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North 21 Henderson County 38 - at Henderson Aug 28, 2009

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Offense

Team Stats

Offensive line blocking scores:

Defense

Game Recap

You often hear the saying, "The devil is in the details" and Friday night in Henderson, the devil was certainly present at Colonel Stadium. The Huskies ventured into the foreign territory as the chosen opponent in Henderson County's annual Hall Of Fame Bowl--an event that serves to pump up the Henderson faithful.

The very first possession of the game was an indicator that the little things were going to haunt the Huskies on this overcast summer evening. A short return gave North poor field position at their 19 yard line. A second down pass from QB Matt Strohmeier to WR Caleb Kinnaird produced a first down at the 33 and RB Brandon Scott turned a quick hitter up the middle into a 6 yard gain to set up 2nd and 4 at the 39.

During the substitutions following the play, a North player made his way slowly to the sideline and a flag was thrown because he had not cleared the field by the time the offensive line went into their 'set' positions. The drive stalled shortly thereafter.

Despite giving up a 29 yard gain on a slant pass to the Colonels on their first play from scrimmage, the defense held deep in its own territory and Henderson needed only a 38 yard punt to bottle up North with poor field position.

FIRST SCORING DRIVE

Strohmeier quickly went to work, rolling to his right and tossing a short pass to FB Marcus Garrett and the big man then rumbled downfield for a Husky first down at the 30. WR Keenan Lewis then took a short pass on the left and did a nifty catch and run that stretched the reception to a first down. Following that play the Huskies were again called for a substitution violation when the same player was slow to leave the field.

Faced with 1st and 15, Coach Wilson then called upon the 6'6" Strohmeier to attempt passes on six of next eight plays. WR Derek Hinsey, RB Cameron Clements, and Kinnaird all collected passes for short or medium gains.

The drive nearly stalled on 3rd and 3 at the Henderson 38 when Strohmeier over threw Kinnaird on a corner route down the right hand sideline. Faced with 4th and 3, the Huskies went back to the well and the resulting play developed with Kinnaird catching a quick screen pass at the line of scrimmage and appearing trapped by the sideline and two Colonel defenders. The junior receiver spun quickly to his left away from the sideline, swiveled between the two defenders and picked the first down and then some before being forced out of bounds at the 32.

Two plays later, on 2nd and 12, the offensive line produced the best pass protection of the night and Strohmeier stood tall in a near perfect 'Vee' shaped pocket and arced a perfect 34 yard spiral to Lewis on a post pattern. The speedy wide receiver went up for the ball, hauled it in, and fell forward into the end zone for the first touchdown of the evening with 35 seconds to play in the first quarter. Hinsey banged home the extra point and the Huskies led 7-0.

HUSKIES OWN THE NEXT TEN MINUTES OF PLAY

In a game in which starting field position would be decidedly in favor of the Colonels throughout the evening, North dodged a bullet when Henderson's return man got outside containment in front of the North bench and made his way into Husky territory before being brought down. The North defense stiffened, however, when DT Damien Jackson made good penetration on 3rd and 4 and got a hand on the quarterback that forced him out of the pocket. Senior LB Cameron Clements then finished off the luckless QB with a ferocious hit and forced a fourth down punt.

Following a touchback that again forced North to start from deep in their territory, the Huskies began an eight play drive that would find paydirt. Brandon Scott banged away for nine yards around left tackle on first down and following a 1st down reception by Hinsey, North made its way to the 37 in just three plays.

Strohmeier is a tall, strong quarterback with good form. He's not particularly gifted with quick feet but on this night his balance and poise while delivering the ball on the move looked very good. Rolling to his left and surveying the field as it opened up before him, he spotted junior WR Ryan Wickham open just underneath the Colonel's deep zone coverage and whipped the wide open receiver the ball for a 25 yard gain at the Henderson 38.

On the next play Scott took a straight handoff into the right side of the line, cut to his right off a big block by OT Jarrod Hawkins, got outside and streaked 31 yards to set up 1st and goal from the Henderson seven yard line. A fumbled exchange between the quarterback and center threatened to stall the drive and the Huskies were facing 3rd and goal from the five when Scott next touched the ball.

The senior running back took the handoff and circled deep behind the line of scrimmage as he ran to his left. Henderson's end was stringing the play out and even though he was running to the wide side of the field, Scott was beginning to look like he might run out of room.

Enter Marcus Garrett.

Garrett plays defensive tackle on defense. His compact form is a force in the middle and he was named to the Evansville Quarterback Club's All-City team at that position last season. For his size, though, he's particularly quick. He ought to be. It's in his genes.

