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North 21 Owensboro Apollo 7 - Central Stadium Evansville Oct. 6, 2006

Game Stats    Game Recap   

Offense 

NORTH FOOTBALL VS.  APOLLO 2006              
      RUSHING             
No Name Rushes Yards Ave. Yds  Rush Fumbles Fum. Lost TD's Extra Pts. Total Points Longest
24 Larry Meriweather 18 50 2.8 1 1 1 0 6 12
3 Damien Odom 4 9 2.3 0 0 0 0 0 5
40 Greg Hopkinson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 Dion Pendleton 12 14 1.2 2 0 0 0 0 8
25 Travis Carlile 1 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 5
5 Cory Hunter 5 8 1.6 0 0 0 0 0 5
4 Brandon Stewart 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    41 86 1.6125 3 1 1 0 6 4.375
      Not accurate!           Not accurate!
      PASSING            
No Name Comp. Att. Comp. % Yards Ave. Comp TD's INT. Longest  
2 Dion Pendleton 8 15 53% 126 15.8 2 0 43  
                   
                   
      PASS RECEPTIONS        
No Name Rec. Yards Ave per Rec. Fumbles Fum. Lost TD's Extra Pts. Total Points Longest
3 Damien Odom 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 Ryan Parkman 5 50 10 0 0 2 0 12 25
4 Brandon Stewart 3 76 25.3 0 0 0 0 0 43
8 Darrion Fletcher 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
88 James Trapp 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
80 Mitch Parker 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    8 126 5.04285714 0 0 2 0 12 9.71429
      Not accurate!           Not accurate!
      KICKS     Had Field Extra  Total
No Name Type Att. (Made) Yards Ave. Yds Blocked Goals Points Points
1 Kyle Horstman PAT 3 3   0 0   3 3
1 Kyle Horstman Kickoff 4   195 48.8        
80 Mitch Parker Punt 4   127 31.8 0      
1 Kyle Horstman FG 1 0 25 25        
                                 Defense Scored   0
    TEAM TOTALS            
  First Downs Figure 12     All Purpose Yards    
  Rushing Yards Auto 86   Name Rush Rec Return Yds Total Yards TD's/ Pts.
  Rush Attemps Auto 41   Stewart 0 0 0 0 0
  Ave Yds per Rush Figure 2.1   Carlile 0 0 0 0 0
  Passing Yards Auto 126   Odom 0 0 0 0 0
  Completed Auto 8   Parkman 0 50 55 105 0
  Attempted Auto 15   Larry          
  Completion % Auto 53%   Fletcher          
  Ave Yds per Comp. Figure 15.8              
  Total Yards Auto 212     Returns        
  Plays Figure 58 Name Type of kick No of Return Yds Ave. Return Fair Caught TD's/ Pts.
  Ave. Yds per Play Figure 3.7 Stewart PR 0 0 0 0 0
  Turnovers Figure 1 Stewart KR 0 0 0 0 0
  Fumbles Figure 3 Larry KR 0 0 0 0 0
  Fumbles Lost Figure 1 Odom KR 0 0 0 0 0
  INT's Figure 0 Parkman PR 1 -5 0 0 0
  Total Points Auto 21 Parkman KR 1 60 60    
  P.A.T.'s (att./ made) 3 3 Fletcher KR 0 0 0    
  Punts & Ave Yds 4 31.8 Other KR/PR 1 0 0    
  Kickoffs & Ave Yds 4 48.8              
  FG  (att./made/yds) 1 0 25            

Defense

Game Recap

The 2006 Huskies flexed some muscles last Friday night.

Facing the #6 team in Kentucky’s highest rated football class, North took control of the line of scrimmage and pounded the Owensboro Apollo Eagles into submission.

The defense yielded only 57 yards rushing and picked off three interceptions.  The game was nowhere near as close as the 21-7 score might indicate.

From the time junior WR Ryan Parkman took the opening kickoff and returned it nearly 60 yards until the waning moments of the game, Apollo barely got a taste of North’s territory.  The defensive line played the Eagles to a stand still with tackles Matt Hawkins and JT Turner and interior LB’s George Quarles and Marlon Shamell stopping every rushing attempt to the middle.

With linebackers Clinton Brown and Larry Merriweather providing pursuit and defensive backs  Stephan Jackson and Damien Odom providing run support, the Eagles could seldom get outside to pick up substantial yardage.  In all, Apollo’s running game never ‘got off the ground’.

And when they decided to go ‘up top’ with the ball, the real fun began.

The Eagles’ QB stood 6’ 2” tall and possessed some mobility.  He also owns a strong arm.  What he didn’t have Friday night was any time to pick a receiver.

