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North 40 Christian County 22 - Stadium of Champions Oct 6, 2007

Game Stats    Game Recap   

Offense

Offensive line blocking scores:

Allgood   Tomlin   Foster    Douglas  Borman  Kuhlenhoelter

  90%         88%        82%       89%         90%            87%

Defense

Game Recap

Sometimes it’s good to watch your team get nasty.

Saturday in Hopkinsville was one of those times.

Playing in heat that soared well above 90 degrees during the game, the Huskies got a bit of motivation during the pre-game ceremonies against Christian County’s #7 ranked Colonels.  As their team assembled in the end zone to run on the field, the County cheerleaders held up a banner for their team to run through.  The banner read in big blazing red letters, “Evansville?  Who are you???”

The question was not intended to be pleasant.  It was definitely meant in a derogatory fashion.

And for their efforts, the Colonels got a motivated opponent who chose to go out and spoil Christian County’s combination Senior Day and Homecoming.

Well, maybe the Huskies more than spoiled the event for them.  It was more like the Huskies stomped them and then ran bayonets through the wounded.

The Huskies played like a tough opponent should on the road—they took no prisoners.

OPENING DRIVE SUCCESS FOLLOWED BY ON-SIDE KICK

The Huskies took the opening drive and went straight down the field without let up.  QB Dion Pendleton hit WR Mitch Parker on the first play to move across mid-field.  A series of runs took the ball inside the ten and when newly installed left guard Randall Tomlin pancaked the defensive tackle, RB Larry Merriweather drove through the linebacker and into the end zone.

With K Preston Meador on soccer duties, North went for two and Pendleton hit Parker in the right hand corner of the end zone to make the score 8-0.

This was the point in the game at which the ‘nasty’ qualities began to show.  With senior Clinton Brown handling the kicking chores, North executed an on-side kick and junior DB Ben Green came up with the ball at mid-field.

Pendleton directed a quick series of runs and the Huskies were soon lining up in their power I formation on the two yard line.  With fullbacks Travis Carlile and Clinton Brown clearing the way around left end, Merriweather had his second score of the game in the opening ten minutes of play.  Pendleton hit a wide open Carlile in the left hand corner of the end zone for a two point conversion and the Huskies were up 16-0

COLONELS FIGHT BACK WITH A LITTLE HELP

When Christian County finally got the ball, they took advantage of a short kick and one first down had them past midfield.   CB Mitch Parker made a solid third down tackle that brought the Colonels up well short of a first down.  Apparently, though, Christian County took a page from Reitz’ success against North and rather than punt, went for it on fourth down.  Their quarterback broke free around left end and picked up 15 yards before stepping out of bounds inside the thirty.

The runner continued to streak down the sideline and came back into the field of play.  After he had traveled another ten yards he was hit by a North defender and pushed out of bounds a second time.  The Huskies were whistled for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and the Colonels had a first and goal situation.  On the second down (which was the first play of the second quarter) a Colonel receiver caught a short touchdown pass and the score became 16-6.

Christian County got further help when North’s receiver fumbled a reception on the third play from scrimmage following the kickoff.  With a short field ahead of them, the Colonel’s tossed an 11 yard touchdown pass to pull back within two points of the Huskies.

THE FIRST OF TWENTY-EIGHT UNANSWERED HUSKY POINTS

What had looked like it might be a blow out had now taken on the complexion of a tight football game.  With North taking over on their twenty yard line after the ensuing kickoff, there was an opportunity for Christian County to take control of the football game with a defensive stand.

Of course, that could only occur if North let them control the line of scrimmage.

On a hot, sticky afternoon like this one, the sweat covering the jerseys and pants of the royal blue clad Colonels was unmistakable.  Their players were beginning to wilt in the relentless sunshine.  North had made a few personnel changes prior to game time that resulted in no linemen drawing double duty on offense and defense.

The resulting crispness in North’s offensive line performance was noticeable on this possession.  On the first play, the left side of the Husky line moved the Colonel’s back at a 45 degree angle from the line of scrimmage.  Pendleton zoomed around end, picked up a great downfield block from WR Ryan Parkman, and sailed past mid-field before being brought down at the 47.

Merriweather picked up four yards off tackle before Pendleton hit Parkman with an inside screen pass that went for twenty more yards.  Two more runs by Merriweather set up a first and goal from the ten yard line. 