Garrett's father, Mark, ranks 8th among career rushing yards gained at North and in 1979 gained over 1,300 yards and was selected All City running back. Marcus made like his ol' man from his full back position and made a bee-line toward the defensive end who was stretching out the play.

Zipping ahead of Scott, Garrett opened the way to the endzone flag with a huge block that cleared out the defensive end and delayed the pursuing defensive back from having a chance at closing the gap between himself and the ball carrier. Scott tip-toed along the sideline and scooted in for a touchdown just inside the flag to put the Huskies up two scores. Hinsey's kick made it 14-0 in favor of the Green and White.

FIRST HINTS OF WHAT LAY AHEAD

After forcing Henderson to again punt, the Huskies gave up a big sack on 3rd down and found themselves facing 4th and 25 at their 15. The good news about the next play is that North got the punt away cleanly. The bad news is that it only traveled 25 yards and the Colonels again had the ball in North territory.

It took Henderson just two plays to score. A dive up the middle burst right through the heart of the Husky defense--a defense that, up the middle, is thought to be one of the toughest, most experienced defenses in the area--and went 35 yards for a touchdown. The North lead was down to 7 points.

The kick off got away from the North return man and rolled into the end zone for a touch back. Starting from their 20, the Huskies could do nothing and were forced to punt with 1:41 to play in the half. On 4th and 5 from the 25, the next thing anyone saw was the football sailing over punter Ryan Caldwell's head.

Caldwell is listed at 6'4" in the program and that may be an inch or two short. With his arms outstretched he makes a tall target. He needed to be eight feet tall on this night.

Henderson regained the ball with a minute and a half to play at the North 8 yard line. It appeared the Colonels would tie the game at half, but on first down, DE Devon Rios made a big stop to drop a Henderson runner for a loss. Having used all their time outs, the Colonels hastily set up a play to pass into the end zone. Keenan Lewis stepped in front of the pass at the goal line, snagged the ball out of the air, and took off into the empty spaces ahead of him.

For 65 yards it appeared that he was headed for a touchdown. According to the Evansville paper, the only player on the field with the speed to catch him, however, was wearing a Henderson jersey. Lewis knew that the other person bearing down upon him had an edge in speed because the two young men constantly test one another. They test each other because they are brothers and, in this case, Tavaris Lewis had more speed than Keenan. He crossed the field and hauled him down at the Henderson 21.

Without time outs--two were used in substitution situations following the earlier penalties--North was unable to capitalize on their only good field position of the night and went into the half up 14-7

THIRD QUARTER

A short kickoff gave Henderson the ball at the 35 to start the half. The starting field position was typical of the game--even though the Colonels only had one kick return longer than 20 yards in the game, short North punts and comparatively short kick offs made long returns unnecessary. Henderson's average starting field position for the evening following kicks of some sort was their 40 yard line. North's by comparison was its 22. When you factor in the disastrous botched punt snaps, the average starting position becomes even worse.

A coach's options for play calling are significantly enhanced by field position. Seldom did North ever start a possession outside their 25 and as a result, the Huskies had to sustain long drives with conservative play calling just to get to midfield. Given their better starting position, Henderson could try for lightning strikes.

On the second play of the half, the Colonels summoned some more lightning. A quick pitch to their fleet footed tail back sprung him outside and before the Huskies could recover, he went 62 yards to tie the score at 14 all.

NORTH'S LAST STRIKE

Senior WR Bo Rushing got pumped up following the big run. A two-way starter, Rushing had made a diving attempt to stop the Colonel before he scored and was evidently upset that the Huskies had surrendered their lead. Bo didn't just get mad. He decided to get even.

Following a short run on first down, Strohmeier spotted Rushing across the middle in an open crease in the defense and the Huskies gained 21 yards and first down at mid-field. Two plays later (and following a 15 yard penalty that set up 3rd and 16 from the North 34), Rushing streaked down field on a fly pattern in front of the Husky bench and took a pass in stride.

He never slowed down, never looked back, and did a diving somersault into the end zone with a 66 yard touchdown reception. The catch was the 10th longest touchdown reception in school history. Up 21 to 14, North had reached its high water mark for the evening with eight-and-a-half minutes to play in the third quarter.

HENDERSON EXECUTION, NORTH MISCUES

A rare Henderson miscue on a special teams play forced the Colonels to start from their 12 yard line. When they converted a third and one at the 21 with 7:00 to play in the period, it marked their FIRST first down of the game since the opening play of the night. Still, the drive stalled and the Colonels were aided by superior special teams play.

