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North 14 Castle 35 - at Castle Stadium Oct 14, 2011

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Game Recap

TURNOVERS SINK HUSKIES IN 35-14 SECTIONAL LOSS TO CASTLE

In a system where sustained success is rewarded and momentary brilliance is forgotten, the accomplishments of the North Huskies against the Castle Knights will likely be lost in most recaps of Castle’s 35-14 Sectional victory.  There was a point, however, midway through the third quarter of the game where it appeared that an upset of epic proportions was not only within the Huskies’ grasp, but was in fact imminent.

GOAL LINE STAND

To begin the game, it certainly appeared that the Knights were running down hill against the Huskies. Within two minutes of the game’s start, Castle had moved the ball to the North three yard line and had a first-and-goal-to-go.  At that point in the contest, things seemed to change.

Following a quarterback sneak that DT Damon Byars stopped before it reached the end zone, Castle chose to run a sweep to the right on 2^nd down from the one yard line.  As the diminutive Knight “scat-back” rounded the end, LB Brandon Dickens slipped through the wall of blockers and dropped the runner for a loss.  On 3^rd down, middle linebacker Drew Watters and safety Jay’von Gilmore bowled over blockers on a sweep to the left and stopped the runner at the 2 yard line.

Facing 4^th and goal, the Knights chose to go for the touchdown rather than attempt a field goal.  Resorting to power football on this play, they slammed ahead with a dive play that Watters met at the line of scrimmage and tossed the runner backwards.

With two big hits, Watters had averted a touchdown and changed the tide of the game.

A QUESTIONABLE FLAG

Of course, holding the opponent on 4^th and goal at the two leaves a team in a bit of a tight spot.  If North failed to get any breathing space from in front of their goal, they faced the very real prospect of having to repeat the defensive effort in short order.

Following a highly questionable penalty for an illegal formation which was called against North before the line ever went into “set” position (questionable flags against visiting teams are a hallmark of games played at Knight Stadium), North was bottled up on the one yard line.  Reaching the other end zone was probably the furthest thing from the minds of most North fans.

LANE’S BIG RUN

With one handoff, North’s state of mind changed.  Running a trap play into the center of the line and relying upon C Dylan Simmons, G Sam Jones, and G Damon Byars to once again open up space, the Huskies fate fell into the hands of FB Du’vante Lane.

Lane found an opening into the middle of the field and quickly cut to his right and angled toward the North sideline.  Outracing defenders into the secondary, the junior full back crossed the forty yard line before he could be forced out of bounds. 

Just like Watters’ defensive hits had changed the tide, Lane’s run immediately changed perceptions of North’s striking power against one of the state’s highest rated teams.

MOONEY RUNS THE OPTION

North’s greatest success through the years has uniformly been accomplished with an option offense in which the quarterback plays a prominent part in the rushing yardage.  QB Max Mooney runs the option as well as any quarterback in North’s recent history.  His ability to lay the ball on the dive back’s hip and give the illusion that the back is going to carry the ball into the line of scrimmage only to yank the handoff back and take off around end is masterful.

Two just such fake-and-run options generated another 25 yards on Mooney runs and North had a 1^st down at the Castle 34.

CONVERTING A FOURTH DOWN

The Knight defense caught its breath and stiffened and when they stopped RB Blake Howell on an off-tackle run, it left the Huskies facing 4^th-and-four at the 28 yard line.  Taking the snap under center in the “I” formation, Mooney faked a handoff to Lane into the left side of the line and then reversed his feet and rolled to his right.

On a naked bootleg play, with no blockers in front of him, Mooney outraced a defensive end to gain time to throw the ball downfield.  Running an “out” pattern at the 12 yard line was WR Ty Pauley.  Mooney’s pass was on the money despite a defender hanging tight with Pauley and the lanky wide receiver used his body as a shield and hauled the ball in for a Husky 1^st down.

HOWELL’S DANCE WITH DANGER

RB Blake Howell took a sweep around left end for five yards to the seven on 1^st down, but Lane’s dive into the center was stopped for no-gain on second down.   When Mooney lined up under center and ran the option on 3^rd down, the resulting play was filled with danger.

For one thing, Mooney may have “stayed at the dance too long” as he let the ball lay on Lane’s hip while reading the defense.  As he pulled the ball back, the defensive end was already collapsing on him.  With one arm tugging at his waist, Mooney desperately tried to spin free from the grasp of the defender and instead spun into the arms of a linebacker.  Spotting Howell still trailing him four yards deep in the backfield, Mooney made what at first looked to be an ill-advised pitch backwards. 

But then again, Blake Howell makes a specialty out of improvisation.

Snatching the awkward lateral out of the air at the 12 yard line, Howell ran toward the goal line at an oblique angle.  He spun, he danced, he sliced, and he careened past three defenders and slipped into the end zone for North’s first touchdown of the evening.

Against all odds, facing 99 yards of field ahead of them, having been overpowered in the early minutes of the ball game, North seized a 7-0 lead on Castle when freshman kicker Zac Turi—on his way to one of the top 10 scoring seasons by a North kicker in school history—split the uprights with the extra point.

