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North 34 Central 14 - Central Stadium Oct 11, 2007

Game Stats    Game Recap   

Offense

Offensive line blocking scores:

Allgood   Tomlin   Foster    Douglas  Borman  Kuhlenhoelter

    88%       84%      83%       86%        87%          80%

Defense

Game Recap

Football is a team sport.  Winning a football game is a team effort.

Without proper coaching, on-field talent alone is not enough to win.  Without defensive backs knocking away balls at opportune moments, opponents gain momentum and succeed with long strikes.  Linebackers must stuff runs or the offense never gets good field position and time of possession becomes an issue.  If a defensive line does not properly contain a quarterback, the ensuing results can determine the outcome of a game.  If a kicker or a punter loses focus for a split second, disastrous results can occur. 

The offensive line has to create opportunities for a successful offense to succeed.  Running backs can impact the score or the tide of the game with a single cut or a well placed forearm.  Wide receivers must give up their bodies to make the most of a ‘not-quite-there’ pass.

North did all those things well on Friday night against an opponent that most ratings services claimed to be better skilled than them.  Many of those exploits and successful performances will be detailed later in this write-up.

But…

The night belonged to the Huskies’ quarterback Dion Pendleton.

He played the game of football at a level of skill seldom witnessed in the history of North’s program.  The numbers, of course, are a matter of record and speak volumes in themselves but it’s when and how he put up those numbers that tells the story.

Certainly he had some electrifying runs and long passes.  Those are the items that show up in the box score and the touchdown records.  What doesn’t show up is when they occurred.

Pendleton made 92 yard touchdown run?  He did it on 3^rd and 8 from his own 8 yard line.

Pendleton made a 65 yard run?  He did it on 3^rd and 24.

Pendleton threw a 40 yard touchdown pass?  He did it on 3^rd and 18.

He did none of those things alone, it took a team.  But he made the big plays when they were most needed.  If those plays don’t get converted, the Huskies end up punting the ball away.  Scoring opportunities don’t occur.  Drives die. 

The huge lead never gets established.

And Central feeds off of their success.

That’s why it was a night that belonged to Dion Pendleton.  From a “clutch” perspective, it was one of the finest games a North player could have ever had.

FIRST DRIVE FINDS PAYDIRT

Right from the start, it was apparent that this would be a special night.  With North starting from their own 20 yard line, on only the second play from scrimmage Pendleton escaped around left end and was off to the races.  Tip toeing along the sideline in front of the Central bench, the agile quarterback picked up 40 yards.  The Central defender managed to wedge the ball loose as Pendleton went down, but WR Stephen Jackson was trailing the play and fell on the fumble. 

With 1^st down at the Central forty, Pendleton ran right for eight yards and then tossed a short pass to WR Mitch Parker for the first down.   The senior quarterback then carried around the left end again for another 20 yard gain.

Following a procedure penalty on the next play, it was RB Larry Merriweather’s turn to make his presence felt.   Central was now spreading linebackers and safeties outside both defensive ends in an effort to contain the runners which left the middle vulnerable.  T

Merriweather made the most of that vulnerability.

Bulling his way through the center of the line, he bowled over the solitary linebacker, and jetted straight for the center of the end zone 22 yards away.  North made their first extra point kick in a month and the score was 7-0.

LINEBACKER CORPS LEADS THE WAY

If the offense set the tone for the game on its first possession, so did the defense on its first opportunity.  The key players in the first possession were veteran linebackers Clinton Brown and George Quarles.

After Central picked up a quick first down with a 14 yard pass reception, it was time for the linebackers to teach the fleet footed Central running back who was boss tonight.

It was not the Central running back.

On first down, it appeared that #20 for Central would burst through an open hole into the secondary.  It appeared that way only until ‘Big’ George Quarles lunged across a blocker and muscled the ball carrier to the ground for a three yard gain.

On second down, it looked like a trap play would free the same runner for another gain up the middle.  This time senior captain Brown shucked his blocker, filled the hole, and dropped the runner flat in his tracks.

On third down, Central tried to option the left hand side of the defense.   With LB Larry Merriweather and DE Travis Carlile providing containment and forcing the runner to turn up field, it was Quarles who again provided the internal pursuit and slammed the ball carrier to the ground.

This would be typical of what Central would produce offensively for three quarters of the game.  Occasionally they would complete a pass for a first down, but the North linebacker corps would stand and deliver behind the line.  Central’s top rusher would gain fewer than 40 yards against the Huskies first string defense in the game.

SECOND POSSESSION TELLS THE STORY

Taking Central’s punt, North put together a text book drive for another touchdown.  Pendleton hit WR Justin Rushing for a short gain.  Pendleton ran around right end for another 15 yard pick up.  Pendleton hit Jackson with a flat pass that the receiver then turned into a 14 yard gain.  The quarterback then picked up another nine slipping through a hole between OT Cory Allgood and OG Mike Foster.

After a short run set up second and 9 from the 16 yard line, FB Travis Carlile drove his way between center and guard for a ‘smash mouth’ ten yard gain and a first down at the six.  Merriweather took a handoff out of the Power I formation, followed blocks by Carlile and Clinton Brown around left end, and sprinted to the flag for his second touchdown of the game.