Their punter produced a 50 yard punt that bounced at the North 35 and was unable to be returned. The ball stopped rolling at the North 25 and again the Huskies had their backs to the wall. On second down, disaster struck. Strohmeier hit Lewis in the right flat with a pass and before the wide receiver could turn up field, he was hit hard by the Henderson safety in the small of his back. Because the ball arrived nearly simultaneously with the hit, the football popped out of the hands of Lewis and straight up into the air where a second Colonel defender snagged it out of the air.

The Colonels started yet another possession deep in North territory at the 34. Rushing saved a touchdown on the first play and held the Colonels to a 26 yard gain to the North 8 yard line. Three plays later the score was tied at 21 following a nine yard scoring pass.

Following a 21 yard return by Hinsey, North started from their 25. A first down run out of the shotgun formation lost six yards and the right defensive end sacked Strohmeier with a ferocious rush on 3rd down to force a punt from the North 20. The punt went 22 yards and barely cleared the first down markers.

RAIN MAKES THINGS WORSE

With first down at the North 42, Henderson summoned the lightning as well as the rain. With a steady drizzle having began during North's last possession, the rain began to pick up. On their first play, a draw play appeared to be stymied in the backfield by Marcus Garrett. Alas, the runner pulled free of his grasp and rambled 35 yards to the North seven yard line. Henderson took the lead for good at 28-21 with 38 seconds to play in the quarter..

Despite the rain, Henderson's kickoff went into the end zone and North took over at the 20 as the tension began to mount on the visitor's sidelines. The umbrellas came out in full force as the game entered the fourth quarter.

For a brief moment, it appeared that the Huskies might respond to adversity with a big play of their own. RB Richard Compton broke open in the rain and ran for 15 yards to push the ball out to the 36 yard line and a first down.

The rain, however, played a factor in the next series of plays as poor footing helped to drop Kinnaird on second down as he looked to turn up field with a short pass and a slick ball nearly resulted in an intercepted pass as Strohmeier threw a pass toward Lewis near the first down marker on the right hand side.

Faced with 4th and 10 from the 36, Caldwell again lined up 11 yards behind center to punt. As the rain came down, the signals were barked out, the line surged, and the snap sailed nearly three feet over the hapless punter's head. A 28 yard loss gave Henderson the ball at the eight and only an offside penalty prevented a touchdown. North fell victim to its third substitution penalty of the evening when confusion resulted in a late exit from the field. The resulting delay occurred just as the rain was letting up and gave Henderson an extra minute or two for the wind and rain to clear up before attempting a field goal. The kick was good and for all intents and purposes the game was over at 31-21.

LESSONS LEARNED

At this point injuries in the offensive line, frustration, and momentum were all working against the Huskies. Two long pass attempts were intercepted, Henderson added one more score, and the Colonels settled for kneel downs at mid-field and a 38-21 victory.

A game that had started well had ended miserably. While North had by and large executed well on the big things, it was the small things that seemed to have them hamstrung on this evening. The tide was turned in favor of the Colonels on the strength of superior special teams play and very few errors on their part.

North allowed the Colonels very few sustained drives, only gave up a single first down in the first two-thirds of the game and sustained multiple drives of their own that gained 30 yards.

Unfortunately for the Huskies, the field they played on was about twice as long as the one that faced Henderson all evening long. A failure to provide solid blocks for kick returners, an inability to punt the ball out of our own territory, untimely penalties, and poor tackling at the line of scrimmage all played a contributing factor in the loss.

For his part, Matt Strohmeier posted 235 yards passing--a figure that ranks 6th in school history for a single game--but none of those yards came in the game's final 20 minutes of play. His protection broke down, particularly from the left side, and the second-half rain wreaked havoc with his receiver's rout running.

All of which returns us to the adage, "The devil is in the details". A team has to execute well in all facets of its game or slowly, inexorably, and undeniably the little things will catch up with it. Give your opponent an extra fifteen yards often enough or fail to take advantage of opportunities to gain an extra ten on either a kick or a return here and there and the scoreboard will begin to reflect those missed chances.

The "details" got the Huskies on Friday night and North faces a team that historically executes as well as any team in the city when they take on Mater Dei this coming weekend. The Wildcats are normally neither as big nor as fast as North, but they seldom beat themselves with miscues or turnovers. The big Green will need to play something closer to error free football if they want to remain undefeated in City play this season.

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