.J. Love and DJ Shorts). Next week should be fun.