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North 8 U of Detroit Jesuit High School - Ferndale High Stadium Oct 9, 2010

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Game Recap

NORTH SPECIAL TEAM MISCUES OPEN DOOR FOR CUBS IN 36-8 LOSS AT DETROIT

A quick glance at the team stats for Saturday’s game against University of Detroit Jesuit High School would suggest that turnovers told the story of the outcome:  North had four and Jesuit had zero.

The reality of the game was that the turnovers were a comparatively minor factor in the game.

One of the interceptions came on a “Hail Mary” lob into the end zone at the end of the first half and the other interception came on the last play of the game—long after the final outcome was decided.  Of the two fumbles, only one yielded points for Jesuit.

No, in a recurring theme for the 2010 season, it was poor special teams play that gave the game away to “The Cubs” of Jesuit High School.

FIRST QUARTER

The first time special teams had a chance to have an impact on the game, the result was actually quite positive.  Facing 4^th and six on the opening possession, Richard Compton lined up to punt at the North 35 yard line (North’s regular punter did not make the trip to Detroit due to a soccer commitment).  Compton took the long snap and bolted around left end on a designed fake punt play and nearly broke lose for a touchdown.  As it was, he gained 13 yards and a first down before being forced out of bounds.

The drive stalled at midfield and the comparatively short punt that resulted did little harm because it rolled dead inside Jesuit’s 20 yard line.

On first down, DE Austin Moll forced the Cub quarterback out of the pocket and tackled him for a loss when he attempted to run .  Following an incomplete pass, it was DE Damon Byars’ turn to harry the quarterback and Byars sacked him for a nine yard loss. 

Forced to punt from their own end zone, the Cubs lofted a kick that DB DeWayne Williams fielded at the 49.  The lanky senior cut and weaved his way on a 15 yard return to the 34 and the officials tacked on another 15 yards with a face mask penalty against Jesuit.

With the ball at the 19 and a full head of steam from dominating the early portion of the game, it appeared that North’s trip to Michigan might just be the tonic for its losing streak.

Lining up in the spread offense, QB Luke Blankenship took the snap and appeared to tuck the ball into Compton’s bread basket.  Somewhere in the exchange, the handle was lost on the football and the Huskies gave the Cubs their first break of the ball game.

Jesuit wasted no time in moving the ball back up field and a pair of eleven yard runs had them near midfield in a handful of plays.  Their tall, Division One prospect quarterback then whipped a swing pass to the flanker in front of their sideline and the mobile receiver broke two tackles on his way to the North 38 yard line.

THE DEFENSE HOLDS

The Husky defense got stingy in its own territory, though, as DB Ryan Wickham shot through a gap on a blitz and dropped the runner for a six yard loss on one play and LB Kyle Holland read an inside reverse correctly on third down and slammed the unfortunate Jesuit to the ground for a three yard loss.

The Cubs punter planted a perfect punt that rolled dead at the North two yard line and the offense went to work in front of its goal posts as the clock wound down on the first quarter.  FB Duvante Lane banged away for some breathing room on first down and then Compton took a sweep around right end to move the ball out past the ten.

On third down Compton picked up another six yards on a trap play and North had a new set of downs.  A blitz foiled a first down run and two incomplete passes brought up fourth down  at the 14 with just 10 seconds to play in the quarter.  North’s punt barely went 13 yards before rolling out of bounds.

It was just the first of many times in the remainder of the game that punts would yield little or no yardage.

And the Cubs made North pay.

With the ball at the Husky 27 and three seconds showing on the clock, North called a blitz and Jesuit correctly guessed that it was coming.  The crimson and white clad Cub running back gathered in the short pass just after the Husky defense had passed by him on their way to the quarterback.  He didn’t stop running until he hit the end zone.  Jesuit lined up for a two point conversion and their tall quarterback threw a pass to an equally tall receiver underneath the goal posts to make the score 8-0.

SECOND QUARTER

A short kickoff gave the Huskies good field position at their 36.  A “Wildcat Formation” run lost three yards on first down and North reinserted QB Luke Blankenship on second down.  Running a middle screen play, he hit RB Blake Howell with a lob pass at the 34 and the running back turned up field.  Before he had gone two yards he was hit first by a linebacker and then a safety.

And the ball squirted free as he fell to the ground.

Jesuit recovered the fumble and they had the ball on the Husky 34.  DB Colton Lord broke up a swing pass to the left side on first down with a hard hit as the receiver caught the ball and a big rush up the middle from the North line forced an incomplete pass on second down.

