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1978 NHS Season Statistics

Evansville Courier & Press Newspapers ALL CITY/METRO Selections

RESULTS

SCORING

PASSING

 RUSHING

RECEIVING

Highlights included: For the second consecutive year, the Huskies lost their starting quarterback to a season ending injury.  Unlike '77, North could never bounce entirely back from the loss.

The season had started well with a 27-7 trouncing of Castle.  With Steve Adams at QB, the offense had purred like a kitten.  RB Mark Garrett blitzed the Knights for 123 yards rushing and two TD's.  The game started especially well with Ken Stevens recovering a Castle fumble in the first minute of play and led to Garrett's first touchdown.  The North rushing game would go on to account for 24 first downs while the defense would hold the Knights to just 87 yards on the ground.  Garrett's backfield mate, fullback Gregg Knust--a bruising blocker at fullback and the team's punter--also picked up 100 yards on the ground.

Knust, however, was involved in an automobile accident that prevented him from dressing for the next two games and the impact of his loss was noticeable.  In a week 2 match up versus eventual SIAC champion Memorial (led by All-City quarterback Don Mattingly), the ground game was unable to get going without Knust in the backfield and the two teams went into halftime tied at 0-0.  With Adams forced into duty at punter, North's first punt of the third quarter traveled just 5 yards and gave the Tigers the ball at the North 30.  Memorial converted the short field to take a one touchdown lead.  The defense continued to match the power house Tigers blow for blow and the margin stood well into the fourth quarter.  Unfortunately, another short punt gave Memorial the ball at the North 32 and the Tigers took advantage of another short field for the 13-0 final score.

The Huskies displayed their toughness again in week three when they fell behind Jeffersonville 28-0 early but refused to give up.  Defensive back Jeff Andress blocked a punt early in the fourth quarter and returned it 49 yards for a score.  On the ensuing possession, the defense again forced a three and out and when the Red Devil's botched the snap, Adams quickly hit Andress with a 24 yard pass for another score.  Later in the quarter, the Huskies blocked another punt and quickly converted the short field for a third fourth quarter touchdown.  The early deficit proved too great to overcome, but the Huskies had again played better than their record would have indicated.

Against Harrison, Knust returned from his injury but the Huskies lost quarterback Steve Adams for the rest of the season to a broken collarbone in the first quarter of the game.  North was forced to revert to a single wing offense and nearly managed to overcome the loss.  The Huskies fell behind early after a fumble on the first play from scrimmage and found themselves down 13-0 before the game was barely five minutes old.  The offense struggled with Andress forced into service as the signal caller and repeated illegal motion penalties stalled a pair of drives. 

North's offensive line, however, was starting to find its stride and when the team could get the snap count right, things started to work.  Late in the first half, the Huskies put together a 91 yard drive that was capped off by Garrett's 8 yard touchdown run.  The line of scrimmage remained a battlefield throughout the game and neither team could manage another score until the Warrior found the end zone with 9:53 to play in the game.  North found itself without its quarterback and trailing 20-6 and few in the stands would have foreseen a come back.

Once again the offensive line asserted itself and North put together a 92 yard drive that ended with Garrett's second touchdown of the game.  Lightning struck when Harrison fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Wayne Jones recovered the ball at the 24 yard line.  Minutes later, Andress put the ball in the end zone on a quarterback keeper to cut the margin to two points with just two minutes to play.  The Huskies gave the ball to their big fullback, Knust, for the crucial extra point and he ran the ball in behind left guard Steve Carlile and tied the ball game to force over time.  The comeback was not to be however, when North fumbled the ball away on their possession in OT. For the third week in a row, the Huskies had gone toe-to-toe with an opponent only to come out on the short end of the score.

The "never say die" attitude was again on display when state-ranked Terre Haute South (led by All-State quarterback Cam Cameron) came to town.  The Braves built a 20-0 first quarter lead and eventually led by 33-0 at half time.  Coach Wessel's troops came out of halftime determine to make a game of it and the results began to show in the third quarter.  Larry Niemeier sailed 90 yards on a punt return for a touchdown and then the defense recovered a fumble by Cameron at the Terre Haute 13 to set up a Knust touchdown run.  With seven minutes to play, the Huskies again drove downfield and Andress hit wide receiver Mike Pendleton with a 10 yard touchdown pass to cut the margin to just 13 with seven minutes to play.  The early deficit proved too great to overcome and the Huskies again acquitted themselves well against a highly rated team.

Following a blowout by Central, North came up against Mater Dei and were favored to win for the first time in weeks.  The atmosphere at Reitz Bowl wasn't conducive to a North victory, however, as five interceptions haunted the Huskies.  As a result of the turnovers, North found themselves down 14-7 with 10:40 to play and desperate for the ball.  Mike Hyde provided the momentum changing moment with an interception at the Husky 35 yard line.  A few plays later, quarterback Ken Stevens found Pendleton open over the middle and Pendleton made the most of the opportunity.  He bounced off one defender, whirled to his right, and sprinted for a score.  The final interception, however, occurred with four minutes to play proved to be the back breaker.  Mater Dei marched downfield (aided by a 15 yard facemask penalty) for the winning touchdown.

The Huskies jumped out to an early lead the following week against state-ranked Bosse.  Ken Stevens dove in from the one to cap a ten play drive and the Huskies led 7-0.  The Bulldogs battled back and took a 22-7 lead with 1:11 to play in the 3rd quarter.  On the ensuing kickoff, Mark Garrett went 93 yards for a touchdown and when Gregg Knust bulled his way into the end zone for a 2 point conversion, the home crowd at Central Stadium erupted.  North was within 7 points of an upset victory.  The upset never materialized, however, as Bosse drained the clock with an 11 play scoring drive that sank North chances.

To simply look at the score of the season's final game, it would appear that the Reitz Panthers dominated the Huskies.  North, however, out gained Reitz in Total Yards and First Downs in front of 5,000 fans at Reitz Bowl.  The Huskies scored first on a Jeff Andress field goal that capped off a 15 play drive with 4:08 to play in the first quarter.  It was not until a highly controversial "muffed" punt return in the second quarter that the Panthers were able to get on the board.  As a result of the fumble (and the subsequent 15 yard penalty against Coach Wessle for arguing the call), the ball was placed at the North 12.  Two plays later, Reitz took the lead at 7-3.  Early on, Reitz' only offense seemed to stem from punt returns and a long return just before the half to North's 19 yard line set up their second score.

The score remained 14-3 until the 4th period when three North penalties (for a combined 26 yards) sustained a Reitz drive for another score.  On the ensuing kickoff, the Huskies put together a drive that made it all the way to the Reitz three yard line before stalling.  A late interception on a desperation pass produced Reitz' final score.  The Huskies had outplayed the Panthers by all statistical measures except turnovers and penalties.  The 1978 Huskies were "in" nearly every game but could not find a way to win.

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

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