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North Huskies vs Memorial Tigers - at Enlow Field Sep 6, 2019

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Offense

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Game Recap

TIGERS PULL AWAY LATE IN 40-28 VICTORY OVER NORTH

Exceptional big plays for the Huskies were offset by multiple momentary lapses that allowed Memorial to pull away from North in Friday night’s 40-28 loss at Enlow Field.  For three quarters of a football game, the Huskies battled the Tigers to a standstill.  It was not until a fourth down and 15 play resulted in a 40 yard touchdown pass with 2:44 to play that North was officially ‘out’ of the ball game.

Football is a team sport.  You win as a team and you lose as a team.  It takes 11 players working in unison to make an offense or defense work effectively.

There are times, though, when an individual player has a game that everyone just has to stand up and take notice.  Three players stood out last Friday night as having had moments of brilliance.  All three were seniors and they made the most of their last possible outing against Memorial.

SKINNER WREAKS HAVOC

Senior defensive end J.T. Skinner announced his presence on defense with authority.  He had one of those high-profile Big games (with a capital B) from the very onset.  On Memorial’s second play from scrimmage, he recognized a ‘Jet Sweep’ as it was occurring and blew it up in the backfield for a two yard loss.  On the very next play Skinner held a runner to a minimal gain to set up fourth and 12 at the North 44. 

A pass interference penalty afforded Memorial a new set of downs.  Skinner wasn’t done wreaking havoc on this possession, however.  On third and 5, the Tigers handed the ball on a power play aimed directly at right end.  Skinner battled through the blocker and dropped the runner for a loss.  The defense held.

Early in the Tigers next possession, J.T. showed his basketball skills and got his hands up in the air to deflect a pass at the line of scrimmage.

PASSING PLAYS EXPLODED

It was on passing plays that he would disrupt the offense throughout the first half.   Early in the second quarter, Memorial had moved the ball to their 40.  Skinner had moved inside from his normal end position to play defensive tackle.  On first down, he man-handled the guard in front of him, slid down the line and stopped a runner for no gain.

He effectively ended the drive on the next play.  The defensive formation had Skinner lined up at tackle but executing a stunt with the middle linebacker wherein the linebacker blitzes up the middle and Skinner drops back in coverage. In this instance, however, no sooner had he stepped one foot backwards than a hole opened ahead of him.  Reversing his direction in an instant, he flew directly to the quarterback and nailed him for a ten yard loss.  The drive resulted in a punt.

His combination of explosiveness off the ball, leaping ability at the line, agility to slip off would-be blockers, and sure handed tackling resulted in a game to remember.  On the night he ended up with ten tackles, six of which were solos, four tackles for loss, and a quarterback sack.  It was a spectacular effort.

McKINNEY A ‘BACK FOR THE AGES’

Where Skinner set the early tempo for the defense, it fell to Dylan McKinney to produce the big plays for the offense. 

The 6 foot tall, 180 pound senior is the fastest player in Evansville in football pads.  His skill set is similar to Skinner’s:  he is explosive, agile, sure handed, and possesses great leaping ability.  Over the course of 19 varsity football games in his career he has AVERAGED a touchdown ONCE every ELEVEN times he touches the ball. 

That average is even better this season:  39 touches (including kick returns) have yielded 8 TD’s!  Once every FIVE times he has touched the ball, the Huskies have added a touchdown to the scoreboard.

To date he has averaged OVER seven yards per carry or reception for his career.  This season that number is a phenomenal FOURTEEN-AND-A-HALF yard gain every time he gets the ball in his hands.

All his talents were on full display Friday night.

TOUCHDOWN NUMBER ONE

After Memorial scored first with 2 minutes to play in the first quarter, North got the ball at the 24.  Facing second and three at the 31, the Huskies ran to their right with McKinney.  Both Mauricos Mayes and Adam Goebel executed perfect reach blocks to take down the interior of the line.  Jacob Guest and Alex Smith double teamed the outside linebacker to remove him from the play.