Faced with 3^rd and 10, it appeared that the Huskies might weather the storm of this second fumble just the same as they had the first one.  The Cub QB dropped back to pass and did a pump fake.  The pump fake is designed to cause the defensive back to suddenly shift his momentum away from the receiver and back to the quarterback.  In doing so, it causes separation between the defender and the offensive player.   That separation then allows the quarterback to make a long throw to what is now a wide open receiver.

It takes a very good quarterback to execute a quality “pump fake” that will distract a defender.

The Jesuits’ quarterback is being looked at by a handful of moderately sized college football programs.

He’s a very good quarterback.

The pump fake worked well.

30 yards downfield the ball floated effortlessly into the hands of an open receiver.  Only his momentum carried him out of bounds at the four yard line.  Two plays later, the same Cub receiver caught a five yard “out” route at the goal line and stepped inside the flag for six points.  An extra point kick made the score 15-0.

BYARS’ HEADS UP PLAY

It was Damon Byars who saved the day on the next play and set the stage for the Huskies to battle back.

Jesuit lined up to kick off and surprised everyone in the stadium by attempting an onsides kick with a 15 point lead.  As North’s front line drifted back to block for what they thought would be a deep kick, it was only Byars who noticed the ball bouncing away from the kicker’s short stroke.  The big lineman changed direction and leapt with a grace that you don’t normally see from such a big man.  He grabbed the ball out of the air just above the outstretched hands of three Cub defenders and North had the ball and a first down at the 45.

Blankenship hit FB Duvante Lane in the right flat with a pass on first down and the sophomore dashed 18 yards with the ball.  Compton rammed his way for five yards behind LG Damien Jackson and LT Jarrod Hawkins on second down.  “Big” Mike Johnson, in his first game back since recovering from an injury, dove into the line between C Sam Jones and Byars on second down, ran over a linebacker, and twisted his way twelve yards before finally stopping at the 20 yard line.

Two pass attempts to WR Brock Hardin went incomplete and it brought up 3^rd and long.  Shifting into “Wildcat Formation”, the Huskies ran a reverse with WR DeWayne Williams and the senior turned the left hand corner and picked up nine yards to set up fourth-and-one at the 11.

Jackson and Hawkins jack-hammered a hole in the Jesuit defense and “Big” Mike left little doubt  about the issue when he went eight yards to the three.  Another hand off to Johnson—again running behind Jackson—appeared to result in a touchdown but instead the ball was marked at the two-inch line.

A huge surge by the line opened the door for Blankenship to dive forward into the end zone on a quarterback keeper and the Huskies were on the board.  When Howell came in motion in the Wildcat on the extra point attempt, Compton slipped him the ball and the running back ran into the right hand corner of the end zone for two points.  North trailed 15-8.

FIRED UP DEFENSE

The Husky defense made another fierce statement on the ensuing Jesuit possession.  This time it was fan-favorite DT Jacob “Big Red” Embry who provided the spark.

When another pass to the left side resulted in a big gain into North territory, the Husky faithful were beginning to doubt whether or not the Green Machine could cope with the Jesuit quarterback.  A “delayed draw” running play picked up 8 yards to move the ball to the North 37 and the momentum gained by the North touchdown appeared to be lost to the Cubs.

That’s when “Big Red” stormed through the line and dropped a Jesuit runner with a ferocious hit to set up third-and-three at the 38.  The big senior lineman got up quickly and, rather than celebrating the hit with a fancy display of emotion, repositioned himself for the next play.

With Jesuit in a shotgun formation on 3^rd down and looking to throw, again it was #75, “Big Red” who threw off his blocker, stormed his way to the quarterback, and, along with LB Tyler May, tackled the hapless Cub with a move that in wrestling parlance would be called a “pile driver”.

Once again, the North defense had held in a difficult situation and Jesuit contributed to the cause by shanking a short punt of their own out of bounds at the Husky 28.

ANOTHER PUNTING DEBACLE

The offense failed to pick up a first down when a receiver dropped an apparent first down reception at the forty yard line and the Husky punting team was called upon to boot the ball away.  A low snap bounced twice on its way back to Compton and the rush was on him before he could kick the ball.  The only alternative was to attempt a run and he was lucky to get back to the line of scrimmage.

With the ball at North’s 25 and 2:55 remaining in the half, Jesuit handed the ball to the same running back on five of the next six plays and drove in for a touchdown with 30 seconds to spare.  The Cubs led 22-8 after the extra point.

Rather than just kneel down with the ball, the Huskies took two stabs at getting points and a pass to Blake Howell picked up 37 yards.  From the Jesuit 38 yard line, Blankenship heaved a ball into the end zone as the half expired but it was picked off by a defender.

