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North Huskies vs Castle Knights - at Knights Stadium Oct 11 2013

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Offense

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Game Recap

HUSKIES FALL TO CASTLE 35-14

The North Huskies failed to hold a first half lead and surrendered 28 unanswered points on the way to a 35-14 loss to Castle last Friday night.  The Knights converted 12 of 14 third down opportunities on their way to compiling over 460 yards of total offense and thoroughly dominated the second half of the football game.

On a night when the Huskies played comparatively error free football, their best was not nearly enough to stem the heavy rushing game of Castle.  North defensive back Chase Whitler managed to force the game’s only two turnovers in the first half, but the Huskies failed to convert either opportunity for points.

PROBLEM AREAS “FIXED”

The Husky special teams, which had played so spottily over the last two games, excelled with flawless punts and excellent kickoff coverage.  The extra-point kicks were easily converted and without drama.  The mental mistakes that had marred several games this season were nearly eliminated—the Huskies garnered only 20 yards in penalties on the night (far fewer than Castle).

With an edge in turnovers of 2-0, excellent special teams play, and minimal penalties, and having jumped out to a 14-7 lead midway thru the second quarter, North should have been in position to pull of an upset on the road in Newburgh.

They weren’t.

They were simply beaten by a better football team by a score of 35-14.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

Certainly there were opportunities for North to ‘get back into’ the game in the second half.  A wide open receiver streaked down the sideline at the Castle 15 yard line only to have the ball slip thru his hands.  Later in the third quarter, after Castle had jumped out to a 14 point lead, North faced a crucial third down and another pass bounced off a receiver’s numbers on his jersey.

Missed opportunities against a better football team are difficult to overcome.

North could not do it Friday night.

With Castle running the ball nearly 50 times in the game, tackle scores were high for the defense.  Other than defensive end Cody Smith’s three tackles-for-loss and Chase Whitler’s interception and fumble recovery, the North defense failed to distinguish itself by making a stand.

FIRST HALF SUCCESS

The offense experienced some early success with an eight play opening drive that went 69 yards to tie the score at 7.  Senior Austin Payne burst through the line on a counter play for 29 yards on North’s third play and set up the score, but it was to be North’s longest play from scrimmage on the night.

Defensive end Conner Rausch generated some excitement when he sacked the Castle quarterback on third down in one of North’s rare defensive ‘stops’ early in the second quarter.  With Castle punting from their five yard line, the offense got the ball at the Castle 44 and the offense converted the short field in short order.  Senior Maalik Butler carried most of the load by ripping off a 19 yard run up the middle and then covering the final ten yards on a counter play around right end.  When junior Zac Turi converted the extra point to make it 14-7, the highlights of North’s evening were substantially over.

LATE FIREWORKS, NO RESULTS

The offense offered one last gasp at making a game of it late in the third quarter.  Trailing 35-14, North went on a 15 play, 69 yard drive that ran out of gas at the Castle four yard line.  Quarterback Jesse Millikan connected on five of his seven completed passes for the game in that drive alone.

But it yielded no points and Castle held onto the ball for the final 10:46 of the game.  The Knights ran the same play with the same running back 15 consecutive plays for positive yardage to run out the clock.

For the first time this season, the Huskies got ‘beat’ instead of beating themselves with mistakes in errors.  There is no shame in losing to a better opponent.

Castle was the better ball club on Friday night.

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