As a change of pace, the Huskies handed the ball to FB Travis Carlile and pointed him toward the hole between left guard and center.  An unaccounted for blitzing linebacker snuck in from the right side and apparently had the junior fullback stopped in the backfield.  Carlile however, dipped his right shoulder and shucked the would-be tackler.  Stepping right behind C Andy Kuhlenholter—who was driving his man backward towards the endzone—Carlile then bulled his way the remaining three steps toward paydirt.  He went in standing up as he ran straight through the heart of the Christian County defense.

North now led 22-14 and never looked back from this point.  Christian County got a boost from a 40 yard run off of a fake punt, but the defense refused to yield another yard and kept the Colonels out of the end zone for the remainder of the half.

A “MIGHTY DEFENSE”

From the first possession of the second half until five minutes remaining in the game, the North defense would not yield another pair of consecutive first downs.  Where the first half had seen Christian County in short fourth down situations that allowed them to gamble, the second half would be a continuous series of either fourth-and-forever or turnovers and miscues for the hapless Colonels. 

The mighty Husky defense (alternating defensive tackle tandems to reflect down and situation) stuffed up the middle, turned in the ends, and cut the heart out of the Christian County offense.  Where their quarterback had found room to roam out beyond his tackles in the first half, he now found no space.  Where their receivers had found seams to collect passes, they now faced a bevy of ball hawkers. 

THE OFFENSE LIGHTS UP THE SCOREBOARD

If Christian County found the going difficult in the second half, the Huskies found just the opposite.  North drove the ball in text book style three different times to drive the score up to 44-14. 

North’s first possession found the Huskies at the Christian County 38 yard line after only five plays.  With the green and white line blowing open holes, the Colonels decided to blitz North with all their linebackers.  This decision left them in man-to-man coverage in the secondary and failed to take into account quarterback Dion Pendleton’s great mobility.

Giving ground and moving to his right, Pendleton stood up tall against the rush and tossed a perfect spiral toward the right goal line 45 yards away from where he stood.  WR Ryan Parkman never broke stride, leapt high with a defender between him and the ball, and snatched the ball out of the air.  Both players tumbled into the endzone and Parkman rolled over with the ball firmly in his grasp.  It was the prettiest play of the day and the one in which most observers could see the fight go out of Christian County.

There were plenty of fireworks still to come however as North chose to teach the members of the Christian County pep club just who Evansville North is and where they come from.

When the Colonels attempted a long pass on third and 12, S Drew Hawkins came up with a circus-catch interception at the Husky 30 yard line.  From there, with Pendleton and Merriweather running enough to keep the Christian County defense honest, the Huskies made short work of the Colonels with a series of short passes that Husky receivers ran a long distance with.

First, WR Stephen Jackson picked up 15 yards on a swing pass to the left side.  Next Travis Carlile took a flair pass and rambled another 15 yards.  Finally, WR Mitch Parker took another short pass to the ten yard line.  A quick burst by Merriweather set up a patented Pendleton option run for a seven yard score.  Jackson ran in the extra point to make it 36 to 14 and the rout was on.

POINTS OFF OF PUNTS

With Marcus Garrett having assumed kickoff responsibilities in the second half, the Colonels found themselves with poor field position early in the fourth quarter.  With nothing working on offense, they found themselves having to punt yet again.

Where the first half had seen fake kicks, fourth down gambles, and miraculous conversions, Christian County was a beaten team by this point.  All they wanted was to punt the ball away and delay the inevitable.

A bad snap put their punter into the position of having to avoid a rush from Garrett and fellow lineman Quintez Todd.  It wasn’t something the punter was particularly prepared for and the resulting collision resembled a train wreck.  Garrett grabbed the kicker around the chest and Todd bowled the pair over like a steam engine running down hill.

North got the ball on the 22 yard line and following an inside pass to Parkman for two yards, Merriweather went the final twenty on a beautiful pitch play.   Blowing away a Colonel linebacker with a combination of a forearm and a shoulder roll, the Husky tailback scored the THIRTY-SIXTH touchdown of his career and passed Husky legend Cornell Garrett for fourth place in Career Points Scored.  Merriweather needs 18 more points to tie Casey Sellers for third on the list.

 COACH CALLS OFF THE DOGS

 After that, Coach Wilson called the ‘nasty boys’ back to the bench and began to substitute liberally.  Everyone ended up playing and some new names showed up in the statistics.  Christian County put together a long drive in the final minutes to make the stat sheet look more presentable, but in the end the game was nowhere as close as the score.

 In the post-game huddle near mid-field, the team could be heard to shout “Evansville!” when asked “Where are the Huskies from?”  The irony was not lost on the several hundred Christian County fans who had attended Homecoming.  Maybe next time they’ll learn not to poke a Husky with an ornery sign just before game time—they can turn quite nasty if given a reason to.

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