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North Huskies vs Henderson County Colonels - at Bundrant Stadium Aug 30, 2019

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Offense

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Game Recap

COLONELS BEST HUSKIES IN 39-35 THRILLER

Losses are tough to take.  Losses in the final two minutes can overshadow tremendous results that were achieved up to that point.  Friday night was such as story for the North Huskies in their thrilling 39-35 loss to Henderson County.

If a viewer watched closely, what they saw was some of the finest offensive line play by the Huskies in the last decade or more.

It is certainly easy to pay attention to who scores the touchdowns and touchdowns are earned not given.  The individual who scores is given tremendous amounts of recognition for the very good reason that they are hard to achieve.  To score a touchdown requires speed, agility, toughness, and strength.

It is no secret to anyone who has watched North football this season that Dylan McKinney, Capoleton Presswood, J.T. Skinner, and Ethan Brawdy possess all those traits.  And because of that, they have scored touchdowns by the handful.

What is left unsaid, however, is that all those traits are for naught if a runner is afforded no opportunity.

For the last several seasons, Husky runners have had to exert extreme effort just to work to gain a first down.

On Friday night, North’s offensive line dominated their side of scrimmage in a fashion Bundrant Stadium had not seen in years.

THE OFFENSIVE LINE OPENS UP THE FIRST SCORE

The front line consists of a core unit of two tackles, two guards, a center, and a tight end.  North predominantly uses seven players to fill those six positions.  The two tackle slots are manned by senior Jacob Guest and sophomore Gunnar Sales.  Three players alternate in at the two guard positions:  seniors Adam Goebel and Tanner Jackson are joined by junior Gage Sales.  At center is senior Mauricos Mayes and tight end is senior Alex Smith.

Some of those players are big.  Some are comparatively under-sized for their position.  What they all have in common is “execution”.

On North’s first scoring play Friday, Capoleton Presswood took the ball 77 yards ‘to the house’.  In a box score, that is all it would say.  Watching the game however, you would see Gunnar Sales controlling the defensive end while his brother, Gage, screens the middle linebacker so that Presswood can cut left and get to the outside.  From there, he broke a tackle on his own at the 30 and streaked to the end zone.  North led 7-0.

Following a Henderson County long touchdown pass that resulted from a blown coverage in the North secondary, you could watch more text book blocking as the Huskies drove to the Henderson 17 but came up empty handed when a field goal attempt went awry.

When the Colonels took the lead 13-7 following a pass interference penalty and a great end zone catch, it was the offensive line that again opened an opportunity for Dylan McKinney to work his special magic. 

THE SPORTS CAR HITS THE HIGHWAY

With Guest and Mayes being joined by fellow senior Jackson Robards on the right side of the line, the Huskies had a first and ten at their 25.  In a zone blocking scheme the three right side linemen effectively formed a wall that sealed off the defensive interior.  Smith then used a can-opener technique to turn the defensive end up field leaving him too deep to contain a runner.  This resulted in a hole in the defense a sports car could drive thru.

North’s own version of a sports car, McKinney, seized the opportunity, drove through the hole, burst into the secondary, cut right and sprinted down the sideline to make it 14-13.

The big plays continued in the second quarter.

TANNER JACKSON CAN BRING IT

With Tanner Jackson subbing in at guard for Gage Sales (the big fella was having quite a game of his own on defense with tackles for loss, blocked kicks, deflected passes, etc. and needed a rest), the offense had just made it into Henderson territory.  The ball rested at the 44 and the Colonels came with a blitz on first down. 

Jackson is undersized for an offensive guard.  He stands 5’11” and weighs just 185 pounds.  When he subs in for Sales, he often gives away 50 or more pounds to the opponent he must block.

There is an old saying that goes, “it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

It holds true for Jackson.  A three year starter for North at linebacker, he opted to give up his cherished number 44 that he had worn with distinction for three seasons.  He gave it up so he could help the team and wear a number that would allow him to substitute in for Sales and play offensive line.  It is unusual for a player with years of wearing one number to give it up for another.  It speaks to the value of “team” to the player that does it.  It speaks to the value of “winning” to the player that does it.

It speaks to the size of the fight in the dog that is willing to do it.

Henderson brought a particularly nasty type of stunt blitz on the play.  They brought a stunt wherein the outside defender runs behind an interior defender to get to the line of scrimmage.  It’s the kind of play where an inexperienced lineman can easily get confused, misread his assignment, and allow the defender to ‘blow up’ the play.

Jackson blew up the blitzer instead.

With plenty of time to read the defense thanks to Jackson’s pick up of the blitz, quarterback Ethan Brawdy spotted McKinney streaking into the secondary.  The Colonel defensive backfield had misread their assignment and the extra time afforded by Jackson’s block allowed Brawdy to have the time to spot the blown coverage.  McKinney caught the pass behind the secondary and scored his second touchdown of the game untouched.  North led 21-13 after the third of Alex Ozete’s five perfect extra point kicks.

