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North Huskies vs Central Bears - at Central Stadium Oct 17, 2014

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Game Recap

HUSKIES MAUL BEARS IN 4TH QUARTER ON WAY TO 51-29 VICTORY

What began as a track meet ended as a whitewash Friday night when the Huskies ran roughshod over the Central Bears in the fourth quarter on their way to a 51-29 victory.  Turnovers told the story and for once in 2014, it was the opponent who coughed the ball up and it fell to team captain Mason Jenkins to grab the two key fumbles in the game.

FIRST QUARTER TRACK MEET

North opened the game in its now characteristic I-Formation and covered 80 yards in just 1:30 of playing time.  Quarterback Zach Pate zoomed the final 49 yards after faking a pitch on an option to the right.  For their part, Central promptly answered the score with a 75 yard drive that was capped off by a 47 yard touchdown reception.  The irony was that the receiver was well covered with defenders in front and behind him; however, one of the Husky defenders tapped the ball into the air in an attempt to intercept the pass and the Bear receiver pulled the ball out of the air and made his way to the end zone to tie the score at 7-7.

JENKINS RECOVERY NUMBER ONE

North came up short of a first down following the ensuing kickoff and senior Chase Whitler punted the ball out past midfield.  Jenkins is the Huskies’ long snapper on punts and despite starting the play with his head down and concentrating on the hike he has to make, he is often the first man downfield in coverage.  Central’s return man took his eye off the ball as Jenkins approached him and as a result, he muffed the punt.  The senior captain quickly dove past him and recovered the ball inside the Central 40 yard line. 

Pate hit senior Brock Johnson with a 19 yard pass reception to convert a fourth down and six situation and senior Ford Johnson scored his first of three touchdowns on a four yard power play behind seniors Cody Smith and Alex Freeman to give North a 14-7 lead.

Central responded with a seven play drive that marched steadily downfield and before the end of the quarter the game was tied at 14 all. 

FORD JOHNSON GETS ROLLING

The track meet ended with the change of quarters.  Both teams’ defenses found their footing and an exchange of punts ensued.   North looked to be hemmed into another punting situation until Ford Johnson found room in the center of the line on third-down-and-five at the North 44.  Shifting into a higher gear as he squeezed through an opening in the line, he darted into the secondary and streaked to the Central 31 before the defense could bring him down.

The drive again looked like it might stall after a penalty and quarterback sack had the Huskies facing third-and-17 at the Central 38.  Pate faked a handoff on a play action pass and then found senior fullback Ryan Wargel open in the left flat.  The play generate 15 yards and set up fourth-and-two at the 23.

Another handoff to Johnson on a power play off tackle produced seven yards and a first down at the 16.  Three plays later, Johnson took a dive play in from the four yard line and senior Zac Turi’s third extra point kick gave the Huskies a 21-14 lead at halftime.

SECOND HALF

The Bears looked strong when they emerged from halftime.  Energized by senior night activities, they appeared to be trash-talking and making the most of opportunities to create confrontations with North players.  A 52 yard pass play generated a first down for Central at the North 13 and the personal nature of the trash talking on the field appeared to escalate.  When they scored two plays later, the unruly celebration seemed targeted at particular North players.

TURI EXTENDS HIS RECORD

Throughout his four year career as a starter for the Huskies, senior Zac Turi’s intensity on the field has been a hallmark of his play.  A born competitor and a multi-sport athlete for North, Turi has won games with kicks in driving rain storms, taken the steam out of opponent return games with touchback kickoffs, nailed return men with bone jarring tackles, run over defenders to score a touchdown, heaved long touchdown passes, sacked quarterbacks, caused fumbles, and held-the-line on critical third downs.

His emotion level runs high and his spirit is tough to contain.  When called upon to perform some new task or duty, his response has always been along the lines of “tell me where you need me to be and what you need me to do and it will be done.”

As the clock wound down on the third quarter, the game had all the appearances of a contest of attrition with both lines slugging it out and the emotions on both sides running high.  A quarterback sack, a penalty, and an incomplete pass left the Huskies facing fourth and long at the Central 31.

The Huskies needed Turi to hit the longest field goal of his life and the longest by a North kicker in nearly thirty years.   North’s momentum was stalling, Central’s was gaining, and the Huskies needed something to get them started again.

Turi stepped up and booted a 48 yard field goal that was straight as an arrow and just cleared the uprights with a yard to spare.  It was the senior's THIRTEENTH and longest field goal of his career (second longest in school history) and extended a record that is unlikely to fall any time soon.  North gained a 24-21 lead that it would never relinquish.