DE’s Jordan Lewis and Quintez Todd harried the Apollo quarterback every time he attempted to pass.  Fewer than a handful of passes were thrown throughout the first three quarters of the game without one or the other or both causing fits for the Eagles’ signal caller.

And it showed.

The first pickoff came on a deep post pattern at the North 10 yard line.  The receiver traveled nearly 40 yards on his pattern.  Unfortunately for Owensboro, the ball only traveled 35 yards.  Safety Brandon Stewart leapt for the ball, caught a block from Stephan Jackson, reversed his field, and brought the interception back to the North 30 yard line.

HB Larry Merriweather provided a big run around the right side that netted close to fifteen yards and a first down.  QB Dion Pendleton then hit Stewart in the right hand flat and North picked up another first down.  When a passing play broke down, Pendleton scrambled up near the Apollo 40.  Another toss to Stewart right in front of the North coaching staff carried the ball down inside the 30 yard line.

Following a time out, Pendleton rolled left and spotted WR Ryan Parkman as he got behind the Eagle DB and tossed a tight spiral into the end zone near the left hand marker.  Parkman had to dive to make the catch and made a difficult play look easy.  North led 7 – 0 following the extra point.

On the ensuing Apollo possession, it was once again a combination of a tough pass rush and a defensive back’s leaping ability that shut down the Eagle’s air game.

Under heavy pressure from Jordan Lewis, Apollo’s QB failed to get enough strength on a deep throw down the right hand side.  This time it was Parkman who put himself in possession for the interception and scrambled back up field with the ball before being pushed out of bounds at the Eagle 30 yard line.

When the Huskies came up empty handed on a missed field goal, Owensboro took possession and felt the full force of the North defensive line.  DT Matt Hawkins stuffed one rush attempt with a vicious bear-hug tackle on first down.  On third down and long, Apollo attempted an ill-fated screen pass.  When the North linebackers sniffed out the deception, it left DE Jordan Lewis the opportunity to pursue the Eagle signal caller all the way back to his own 15 yard line where Lewis hurled him to the ground.

The Huskies continued to operate the remainder of the half in Apollo territory but couldn’t manage to put more points on the board.  One particular opportunity cost them the services of WR/DB Brandon Stewart for the remainder of the night.

Having already left the game once to have his ankle administered to, Stewart returned midway through the second quarter and broke free with a pass reception along the North side lines for a 15 yard pick up.  He landed badly as he was tackled and came up holding his side.  He would not return for the remainder of the game.

Punter Mitch Parker would keep the Eagles bottled up in their end of the field with kicks that rolled dead inside the 20 and the half would end with North up 7-0.

SECOND HALF

After forcing a punt to begin the half, North began their third quarter scoring drive from near midfield.  When QB Pendleton rolled right on the option play on third down, he faked the pitch, evaded the end, and rambled for a first down.  Handoffs to Merriweather and Odom brought the ball within the Eagle 15 yard line.

Pendleton then hooked up with WR Ryan Parkman on a perfectly executed fade pass to the left hand side of the goal line to give North a two touchdown lead.  Parkman ran aggressively toward the end zone and then took something off his stride just as the defensive back committed himself to a deep route defense.  The ball floated perfectly into Parkman’s hands before the DB could recover.

The two teams exchanged punts on their next possessions and there was an element of desperation coming from the Eagle sideline as play neared the end of the third quarter.  With the line continuing to shut down their running game, Apollo’s quarterback again dropped back to pass on third down.  This time it was DE Quintez Todd and blitzing linebacker George Quarles who put the signal caller under pressure and it was LB Clinton Brown who benefited.

When the pass crossed the line of scrimmage, Brown homed in on it like a hungry falcon taking in a songbird.  Plucking the ball out of the air, the junior linebacker angled toward the left sideline and turned up field.  Shaking one tackler and spinning past another, Brown was well on his way to the end zone when the official blew the whistle and claimed he’d stepped out of bounds at the 40 yard line.

North began its final scoring drive from there and moved the ball three, four, and five yards at a time in a relentless march down field.  Just after the start of the fourth quarter, HB Larry Merriweather punched into the end zone from two yards out.  When K Kyle Horstman converted his third attempt of the night, the score was 21-0 and for all intents and purposes the game was over.

Only an ill-fated decision to attempt a last second interception would mar North’s near perfect defensive display.  Playing reserves throughout much of the fourth quarter, Apollo heaved a “Hail Mary” toward the goal line with less than a minute to play.  When two North defenders cancelled one another out on the play, the Eagles finally tasted the end zone and accumulated much of their final yardage on a single play.

Friday night’s match up with the #4 ranked Central Bears marks the first time since 1959 that the two teams have met with both teams having a share of the City Title on the line.  Central won that battle 19-0, but North got some retaliation four years later when it beat the 1-8 Bears 34-0 to clinch its first City Crown in 1963.

 


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