SECOND QUARTER

Castle attempted to wrestle control of the game back from North on their ensuing drive.  Where their first drive had relied heavily on running plays, a series of slants and quick out pattern passes carried them to the North 35 yard line with relative ease.  It was when they attempted to “open things up” that North’s defense rallied to the occasion.

On 2^nd down, CB Heath Spindler defended against a “fly” pattern pass at the goal line and flicked the ball away.  Another “out” pattern completion came up short of the 1^st down marker, and when Castle decided to go for it on 4^th and 7 at the 32, Ty Pauley expertly defended a deep pass down the right hand sideline.  North got the ball back at its 32 yard line.

PAULEY’S BRILLIANCE

North’s offense was clicking on all-cylinders as it revved into high gear again. Following runs off tackle by Lane and Howell, Mooney’s 25^th run of the season longer than 10 yards carried the ball to the Castle 44.

Castle had seen enough of North’s run game and on 1^st and 10, they came at North with an all-out blitz.  Nine Knights stormed the line of scrimmage on the snap—and North had called a reverse play.

Reverse plays are mis-direction plays by design.  The ball carrier starts in one direction while another player comes running in the opposite direction and takes a handoff.

If a defense commits to the first ball carrier, the second one is usually free to pick up a long gain.

Unfortunately, a blitz is supposed to be the death of a reverse.  Too many defenders on the line typically means that there’s always someone on the back side of the play who can stop the second runner dead in his tracks.

And that’s exactly would have happened if Ty Pauley weren’t one of the finest open field runners in the city.

After taking the handoff, Pauley was first greeted by a defender eight yards behind the line of scrimmage.  Pauley shrugged him off and juke stepped past a second would-be tackler.  Gifted with a great “first step burst” of speed, the senior wide out made the most of his gift.

Instead of an eight yard loss, Pauley made it around end and turned the play into an 18 yard gain and a North 1^st down at the Castle 26.

TYPICAL, TYPICAL, TYPICAL CASTLE OFFICIATING

As is typically the case—or at least as has been the case in the last THREE games played at Castle—North was called for consecutive major penalties in the first half of a game in which it was leading.  The Huskies were whistled for holding on the next play and moved back thirteen yards to the 39 yard line.

As senior Chase Vidal was running a fly pattern deep to the left side on 1^st and 23 at the 39, Mooney launched a pass under a heavy rush that was far over thrown.  The officials whistled the Husky receiver for offensive pass interference on incidental contact that was initiated by the defender on an uncatchable ball for either player.  It was a call that 99% of officials would not throw a flag for on either player, let alone the offensive player.

North was promptly penalized 15 yards and a loss of down.

The Husky faithful could only shrug and say that they had seen this type of call routinely through the years at Castle.

DICKENS STOPS THE KNIGHTS COLD

Following North’s punt, Castle stayed with the passing game.  Mixing slants and bubble-screen plays they moved quickly to midfield.  LB Brandon Dickens stopped their lone run play for no gain at North’s 47 yard line and set up 2^nd and 10.  When Castle sent their tailback out of the backfield on a pass route, Dickens shadowed him perfectly and stepped between the receiver and the ball at the 46 yard line and intercepted the pass.

MOONEY’S BIG DRIVE

With the ball at the 47, Max Mooney took over the game for a while.  Hitting Pauley with a screen pass, Mooney had the club at the 40 for a 1^st down.  On another planned passing play out of the “Pistol” formation, he was flushed from the pocket and rather than be sacked, he gained six yards on a busted play.  On 2^nd down, he picked up another 1^st down with an option run around right end.

Again lining up in the Pistol, he ran for 12 yards around left end to the 18.  After two hand offs to Howell out of the “I” formation gained 3 yards, it was Mooney’s turn to again show his mastery of the option play.

On 3^rd and 7 from the 15, he again went under center, took the snap, and faked a dive handoff to Lane.  The ball seemed to hang on the full back’s hip forever before Mooney snatched it back as the defenders committed to tackling Lane.  Accelerating to full speed with the ball in hand to his right, Mooney tore around right end and into the Castle secondary.

With his way to the end zone flag blocked by numerous defenders, he cut back to the middle of the field and danced past the safety on his way to giving North a 14 point lead.  It was Mooney’s 27^th run of the season longer than 10 yards and his 7^th rushing touchdown of the year.

YET ANOTHER PENALTY

North led 14-0 with 1:36 to play in the half.  With Castle inside their own territory, the officials threw a flag for pass interference on North at midfield and moved the ball into the Husky half the field.  While Jay’von Gilmore defended one deep pass, a second one moved the ball inside the North 20.  Forty seconds later, Castle got their first score of the night with seven seconds to play in the half.

North led 14-7 at intermission.

SECOND HALF

Despite being forced to punt on their first possession, the Huskies were still in command of the game.  When Castle came out firing pass after pass on short slants, out patterns, and screens, it seemed as though it was only a matter of time before they would make a mistake.  However, after four completions in a row, they were making their way deep into North territory.