Turi followed up the field goal with a kickoff out of the end zone that put the Bears in a hole to start the fourth quarter and the momentum shifted to North in a matter of seconds.  Once again, the Huskies had told the co-captain where he needed to be and what he needed to do and even though he had never accomplished that particular feat before, he simply made it happen--because it was what his team needed from him.

THE O-LINE OWNS THE FOURTH QUARTER

After junior Tre Neighbors and sophomore Cage Street batted away passes on second and third down respectively, the Huskies took over following a Central punt a the North 32.  Regaining the lead had pumped up the defense and now it was the offensive line’s turn to flex some muscle.

North set out on a nine play, 68 yard drive that ate up nearly four minutes of game clock and consisted entirely of running plays.  The Huskies never faced a third down on the drive and a steady dose of Pate and Johnson moved the ball to first and goal at the two yard line.  From there, Wargel scored his first touchdown of the season and the Huskies led by ten at 31-21.

JENKINS GETS HIS SECOND FUMBLE

Trailing by two scores and with just over seven minutes to play, Central moved to a hurry up offense.  Their execution left something to be desired and they were quickly facing third and long at the 34 yard line.  Expecting a pass, the Huskies blitzed and junior Austin Curtis rushed in from his outside linebacker spot.  He nailed the quarterback and stripped the ball clean from his grasp ten yards behind the line of scrimmage.  Jenkins was blitzing from the opposite side, spotted the ball on the ground, grabbed it, and made his way to the 17 yard line with the ball.  Pate scored on a deftly executed ‘Midline’ play from the 17 and North now led 37-21.

NOT QUITE OVER YET

By all appearances, a 16 point lead with six minutes to play should indicate a game that is all over but the shouting.  That wasn’t quite the case Friday when Central returned the ensuing kickoff 77 yards for a touchdown and then converted a two-point pass.  Up just eight points, the Huskies turned on ‘The Diesel’ for an answer.

Having already racked up nearly 150 yards rushing behind North’s punishing front line, Ford Johnson was primed for bigger things.  When the Huskies ran a play that they call “Diesel” from their 33, that “Diesel” was a “Ford”.  Johnson took a handoff from Pate and zipped into the line.  Tackle Cody Smith drove the defender in front of him five yards in the opposite direction and Wargel laid waste to the Central defensive end with a devastating block.

Johnson stepped in an opening that five runners could have run through abreast and had clear sailing into the defensive backfield.  When an unblocked defender grabbed him after seven yards, Johnson shucked him without effort and shot straight up the right hash marks.  Senior Ty Winchell was still blocking downfield when Johnson ran up behind him and then pivoted off his block into empty space. 

Central prides itself on its crop of sprinters and athletes who can race from sideline to sideline.  Two of those sprinters were in hot pursuit of Johnson when he stepped into the clear at the 50 yard line.  They gave up pursuit at the ten without having gained a step.  Johnson ran ‘through’ the goal line and North was up 44-29.

The two teams had scored four touchdowns in just three minutes of play and it was North who had shown the offensive firepower and defensive strength to put the Northside Trophy back where it belongs.

A FINAL SCORE

Wargel stripped another ball free on a tackle with two minutes to play and North took over at the Central 21.  With Turi stepping in at quarterback, four straight handoffs on dive plays into the line were seen by the Bears as ‘running up the score’.  Tempers flared and the Bears’ coaching staff displayed their usual lack of sportsmanship when Jenkins put the final points on the board with a 1 yard touchdown.  Turi tied an All-Time Record with nine kicking points in a single game and extended his own record for career kicking points with an extra point that made the final 51-29.

Central’s Athletic Director coordinated an effort on the part of their coaches to refrain from the ceremonial shaking of hands at the end of the game and could be heard shouting epithets as their staff left the field.

It was a glorious night to be a Husky.

The 2014 Huskies became just the second North squad to run up 500 yards total offense in two games in a single season (the fabled 1995 team being the other) and their nearly 1,500 yards rushing over a four game stretch (Bosse thru Central) was the first team to accomplish that feat since Hall of Famer Derenzo Bushrod led the 2000 club to a 1,600 yard total for four games.

With a week to prepare for North Vigo, the Huskies are headed into the sectionals on a roll and could be poised to make a run at a title.  The team is healthy and seems to have well defined rolls that they understand and execute on.  Turnovers have been minimized.

Time will tell, but, once again, Friday night was a glorious night to be a Husky.

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