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North Huskies vs Harrison Warriors - at Bundrant Stadium Sep 13 2013

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Game Recap

99 YARD DRIVE CARRIES NORTH TO 16-13 COMEBACK VICTORY OVER HARRISON

Trailing with 9:31 to play and backed up inside their five yard line, North’s prospects of victory looked dim on Friday night until senior Connor Rausch recovered a Harrison fumble on the one yard line.  Quarterback Jesse Millikan then led the Huskies on a 17 play, 99 yard drive that ended with junior Ford Johnson scoring the winning touchdown on a one yard run

The victory was anything but easy and North contributed to Harrison’s success by providing the Warriors three first downs via penalties as well as a turnover in Husky territory , but in the end, the victory was as sweet as any North has tasted in some time.

FIRST QUARTER

Senior Maalik Butler kick-started the offense with a 57 yard kickoff return on the game’s opening play.  Running plays out of the pistol formation, North quickly moved the ball inside Harrison’s 20 yard line but the drive stalled out at the twelve.  Junior Zac Turi came on and made short work of a 29 yard field goal that tied the school record for Most Field Goals in a season (5 by Preston Meador in ’08).  North led 3-0 with less than three minutes gone in the game.

When juniors Cody Smith and Marcus Northington combined to drop a Warrior runner for a loss on Harrison’s first play from scrimmage, few could have anticipated that this Harrison ball club would be much different than previous editions.  Historically, the Warriors have had teams that possessed great speed and athletic ability but were unable to sustain long drives due to a lack of consistent execution.

On Friday night, Harrison would put together multiple drives that tested the merit of North’s defense.

HARRISON’S FIRST LONG DRIVE IN RECENT MEMORY

Running on their first 10 plays from scrimmage, the Warriors methodically worked their way down the field.  Running from a shotgun formation, they had no single run for longer than 8 yards but moved the ball down the field.  North gave them their first 1^st down with an offside penalty on third-and-four, but the Warriors converted a key fourth-and-one at the 30.  Two plays later, they attempted their first pass of the game and it went for 28 yards and a touchdown.  After the extra point, Harrison led 7-3 with 3:55 remaining in the quarter.

North received good field position when Harrison’s kickoff went out of bounds and junior Ryan Wargel returned the penalty shortened second kick out to the North 47.  Unfortunately, the Husky drive stalled at the Harrison 32 when a middle screen pass fell incomplete on fourth and five.

NORTH MAKES A HUGE MISTAKE

The North defense held near midfield and the Huskies were then the beneficiaries of a 17 yard punt that yielded Team Green the ball at the North 40.  A fly pattern pass down the right sideline to senior Justin Lockett fell incomplete and Ford Johnson picked up six yards on a second down run up the middle, but a third down bubble screen fell incomplete.

On fourth down, the Huskies called a time out and when they returned to the field for fourth-and-four at the North 46, the offense lined up in punt formation.  On the snap, it appeared that the plan called for a sweep around left end by one of the blocking backs, but the ball careened off the hands of a Husky.  By the time it could be recovered, the defense was in the backfield and the play resulted in an 11 yard loss and Harrison’s ball at the North 35.

HARRISON’S SECOND SCORE

It appeared the Huskies might hold the Warriors when Chase Whitler and senior De’Oshay Johnson combined to defend a third-and-six pass deep down the middle.  Facing fourth down at the North 31, the Warriors attempted to pass.  Connor Rausch made his first ‘big play’ of the game by sacking the quarterback for a loss.  Unfortunately, a defensive holding penalty by the Husky backfield wiped out the “sack” and gave Harrison a first down at the North 21.

Two plays later Harrison’s big running back went in from 15 yards out with a run around right end and the score was 13-3 with 7:54 to play in the half.  De’Oshay Johnson intercepted a two-point pass attempt following a botched snap from center on a kick.

“AIR” MILLIKAN TAKES FLIGHT

On most possessions, North’s offense appears very self-contained.  Inside and outside zone reads result in a large percentage of running plays designed to gain a handful of yards.  Bubble screen passes to either side look to be capable of gaining small chunks of yardage.  But occasionally, the Husky offense goes ‘vertical’.

And when it does, it looks to quarterback Jesse Millikan to provide the long throws.

Lining up in the Pistol ‘I’ formation at the North 45 and facing third and five, Millikan faced a Warrior front seven that was showing “blitz”.  Both linebackers stacked up one behind another right over center and looked poised to rush the quarterback up the middle.  An additional linebacker was pushing up to the line of scrimmage on the outside.

Junior Chase Whitler was lined up in the slot to the right and had drawn both head up coverage from a fifth defensive back inserted into the game for the passing down as well as coverage by a safety 8 yards deep.

On the snap, left tackle Riley Draper and guard Buddy Waelde expertly accounted for the outside linebacker and the hard rushing end.  Center Bryce Brown accounted for the nose tackle as Millikan play-action faked a hand-off to Maalik Butler.   The play-action was critical to the success of the play for two reasons:   A] It caused the safety to “check up” for just a split second to insure that the play was not a run and B] It brought Butler face-to-face with BOTH blitzing linebackers coming up the middle.

Butler’s block effectively walled off the middle of the defensive rush and gave Millikan time to get off a long throw.

Whitler’s exceptional speed made short order of the defensive back lined up head-to-head with him.  Few players in town can match the fleet-footed junior’s speed and even fewer can match him in a foot race when they start facing backward.

Whitler blew by the first defender like he was standing still.