With the ball at the Husky 27, DT Teddy Wilbourn stormed through the line of scrimmage on a 1^st down sweep and threw the runner for a two yard loss.  Predictably the officials threw a flag for a face mask penalty and instead of being 2^nd and 12 at the 29, Castle had 1^st and 10 at the 15.

DAMON BYARS SETS THE HIGH WATER MARK

North High School has seen more than its share of skilled interior linemen over the years.  The school has routinely produced players who excelled on both sides of the ball.  Damon Byars, a three year starter on defense for the Huskies, ranks along side the very best who’ve worn the Green & White.  At 6’1”, 290 lbs., he is a ferocious blocker on offense and a tremendous presence in the middle on defense.

When Castle’s quarterback dropped back to pass on first down, Byars correctly read the play as a screen pass.  Breaking off his rush and scooting to his left in pursuit of the intended receiver, the big defensive tackle suddenly found himself in direct line to intercept the pass.

He seized the opportunity, plucked the ball out of the air, and began to ramble and roll his way back up field.  Squeezing his big frame between would be tacklers and the sideline, Byars proved to be as nimble on his feet as he is immovable in the line.

He returned the interception 32 yards to the 50 yard line before being stopped by the Knights.

At this point in the game, with a 14-7 lead, the ball at midfield, the third quarter half over, the game was squarely in favor of the Huskies.

The upset of the season seemed very much a possibility and there was a hush that fell over the Castle side of the stadium.

CASTLE ADJUSTS

The Castle defense had made adjustments at halftime.  They were going to “force the dive” on the option play and take away Mooney’s ability to turn the end.  Three running plays netted six yards and Pauley caught a 7 yard pass.  The going was tough, but North had moved the ball to the 37 and was looking at a 3^rd and 5—certainly they were in four down territory and had a chance to sustain the drive.

Castle intercepted the next pass attempt.

THE DECISIVE THREE MINUTES OF PLAY

With 5:28 to play in the 3^rd quarter, they had the ball on their 20 yard line trailing by 7 points.

The next play produced an 80 yard touchdown pass on a fly pattern down the left side.  The defender made a good effort to deflect the pass, but missed.  In one-on-one coverage, it was then up to him to catch the receiver and he was unable to do so.  Castle tied the score at 14 all.

North suffered a 3^rd down sack of the quarterback on the ensuing possession and was forced to punt to Castle with 4:38 to play in the period. 

Taking over at their 45, Castle completed a 15 yard pass to the North 40. (The scoreboard clearly showed the ball at the 40 and www.nhsrecords.com spotted the ball on the 40 with binoculars).  North was called for pass interference on the next play and the ball was given to Castle on THE TWENTY-THREE yard line—a fifteen yard penalty became 17 yards.  Such occurrences are normal practice at the snake pit known as Castle Stadium.

Despite facing 3^rd and 26 after the defense tightened and Castle recovered their own fumble, the Knights isolated their best receiver in one-on-one coverage near the goal line and turned 3^rd and 26 into 7 points.  North now trailed 21-7.

North fumbled on its 16 on the first play after the kickoff.

It took the Knights 15 seconds to score and make the game 28-14.

In three minutes of play, North had gone from knocking on Castle’s door to take a two touchdown lead late in the third quarter to instead trailing by 14 points themselves. 

FOURTH QUARTER

Castle forsook the passing game at the game wound down and their ground game ate away at the clock and the field.   They drove to the North 26 before a combination of LB Colton Lord and DE Mike Johnson sacked the quarterback for an eight yard loss to set up 4^th and long.  Pauley deflected a pass to deny the Knights a first down and North had the ball back with 9 minutes to play.

A punt resulted and Castle took their next possession down the field on an 8 play drive that was all running plays.  The Husky defense was worn down and Castle made their final score of the night to lead 35-14.

ONE FINAL DRIVE

Mooney continued to lead the Huskies and though yards were tougher to come by, North battled its way toward the other end zone.   As the minutes wound down, Pauley caught a ball for 12 yards and Heath Spindler caught two passes totaling 13 yards.  With the ball at the 39, Mooney took off on his 28^th and final long run of the season before being knocked out of bounds at the 18.  A couple of incomplete passes ended the game and Castle advanced in the playoffs.

CONCLUSION

The Castle Knights are rated 6^th in the state for very good reason.  They are undefeated.  They were the SIAC champions. 

And North played them to a standstill for a half (or more) in both of the games they played against them.

Turnovers certainly played a part in the third quarter.  In the fourth quarter, the comparative depth along the front line played more of a role.

With both teams dominated by juniors, this matchup should prove to be just as engaging and important in 2012 as it was in 2011.  The Knights knew they were in a tough match against under-rated competition.

The Huskies have grown over the course of the season.  They became more confident and they became more tenacious.  The changes became apparent in the Memorial game, crystallized in the stand-off with Reitz, were case-hardened in the defensive shutout of Paoli, were galvanized in the dramatic comeback against Central, and were on display for two-and-a-half quarters at Castle Friday night.

Expectations should run high when the new field opens next season.  These Huskies will have sharp, sharp teeth and they will know how to use them.

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