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North 20 Henderson County 48 - at Henderson Aug 26, 2011

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Game Recap

HENDERSON COUNTY RUNS OVER HUSKIES 48-20

Henderson County played as though they had little reason to respect the Husky defense Friday night and when the final whistle sounded, the 432 yards the Colonels gained on the ground proved that they were right.

1^st QUARTER

From the opening drive, Henderson had little to fear from the North defensive front seven.  The Colonels returned the opening kickoff to midfield and then managed to overcome three separate ten yard penalties during a fourteen play possession that ended with a touchdown.  Utilizing a split-veer option offense, the home team even converted a fourth-and-three during the drive

Following an out-of-bounds kickoff, North had what would prove to be their best starting field position of the night at the 35 yard line.  Henderson County’s “freshman” kicker would eventually cause FIVE touchbacks with his long kickoffs and put another two inside North’s five yard line.

LIGHTNING STRIKES

The North faithful jumped to their feet on the second play of the possession.  Quarterback Max Mooney took the snap and dropped back three steps to his left.  Across the field, receiver Ty Pauley was streaking down the right hand sideline on a fly pattern in front of the North bench.  Mooney’s pass arced perfectly and Pauley leaped slightly, gathered the ball in at the Henderson 35 yard line, and then outran his defender for a touchdown.  After freshman Zac Turi kicked the extra point, the 66 yard reception tied the ball game at 7 apiece.

There was reason for optimism when North stopped the Colonels on their next drive.  Despite a big run on their first play of the possession, linebacker Drew Watters stopped a Colonel for no gain at midfield and safety Jay’von Gilmore helped break up a pass over the middle on third down to force Henderson’s only punt of the first half.

MOMENTUM KILLING TURNOVER

North took over deep in their territory at the 13 yard line.  Mooney ran the mid-option play that had worked so effectively against Bosse for 12 yards on first down.  The Huskies looked to be clicking on all cylinders when Mooney ran a naked bootleg pass play and found Watters open over the middle for a 20 yard pickup.

Suddenly the Huskies were nearing mid-field and looked to have regained momentum in the contest.

The optimism died shortly thereafter.  Running back Mike Johnson was stopped for a three yard loss on first down.  Mooney suffered a sack when he dropped back to pass on second down and lost five yards.

Faced with 3^rd and 18 at the 37, Mooney dropped back again and this time threw a middle-screen pass to week-one hero Blake Howell.  The tailback gained six yards before being tackled and losing the ball during the contact.

Henderson County recovered at the North 42 yard line.

SECOND QUARTER

The Colonels faced a short field all evening long.  The turnover, short punts by North, and Henderson’s excellent special teams play combined to produce an average starting position of the FORTY-NINE YARD LINE for the Colonels during the course of the game.  North, by comparison, had an average starting field position of the 22 yard line during the game.

On this possession, it made a huge difference.

As time expired in the first quarter, Henderson was faced with a fourth-down-and-four to go for a first down.  Had they not been at the North 36, they may not have risked “going for it”.  Given their field position, they did.

They made it.

The success of that conversion bolstered the Colonels confidence and effectively ended any respect that they had for North’s ability to stop them on the ground.

Three running plays later they were in the end zone again and led 14-7.

SHORT PUNTS

Following the first of the five touchbacks, North was faced with a long field ahead of them.  Mooney eked out a first down on a quarterback sneak on third and inches, but the drive stalled at the 31.  North’s punt went just 21 yards to the Henderson 48. 

There was no need for the Colonels to return it.

Four running plays later, they drove into North’s end zone and made the score 20-7.  The lone bright was when their freshman kicker proved he was “human” and hit the upright on the extra point attempt.

North started at the 20 yard line again following a touchback and when Mooney attempted the naked bootleg for the second time in the half on second down, Henderson was ready for it.  He got sacked for a 9 yard loss and North had to punt again two plays later from its 8 yard line.

This punt went 27 yards to the North 35.

