Saint Augustine, FL — Grant Thompson and Keith White were exactly where they were supposed to be Friday night. Thompson and his Niceville Eagles were five hours and 350 miles from Eagle Stadium, where you'd expect a 2 seed in Region 1-4S to be in the opening round of the playoffs. 'It was almost like a penance. We paid our price.' For Thompson, Niceville's 11-hour roundtrip to Nease was self-inflicted after losing the District 2-4S title to Mosley. The Eagles didn't balk at the travel, didn't complain. Instead they ran with the wakeup call, riding four touchdowns from Maddax Fayard (two rushing, one receiving, one kickoff return), two scores from DJ Shorts (punt block return, rushing) a scoop and score from De'mon Allen on a Maddox Hayles forced fumble, and a final rushing score from Timberland Smith. "We were happy to travel. We earned it," Thompson said. "It was almost like a penance. We needed it and we paid our price." In the same breath, he also noted the Eagles earned their 2 seed as well, which will afford them home-field advantage over a third-seeded Bartram Trail team that knocked out sixth-seeded Navarre, 67-55 on Friday night. "The place will be rocking. We're excited," said Thompson, who initially said he doesn't know much about Bartram Trail. What he does know is the controllable: Niceville's offense is looking prolific at the right time. Its defense has also turned a page since the Mosley loss. "We're in a good spot. We like where we're at," Thompson said.