McKinney took the handoff, saw the gap open, and zipped into the opening.  Just past the line of scrimmage a pair of defenders stood poised to hold the run to a moderate gain.  In a move reminiscent of some of the great backs of the past, the agile senior swiveled his hips first to his right to evade one tackler and then back to his left to evade the second.

Without breaking stride he had juked two would be tacklers out of their positions and then sprinted 69 yards for a touchdown.  North tied the score at 7 all.

TOUCHDOWN NUMBER TWO

After Skinner succeeded in blowing up Memorial’s first possession of the second quarter, the Huskies took over near midfield.  Facing third and six at the Tiger 40, it fell to McKinney to again work his magic on just his fourth ‘touch’ of the game.

Memorial’s best defensive lineman was positioned directly across, nose-to-nose with North guard Gage Sales.  The play called for the two to battle mano-et-mano, head-to-head an old fashion showdown of power football.  Sales stood his man up and turned him aside.  McKinney took the handoff and drove directly behind Sales’ power block. 

Unexpectedly, however, another lineman missed his seal block on the linebacker and the defender stood squarely in Dylan’s path five yards downfield.  McKinney cut sharply to his left and shed the would-be tackler as though he was a feather.  Skinner slid into the picture with a downfield screen block of the safety and McKinney jetted to the end zone to give North a 14-7 lead.

TOUCHDOWN NUMBER THREE

The Huskies got a shot in the arm from the defense in the third quarter after the offense struggled at the start of the second half.  Senior Wayne Crowe came up with a ‘scoop fumble’ and rambled 40 yards to bring North back into the game at 27-21.

As the night would play out, miscues in the secondary would relegate McKinney’s third and final score to the back pages.  It was a thing of beauty nonetheless.

With North trailing 40-21, Dylan split wide right at receiver rather than his customary spot in the backfield.  On the snap, he ran a crisp slant pattern and quarterback Ethan Brawdy hit him in the numbers with a pass.  Catching the ball at the 30, he had to get past a pair of would-be tacklers converging on him from either side.

It was no contest for McKinney.  He shed their efforts like so much water off a duck’s back. 

He wasn’t yet in the clear but he had a full head of steam.  Four defenders had drawn even with him as he shed the tacklers.

Now it would be a foot race to the end zone.

Except it really wasn’t a race at all--not when number 21 has the ball and the end zone in his sights.

McKinney won the race by ten yards and North had its final score of the evening.

OZETE CAN BOOM THE BALL

Skinner and McKinney were not the only two players to distinguish themselves on this evening.  It’s an old saying that no kicker ever gets any attention unless they do something wrong.  There is a perception that what they do is easy.

The last ten years of Husky football have proven that to be a misperception.

For the better part of a decade, the Huskies have struggled to find a consistent punter.  Certainly a few punters over the years have sometimes hit some epic punts, but even the best of them have also shanked more than their share out of bounds.

Senior Alex Ozete is having the best season of any punter since 2008.  It has been over a decade since a North punter has averaged better than 31 yards per punt.  Alex is AVERAGING nearly eight yards more than that this season and his skills were on full display Friday.  Every time the Huskies needed him to ‘turn the field around’, he answered the call.

His best punt measured 57 yards and had no return.

His efforts were not limited to punts.  He squarely aced four Extra Point attempts and AVERAGED 57 yards per kickoff.  The Tigers were not given good field position at the hands of the kicker.  Ozete even made a tackle on a punt when a runner threatened to escape coverage down the sideline.

BIG PLAYS ALSO REQUIRE LITTLE VICTORIES

It is the little things that decide football games.  A football field is 100 yards long, but for a team to win they have to battle as a team for every inch of that surface. 

Friday night was full of big plays for the Huskies, but even the biggest plays cannot overcome the miscues that come with blown assignments, missed blocks, and poor execution.

A team wins together and a team loses together.  Big plays do not just happen, they take everyone playing together to create the opportunity.

Likewise, everyone has to recognize their assignment and execute to prevent the other team from making big plays.

Friday night the Tigers made more big plays.

But North is getting better and the gap isn’t nearly as wide as it has been in the past.

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