Six running plays later, Henderson effectively put the game out of reach with their 3^rd touchdown in three consecutive possessions.  North trailed 27-7 with 2 minutes to play in the half.

THE WILDCAT OFFENSE

Following the third consecutive touchback, North decided to change things up on offense.  Pauley lined up at quarterback in North’s version of “The Wildcat” offense.  With direct snaps going to Pauley, he then had the option to hand the ball to speedy flanker Heath Spindler as he came in motion or keep the ball himself and run.

He kept it and ran for two yards on first down.  He then tempted disaster with an ugly looking handoff to Spindler on second down that resulted in a fumble that North was lucky to recover.

And then he kept the ball and took off up the middle on third down.

Breaking past the line, Pauley spun past the linebacker, stepped to his right, and angled towards the Henderson sideline.  He picked up one downfield block and then sprinted to the end zone on his way to an 81 yard touchdown.  Turi’s kick was good and while they still trailed, the Huskies looked might they might catch fire behind 27-14 with 0:33 to play in the half.

Henderson made the final 32 seconds interesting and the half ended with Pauley making a touchdown saving tackle on the one yard line to prevent a last second score.  Pauley’s shoulder was hurt on the tackle and that injury would limit his ability to provide much offense after the break.

SECOND HALF

It’s a truism that most games are decided by the end of the first possession of the second half.  One team or the other makes the necessary adjustments it needs to make at halftime and executes them.  The other team doesn’t and the outcome becomes a foregone conclusion.

Long time football fans recognized the next series of plays for what they were:  Henderson County essentially won the game in the first four minutes of the second half.

Blake Howell looked like he might change those fortunes when he gathered in the opening kickoff of the second half at the one and zipped 29 yards up the left sideline.  For an instant he appeared to break free only to be tripped up by a Colonel defender in front of their cheerleaders.

When a draw play to Howell on 3^rd and long gained just one yard, it forced North to punt.  North got  40 yards on the kick and it looked like Henderson would have to start a drive from deep in their own territory for a change. 

And then the Colonels sealed North’s fate.

The Henderson punt return team lined up a series of blocks that allowed the speedy return man to get all the way back to the North line of scrimmage on the play.  The beautiful 40 yard punt was negated by a forty yard return.

The Colonels had the ball on North’s 30 yard line and four plays later scored the first of three second half touchdowns.

The punt return proved to be the coup-de-grace and all that remained was to play out the minutes.

ONE GOOD DRIVE

Trailing by 27 points with 4:32 to play in the 3^rd quarter, the Huskies did manage one impressive drive.  Still playing against the Colonels’ starting defense, Mooney twice hit Drew Watters with passes on a 10 play, 80 yard drive to pay dirt.  Mooney converted two third down plays on his own during the drive, once with a fourteen yard run on third-and-two and again on third-and-one from the six when he scored North’s final touchdown.  A bad snap marred the extra point attempt and North trailed 41-20.

INSULT TO INJURY

Henderson’s out right dominance of the offensive line of scrimmage and their lack of respect for North’s ability to stop the run was never more evident than when they chose to “go for it” on fourth down and one FROM THEIR 24.  On any other night, that would have been a crazy decision on their part.  At the time, they led by just three touchdowns and if they failed, North would be in the shade of the Henderson goal posts with a chance to cut the lead to 13 with plenty of time to play.

The Colonel’s, buoyed by two earlier successes on fourth down, gambled and won.

But that was the point.

On this night, they felt like it was no gamble at all.

CONCLUSION

No one can lay claim to “a good game” for North on this night.  56 rushing attempts make opportunities for downfield tackles easy to come by.  A 20 to 28 point lead allowed the Colonel defense to play “loose” and allow short to medium passes.

North should have more success next week against a team the Huskies beat by 41 points in 2010.

But it will take some doing before teams with good offensive lines and fast, sure handed running backs will respect the Green and White again.

Let’s hope that the process of building that respect starts this week with Harrison.

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