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North 21 Central 33 - Central Stadium Evansville Oct. 13, 2006

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Game Recap

The deepest holes to dig out of are the ones you dig yourself.

 Last Friday night, the Huskies dug a deep hole and, to their credit, continued to try and work their way out of it until the final gun.

 An emotional crowd generated a deafening roar as the game got under way between Central and North.  The opening kickoff set the tone for the evening, however, when a questionable call left the Huskies starting from their own 5 yard line.

The play was a precursor of things to come.

Displaying a run oriented offense, FB Damien Odom broke loose for a first down and then HB Larry Merriweather ran for good yardage.  QB Dion Pendleton faked a toss and ran for a dozen yards.  It was classic Husky football putting together a 10 play 75 yard drive to start the game.

Unfortunately, because of the call on the opening kickoff, the drive had to go 95 yards to be successful.

When a pass to WR Ryan Parkman fell incomplete, Central took over and collected six points on their second play.  A 70 yard pass reception gave the Bears an early 7-0 lead.

When the Huskies’ next possession stalled, Central took the ball and promptly drove 57 yards for another score to make it 14-0.

The defensive line, which had played so brilliantly the prior Friday night, had difficulty putting a pass rush on Central’s quarterback.  The linebacker corps was making tackles five and six yards up field from where they would normally make contact.  The defensive backs were called upon to lend support to stop the heavy handed Bear running game.

And the run support came at a cost.

As the second quarter was barely underway, a Central receiver got behind North’s backfield and for the third time in fifteen minutes of play, the Bears had a touchdown reception.

At that point, the Huskies’ resolve to win could have gone out the window.  Instead, the club pulled together and mounted the best comeback that it could muster.

With just over 9 minutes to play in the half on a critical third down, HB Larry Merriweather displayed the type of toughness that such a comeback would require.  Putting his head down, he met a Central defender head on—the two clashed helmet to helmet—and Merriweather surged forward for the first down near the 40 yard line.  QB Dion Pendleton then pulled down what appeared to have started as a screen pass that the Bears were prepared for and took off on jaunt to the Bears 28 yard line. 

Four more running plays brought the ball to the Central one yard line with just over five minutes to play in the half.  Merriweather did a text book dive over the offensive line’s front surge to generate North’s first points of the night.

The defense then held Central and brought the North faithful to their feet with hopes of trimming the deficit to seven points by halftime.  North moved the ball downfield and appeared to be on the verge of re-defining the game only to come up short with less than 40 seconds remaining in the half.

SECOND HALF

The half began with an exchange of punts, however, the second time that Central got the ball, they began the drive that would tell the tale of the remainder of the game.  Battering away with both their fleet footed halfback and their Division One bound fullback, the Bears once again drove long distance for a touchdown.  Trailing 27-7 it appeared that the lights were dimming on the Huskies championship hopes.

When North’s next possession stalled the crowd on the east side of the field had grown very quiet.  This time, however, it was Central’s turn to open the door for North’s recovery.  When the Husky defense forced a punt, the Bears’ center snapped the ball over the punters head and North recovered inside the twenty yard line.

It didn’t take the offense long to capitalize and within two minutes WR Brandon Stewart hooked up on a hot route when Central left him in single coverage to the right hand side of the field.  An instant later, he was leaping high in the end zone for an eight yard touchdown reception.  When the kick made the score 27-14, the crowd and the sidelines were once again abuzz with anticipation.

The ensuing kickoff, however, brought hopes back to earth.  Central’s return man found an opening along the North sideline and ran 89 yards for a score to make the deficit 19 points.

There weren’t many who thought the Huskies could bridge the gap at that point.

QB Dion Pendleton was one of those folks who still believed it was possible.  After Stewart returned a fourth quarter kick to the Husky 40 yard line, two running plays brought the ball to midfield.  Pendleton then took the ball inside the Central defensive end, caught a big block from FB Damien Odom on the Central linebacker, broke a tackle, and then ran 45 more yards before a defender pushed him out of bounds inside the five.

Two rushing attempts to the left proved unsuccessful but did move the ball to the far hash mark.  On third down, Pendleton pitched the ball to Merriweather and he ran toward the far flag.  Both Central’s middle linebacker and cornerback managed to cut him off before he reached the goal line, but Merriweather spun back toward the inside, twisted free from their grasp, and hurled himself into the end zone as the defenders’ own momentum carried them out of bounds.  North had cut the gap to 33-21 with 8 minutes to play.

The defense again rose to the occasion and held the Central offense in place and North steadily moved the ball back into scoring position.  Pendleton’s runs again put North into contention and when he lined up in the shotgun on a key second down play with the clock running, it was with an eye toward Stewart.

With the defensive back giving him plenty of room, Stewart hooked up short and appeared to scoop a pass off his shoe tops that he was then able to turn into a ten yard gain for a first down inside the Central twenty-five yard line.  The official standing less than five feet away signaled that the catch was clean.  A backfield official behind Stewart, shielded by at least three players and twenty yards away from the play, waited until the play was blown dead elsewhere on the field to come in and overrule the reception.

The drive stalled on the next play and North never again seriously challenged in the remaining five minutes of play.  The game ended at 33-21.  North settled for a second place tie in both the City and the SIAC with Reitz and Mater Dei.

With a bye week ahead, all eyes are now fixed upon the first round match between Bedford North Lawrence and New Albany.  The Jeff Sagarin Ratings (http://www.kiva.net/~jsagarin/sports/hsfsend.htm) project Bedford North Lawrence to be a 9 point favorite in the match.  Also of note is the fact that BNL just defeated Columbus East, the #1 rated 4A team in the state in their final regular season game.  The BNL win over Columbus will most likely allow Central to move into the #1 slot in the final coaches’ poll.

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