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1969 NHS Season Statistics

Evansville Courier & Press Newspapers ALL CITY/METRO Selections

RESULTS

SCORING

PASSING

Individual stats for rushing and receiving are unavailable at this time.

Highlights included: Returning 9 lettermen on offense, the Huskies were a pre-season favorite to contend for the City title.  With a full season of running the single wing offense under their belt from the previous year, North looked to produce a high-powered running game. 

Up against city powerhouse Rex Mundi in the first game, it was two long passes that accounted for the scoring.  Senior RB Keith Leibring threw two scores (a 68 yarder to E Paul Peay and a 61 yarder to HB Mark Egli) late in the game with North trailing by three touchdowns.  Leibring produced over 200 yards total offense in the 19-14 loss.

Leibring's legs provided most of the excitement in a second week loss to Vincennes as he scored two TD's and ran in an extra point.  The Alices scored the go-ahead touchdown with under five minutes to play and the Huskies took over after the ensuing kickoff at their own 19.  North then drove to the Vincennes 15 yard line with under a minute to play, but on fourth and eleven, a Mark Egli to Paul Peay pass slipped through the receiver's fingers and the Huskies were 0-2.

North got untracked in their next two games with a 32-0 shut out of Terre Haute Wiley's Red Streak and a 27-7 trouncing of Central.  Leibring scored four touchdowns and FB Ben Lawson ran in three during the contests.  Leibring also found Paul Peay on a 35 yd scoring toss against Wiley.

Unfortunately, the inability to pass the ball consistently (North completed only two passes in nearly 25 attempts over one three game stretch) allowed teams to stack the line and slow down the single wing.  Held to 83 yards total offense by Memorial and 128 versus Reitz, the Husky defense was being over taxed.

Despite holding Reitz to similar uncharacteristically low offensive output, the Huskies were defeated by the Panthers.  North was only down a single score to the heavily favored west-siders with four minutes to play in the game but couldn't manage to put a single point on the board.

Coach Morris Riley changed the mix against Terre Haute Gerstmeyer and instead used junior Steve Johnston as his dominant passer.  Keith Leibring was used exclusively as a runner.  The results were perfect.  Returning the opening kickoff to their 30, the offense drove 70 yards in a 7 play scoring drive that was climaxed by a Leibring touchdown run.  Shortly thereafter, LB Jeff Thomas picked off a Black Cat pass and gave the Huskies great field possession.  The ensuing drive put North up a couple scores early and the rout was on.  With Johnston going 6 for 9 thru the air for 105 yards and a TD pass to Mark Egli, he also rang up 153 yards rushing and scored 2 TDs and a two-point conversion.

With the air attack firmly in the hands of Johnston, Keith Leibring was free to be the workhorse running back.  The following week versus Bosse, the 5' 10" 175 lb senior ran the ball an amazing 37 times for 169 yards and a touchdown.  Alternating between Leibring, Johnston, and FB Ben Lawson on the opening drive, the Huskies pushed the Bulldogs 68 yards in 15 plays without ever having to go to the air before Johnston scored.  When they did go the air, Johnston's favorite target was end Paul Peay who caught a 26 yard pass to set up a short touchdown run by Lawson.  Peay also contributed a fumble recovery and an interception on defense during the game.  Racking up over 300 yards on the ground alone, the offense was working well again.

Entering the next to last game of the season as underdogs to Mater Dei and with Leibring out due to an injury suffered in practice, it fell to Johnston and Lawson to fill the gap, but... not senior running back "Ben" Lawson.  Instead it was sophomore kicker Mike Lawson who would score the game winner.  Having trailed most of the game, the Huskies scored on a Steve Johnston 2 yd TD run midway thru the third quarter and took the lead when Johnston converted a two point run.  However, when Mater Dei drove the length of the field and scored with less than five minutes to go, it appeared the Husky win streak was in jeopardy.  Returning the ensuing kickoff to their own 35, Johnston then directed a 13 play drive and scored a touchdown form one yard out to tie the game with 10 seconds to play.  When Mike Lawson and the extra point team trotted out onto the field, it was with the knowledge that they'd either missed or had blocked 5 of their last 6 attempts.  As the attempt sailed perfectly between the uprights, North's 12th consecutive season without a losing record was assured.

RUSHING 

RECEIVING

DEFENSE--2 pts each for solo, cause or recover fumble, sack, int, blk kick; 1 pt each for assist and tackle for loss

No Defensive Statistics are available at this time.

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