SECOND HALF

It wasn’t just the punting team that had its issues in Detroit.  The kickoff unit “snapped” as well.  With the regular kicker also competing with the soccer team, North squibbed most kicks downfield.

The point of a squib kick is that it is not conducive to long returns.  The ball bounces along the turf and defenders have an opportunity to quickly reach the return man and nail him before he can develop momentum.

The opening kickoff of the second half bounced and churned its way to the twenty yard line and a funny thing happened.  Rather than just dart straight up field, the Jesuit runner worked his way toward the sideline where a blocker laid out the Husky defender designed to contain the outside lane.

Before anyone could reach him, the swift footed return man made his turn up field and was gone.  He didn’t slow down until he reached the end zone.

In a matter of one minute and 45 seconds of actual playing time, North had gone from a team with momentum on its side, dominating both sides of the line of scrimmage, and recovering from early mistakes to a team that now trailed 29-8.

North moved the ball back into Cub territory quickly when WR Caleb Kinnaird picked up 20 yards on a curl pattern and the defender grabbed his face mask to bring him down.  The additional 15 yards put the ball at the Jesuit 35, but a 3^rd down sack of Blankenship lost ten yards and killed the drive.

THE DEFENSE STRIKES BACK

Again it fell to the defense to ‘hold the line’ and again they did it in dramatic fashion.  With Jesuit utilizing their speed on the outside, they completed three of four ‘swing’ passes and moved 37 yards into North territory.

Accounting for the swing passes by spreading the defense, North left themselves thin in the middle and the Cubs alternated a dive play with a quarterback draw to bring them to first and ten at the North 20.

At which point defensive ends Devin Rios and Austin Moll made their presence felt.

Boy, did they ever make their presence felt.

On first down, Rios blew up the tackle across from him and swept up the quarterback for a six yard sack.  The sack marked the 14^th of his career and moved him to second on North’s All Time list for QB Sacks.

On second down, Moll correctly read a draw play and tackled the Jesuit runner for a 9 yard loss.  Throwing his fists in the air and then to his side, the big senior was pumped up with emotion when he settled into his stance for third down.

Facing 3^rd and 25, Jesuit attempted a pass and again Moll battered his way through the line and jammed the quarterback into the ground for a ten yard loss.  What had started as first-and-ten at the twenty evolved into a fourth-and-thirty-five punt from the 45 yard line.

OFFENSE STALLED

Unfortunately, most of the emotion of the defense was lost on the offense.  While Hardin and Kinnaird each caught passes in the ensuing drive, the series stalled out at the 41 yard line.

And another “two hop” snap while in fourth down punt formation resulted in Compton running for his life rather than punting the ball.  As a result Jesuit had the ball, a first down at the North 40, and a 21 point lead as the game entered the fourth quarter.

Nothing good came of the game’s final quarter.  The defense was “all in” and nearly gave up a touchdown to the Cub’s  before Compton stopped a quarterback draw at the one yard line on 4^th and goal from the 8.

The offense strung together a 15 play drive against the Jesuit Junior Varsity defense and North moved from its one yard line to the Jesuit three as the clock wound down.  On the game’s final play, Blankenship’s fourth down pass attempt to Johnson was intercepted in the end zone and ran back 101 yards for a touchdown to make the final score 36-8.

CONCLUSION

The mechanics of “The Trip” to Detroit went well.  The team rode a luxury liner that most college teams would be envious of.  There was plenty of good food, the accommodations at the Marriott in Southfield, Michigan were first class, the Friday pre-game practice was a good one, and the weather and the facilities were perfect for a good football game.

The officials called a fair game and North was only penalized once during the competition.  The Huskies outgained their opponents and by all appearances acquitted themselves well against comparable talent.

Except for the scoreboard.

Special teams again cast the die against which the Huskies rolled their fortunes and again they came up on the short end of the odds.  Two of the three touchdowns generated by the Jesuit offense came following short (or bad snap) punt plays that left them with fewer than 28 yards to cover for a touchdown.   The third touchdown came following a fumble at the 34.

The kickoff return for a touchdown came against a type of kick specifically designed to minimize the risk of that very possibility.

The other short (or bad snap) punt plays resulted in the defense making stands in their own territory rather than deep in Jesuit territory where North might have benefitted from a short field to score.

Friday night’s game against Central will leave little or no room for error.  Injuries suffered in Detroit in the game’s final quarter have left the status of Byars, Moll, Johnson, and Compton in doubt.

It’s against tall odds that the Huskies will enter Central Stadium—they can ill afford to be generous to the Bears as “Team Green” goes for its FOURTH CONSECUTIVE North Side Trophy.

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