The safety hesitated for a split second to make certain Butler did not have the ball and by the time he shifted into pass-protection-mode, he faced the identical problem as the first defender—he was face to face with Whitler and facing the wrong direction.

Within 10 yards after leaving the line of scrimmage, Whitler was rocketing downfield trailing defenders behind him.

All he needed was the ball.

“Air” Millikan arrived slightly behind schedule and Whitler turned around to catch the ball at the 30 yard line.  He completed an entire 360 degree spin and still had distance between himself and the defenders.  It was no contest to the goal line and North was back in the ballgame.

Unfortunately, the extra point attempt was partially blocked and North still trailed by four points at 13-9.

SECOND HALF

Both teams’ defenses stepped up and scoring halted for the remainder of the half.  When Waelde recovered a Harrison fumble at the 21 on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, it appeared North would regain control of the game.  Turi missed his first field goal of the season and Harrison took over the ball at their 20.

The Huskies aided the Warriors with a personal foul penalty on a third down play resulting in a first down for Harrison at their 36.  A bad snap on the subsequent series of plays forced a punt and North got the ball back at their 37. 

ANOTHER LONG DRIVE NETS ZERO

The second half has belonged to the Husky offensive line in 2013.  Messrs. Draper, Smith, Brown, Waelde, and Powell have provided the blocks that enabled the Huskies to generate a nine play, 76 yard drive to take the lead in the fourth quarter against Henderson County.  They also produced an 18 play, 80 yard, 9 minute drive to pull North within a touchdown of Memorial in last week’s fourth quarter.

Their “first” big drive of the second half on Friday night produced no points.

North moved to the Harrison 17 yard line in eleven plays and looked poised to take the lead.  On third and seven, out of shotgun formation, Whitler broke open in the end zone on a corner route but the pass was a bit long and fell incomplete beyond his outstretched hands as he dove for the ball.

Another field goal attempt went wide right and North came up empty handed.

HARRISON’S FOURTH QUARTER DRIVE

For their part, the Warriors did their best to put the game out of reach on the ensuing possession.  Running on 11 of 13 plays, they took five minutes off the clock and moved the game into the fourth quarter as they drove relentlessly down the field.  The last five plays of the drive featured runs by their star running back as they hammered their way to the North eight yard line.

The defense dug in on first and goal and Waelde and linebacker Ryan Wargel dropped the running back for no gain.  Second down saw junior Riley Fidler and senior Justin Lockett force the runner out of bounds at the four yard line to set up third and goal.

Lining up in the Power ‘I’ formation, Harrison busted an opening into the right hand side of the North defense and the runner drove toward the goal line.  He was met by a host of Huskies at the two and suddenly the ball appeared on the ground less than a foot from the goal line.  Conner Rausch made his second huge play of the evening and came up with the ball. 

North had a reprieve and 9:31 still showed on the game clock.

MILLIKAN SUSTAINS AN EPIC DRIVE

What followed is the stuff of legends. 

The line blocked well.  The runners clawed for yards.  Receivers held onto passes.  Eleven players worked together effectively without panicking for 18 plays.

On the drive’s most critical play, North faced third and seven at the Husky 16.  If the offense failed to convert, Harrison would get the ball back at midfield with plenty of time and have another chance to put the game out of reach.  It was a moment that called for extraordinary leadership.

Millikan provided it.

Lining up under center in the Offset ‘I’ formation with wide outs to each side, Millikan orchestrated a hoax that convinced the Harrison defense a pass was forthcoming.  Motioning to Whitler in the slot to the right, he pointed as though he were indicating a “hot read” that a pass would be headed his way.  Whitler acknowledged the wave and Millikan took the snap and dropped back.

Butler, lined up at tailback, stood up and posed as though to pass-block on the play.  Millikan looked to his left and seemed about to throw.

The defense dropped back into pass coverage mode.

And then Millikan pulled the ball down, Butler reversed his stance and ran in front of him to block, and the quarterback took off on a run around right end.

23 yards later, North had a first down and the momentum that would carry it down field.

Five times on the drive the Huskies converted critical third down plays.  Millikan and Whitler connected on a third and nine at the 40 that produced a first down at the Harrison 36.  Another third down play-action fake followed by a pass to Whitler moved the chains to the 15 yard line.

From there Millikan and Ford Johnson each carried the ball multiple times as the Mighty Husky line plowed forward to the one yard line.  On third and goal at the one, Dylan Powell and Cody Smith simply overpowered the Warrior defensive left side and Johnson ran into the end zone untouched with 14 seconds to play.

Turi’s extra point was good and North led for the first time in the game at 16-13.

HISTORIC DEFENSE

While “The Drive” is what this game will be remembered for, it should not go without notice that the 2013 Husky defense has done something historic.  For the first time since the 1995 team that finished as 5A State Finalists, North has held each of its first four opponents to twenty points or less.

The goal of any defense is to keep the other team from scoring.  So far in 2013, the Big Green Defense is doing that better than any North squad in nearly 20 years. 

ON TO THE BOWL

Next Friday night’s game will be a test of North’s defense.  Mater Dei is highly rated, well coached, and has plenty of weapons on offense.  The Bowl has seldom treated the Huskies nicely—there do not seem to be many favorable calls that come North’s way.

At 2-2, the Huskies are at a cross roads.  The most difficult portion of the schedule is yet to come.  The offensive line is coming together nicely and long drives as well as lightning strikes seem to be common place.  If North can add “mistake free” football to its repertoire, the 2013 season could stack up to be a memorable one.

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