With just two minutes to play in the first quarter, North was making the game look easy with a 14-0 lead.  An unstoppable offense and a run stuffing defense would tell the story of the game, but it wouldn’t be without at least a few tense moments in the middle stanzas.

SCORELESS 2^ND QUARTER NOT WITHOUT OPPORTUNITIES

Central bobbled a kickoff return, got poor starting field position, eeked out a first down, and was then forced to punt.  When North faced third and long, Pendleton broke loose around right end and ran 60 yards to the Central five yard line.  The drive ended, however, with no points when (following a timeout) the Bears correctly guessed where the next play was headed and intercepted a pass in the endz one.

Central managed another first down, but the next series ended when Merriweather and Brown combined for a thunderous take down of the Bears’ star runner on third and short.  The Bears then punted to the Huskies with only a couple minutes remaining in the half.

Pendleton lofted a pretty pass to WR Mitch Parker who had run a perfect fade pattern down the left hand side.  Parker hauled in the pass in front of the North bench and rambled to the Bears’ four yard line before being pushed out of bounds.

Four quick shots at the end zone failed to yield points and the Huskies ended the half with a 14-0 lead that could have easily been 28-0.

THIRD QUARTER TENSION

The second half started out as well as a coach could hope for.  K Preston Meador blasted the kickoff square into a frontline Bear’s face mask and the Huskies recovered the ball at the 50 yard line.  On a quarterback draw, Pendleton got a perfect block from Daniel Borman (who had drawn duty against a huge Central defensive end all evening and acquitted himself very well) and ran for a first down.

When third down came up, it was time for Pendleton to stretch the defense.   With the Bears again wary of their ends, the quarterback stepped back and hit WR Ryan Parkman on a perfect post pattern play.  The nimble wide receiver took the throw in stride and raced for the end zone—extending the ball across the goal line with one hand just as he was hit by the opposing safety.  The referee's arms went up and North had a 40 yard touchdown pass to make the score 21-0.

When the two teams exchanged punts on three-and-out situations, the game appeared to have settled into a more conservative pace.

Central broke loose on their next possession, however, when they lofted a 35 yard pass down the right hand side.  Pendleton, playing defense, closed ground and got a hand on the pass but when both players came up with possession of the ball, Central was awarded first down at the North 10 yard line.

With plenty of time to go in the game, the Huskies lamented not having converted two first half scoring opportunities.  The door was open for Central to get back in the game and change the momentum.

DE-E-E-E-E-FENSE

This was a night for big plays.  Three consecutive plays on 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th and goal could be categorized as big plays and all three came from different Huskies.

On second down, DE Travis Carlile fast-rushed past the tackle and forced the Bears quarterback to hurry his throw incomplete rather than be sacked for a loss.

On third down, LB Clinton Brown blitzed and forced the harried Central QB to run rapidly to his right as he tossed the ball haphazardly out the back of the end zone to avoid another loss.

Facing fourth down and goal and having felt tremendous pressure on the previous downs, Central kept a back in to block and utilized a short three-step-drop to deflate the rush.  When their receiver broke open in the left hand corner of the end zone, it appeared the gambit had paid off.  Of course, they failed to take into account the 6’3” frame of CB Mitch Parker.  Parker leapt and batted the ball down and North had made its biggest stand of the night.

PENDLETON SEALS THE DEAL

North wasn’t out of the woods yet, though, as their first and second down plays went nowhere.  Starting the drive in front of their own goal posts, the Huskies were facing third and 8 from their own eight yard line.  Without a big play, North would have to punt from its own end zone and face another Central onslaught.

Pendleton took the snap and appeared to look for an open receiver.  It was difficult to tell if the play was designed as a pass or a draw, but when the Husky QB spied an open lane to the right end, he took it.  With Carlile having stepped in front of the linebacker, Parkman blocked the cornerback.  When WR Justin Rushing laid out the safety, Pendleton suddenly had a corridor open to the North sideline. 

The tall senior picked his way past another defender and added OG Randall Tomlin to run interference for him as he crossed midfield.  Turning on the after burners, he rocketed toward the 35 yard line where a defender had played the angle on him.  Pendleton did a juke step maneuver and cut back towards the middle of the field.  The move left the Bear defender standing out of bounds and Pendleton with a clear path to the goal posts.

When Tomlin screened off the only remaining pursuer, North’s faithful watched Pendleton complete the second longest touchdown run from scrimmage in Husky history—92 yards.

The game was, for all intents and purposes, over at that point.

AN UNPARALLELED DISPLAY

On the night, Dion Pendleton set a milestone for Career Total Yards Gained.  He passed Husky legend Derenzo Bushrod for first place with 4,909 career passing, rushing, and receiving yards.  He is second on the all time touchdowns generated list with 50.  He totaled 211 yards rushing on just 11 carries for a whopping 19.2 average per carry.  He was 9 of 11 for 169 yards passing.

But it was when he made the plays that mattered most.

North regained ownership of the Buehler’s Buy Low North Bowl trophy with the victory.  For the first time in four years the title returns to Diamond Avenue.

The team won seven games for the first time since 2003.

The team clinched second place in the city standings.

The team played it’s best game of the season.

But it was Dion’s night.

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