The Colonels continued to contest the score based as much upon North defensive miscues as their own success.  A missed tackle at midfield enabled a Henderson receiver to escape for a long touchdown run that brought Henderson back to 21-19.

As the half wound down, North took over with just 43 seconds to play.  It proved to be thirty seconds more than they needed to score again.

With the ball at the 30 on first down, the offensive line produced a perfect pocket in which Brawdy had all the time he needed to throw.  Film from the end zone showed text book pass blocking at its finest as the young quarterback spotted senior J.T. Skinner on a fly pattern deep down the right hand side.  With extra room to step forward and make certain he had plenty of leg strength behind his throw, Brawdy nailed Skinner 50 yards down field.  The Huskies had a first down at the 14 with 35 seconds on the clock.

GREAT O-LINE PLAY GOES LIKE CLOCKWORK

When an offensive line comes together, if you get a chance to watch it operate in slow motion it is a thing of beauty.  The intricacy of their work together, the timing and coordination of players working systematically to achieve a common purpose is like watching the inner working of a well made clock.

In real time it looks like this:  Dylan McKinney broke through the middle of the line for a 14 yard score.

In slow motion, here is how it happened:

1. On the snap, the center Mayes made the most difficult of blocks look effortless.  He delivered the snap to the quarterback perfectly and then had to push hard to his right to make what is called a gap block.  He had to block the defender on his right and he had to get there before the runner did or the play would die—but he had to first made sure that he delivered a perfect snap.  Mayes did both perfectly on this play.

2. The guard, Goebel, had to slip past the defender in front of him, assuming Mayes would make his gap block, and then run out and make a block on a moving target—the middle line backer.  Middle line backers train for such things and resist being screened.  Goebel executed a perfect seal block.

3. In turn, the tackle, Guest, took the defensive end on an excursion through the country side, so to speak.  Not by the end’s own choice, mind you, but because Guest coerced him with a perfect blocking technique.

All of this activity occurred in the precise order it had to take place and at the exact moments in which they had to occur.  McKinney saw the opportunity it presented and powered through the hole to the end zone for his third touchdown of the game.

North went to halftime leading 28-19.

SOMETIMES THINGS BREAK DOWN

The first drive of the second half showed what can happen when an offensive lineman who is not, by design, expected to impact a play nonetheless continues his effort because you never really know how a play is going to work out.

The Huskies had driven to the Colonels 19 yard line in just three running plays following a failed on-sides kick attempt to start the half. 

Sometimes things break down up front.  Sometimes things don’t go as planned.  This is when superb backs like McKinney, Presswood, Skinner, and Brawdy can spin their magic out of nothing.

And then there are times when, by the sake of determination and doggedness, a lineman or a receiver can provide that slimmest of openings that no one was counting on and a superb back sees it open.

The play on first down called for North to execute an interior run called a ‘trap’.  The important thing for that play to work is for the defense NOT to recognize the trap is occurring.  On the snap, Gage Sales pulled to his right and Goebel slid past his defender to allow the trap to set up.

Only on this play, the Colonel defender recognized the trap was coming and stayed right where he was—which was exactly in the middle of the hole where McKinney was to run.  As Dylan approached and Sales contacted the defender, the impact could yield nowhere for the runner to take the ball.

Being blessed with ‘fast feet’ and an even quicker eye for openings, McKinney recognized no hole would be forthcoming and skirted to his left to avoid a defender.  He kept trying to move forward behind the wall of defenders but no hole was to be found.

Until Gunnar Sales continued his back side block.

At left tackle, the play was designed to run away from the younger of the Sales brothers.  In some cases, a back side tackle is called upon to simply screen his man and look up field to see if he can help the runner IF he makes it through the line of scrimmage.  On this play, Gunnar remained in contact with his man rather than release and when McKinney realized he was in trouble, he spotted the nearest green jersey that might afford an opening.

That green jersey was number 60 sustaining his block on the backside of the defense.  By remaining in contact and controlling his man, the offensive tackle gave McKinney a pivot point off which he could cut back to the outside.  By maintaining his block, he effectively sealed off all interior pursuit from the inside while McKinney ran outside.

14 yards later, North led 35-19.

MUCH TO TAKE AWAY FROM THE LOSS

As the game would play out, the Colonels will record it as one in their program’s string of glorious comebacks.

Twice more the Husky line would provide the blocks that brought the ball within scant feet of the end zone only to achieve no score.  Eventually the Colonels would wear down the North defense late in the game and use long passes to set up a winning score.

The takeaway from the night for the Husky faithful was this:  North’s offensive line is tough and can match up with the best that anyone has to offer.  Our backs are fast and dangerous and can exploit any weakness that the line opens.

If the back end of the defense can come together as well as the front has, this could be a season to remember for the North faithful.

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