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North Huskies vs Harrison Warriors - at Romain Stadium Sep 4, 2020

Game Stats    Game Recap   

Offense

Team Stats

Defensive Stats

Game Recap

HUSKIES OVERWHELM WARRIORS 41-0

The North Huskies’ lines overwhelmed the Harrison Warriors in a 41-0 victory Friday night that was not as close as the score would indicate.  Senior Capelton Presswood and junior Ethan Brawdy both contributed multiple scores in the game, but on the night, the most impressive display of prowess came from the Huskies men up front on both sides of the ball.

OFFENSIVE LINE DOMINATION

For a measure of perspective, North ran the ball fifteen times in the first half when the line of scrimmage was outside Harrison’s five-yard line.  On those fifteen running plays originating from a position wherein the Warriors could not stack nine defenders on the line, the Huskies averaged 13 yards per attempt.  On only one of those 15 carries were they held to a gain of less than five yards.

That is an offensive line that completely dominates their opponent.

The starting offensive line Friday night was manned by junior Gunnar Sales, senior Gage Sales, junior Zane Hatt, freshman Timothy Dixon, and junior Kaleb Lowe.  Four underclassmen and one senior pushed around a defensive line that was populated with some physically imposing players.

DEFENSE SAPS THE WARRIORS ‘WILL TO WIN’

To provide a similar view of the defense, consider this statistic:  of the nine designed running plays attempted by the Warriors in the first half, three were tackled for loss in the backfield, two were stopped at the line of scrimmage, two gained one yard, and the remaining two carries went for two and three yards respectively.

Compound those numbers with these observations: 

·         on one of those plays for negative yardage, sophomore Angelo St. Louis stripped the runner of the ball and senior Luke Willis recovered it at the Harrison 21;

·         the Warriors dropped back to pass 19 times in the first half and were sacked three times by junior linebacker Mitchell Happe for a total of 26 yards in losses

·         six of their eight completions were held to gains of six yards or less while their final pass was intercepted by sophomore Ethan King.

The defensive front seven Friday night was manned by sophomore Cale Johnson, junior T.J. Hankins, senior Luke Willis, senior Gage Sales, junior Mitchell Happe, senior Aidan Mercer, and senior Brody Tichenor.

The backfield behind them on defense contained senior Delavion Crenshaw, senior Robert Pollard, sophomore Ethan King, and junior Jewellz Hailey.

There were many others who would come off the bench and participate in the domination of the Warriors, but this was the unit that effectively set the tempo for the game in the first quarter.  On this night, while others scored the points and will be well-remembered for having exploited the opportunities presented to them, these eleven players simply collapsed Harrison’s will-to-win in the game’s first ten minutes of play.

FIRST QUARTER FULL OF HIGHLIGHT REEL PLAYS

The first quarter was a flash of highlight reel plays.  After a block-in-the-back penalty nullified a huge gain on a pass from Brawdy to junior Angus Davis, the Huskies lined up in the spread offense with a pair of wideouts to either side.  Sophomore Jaylonn Mitchell came in motion from left to right and then ran what is referred to as a “wheel” rout.  The two receivers on the right side ran slant patterns inside that were designed to draw the deep defenders into coming down to cover them.  On the snap, Mitchell “wheeled” to their outside and turned upfield along the sideline hoping to draw just a linebacker in coverage.

An average linebacker cannot keep up with someone as fast as Mitchell.

This play was evidence of that fact.

Brawdy executed a pump-fake with the ball to one of the middle receivers just as Mitchell cut up field.  The safety ‘bit’ on the fake and the fleet footed sophomore’s path down the sideline was clear of defenders and the hapless linebacker trailed him by an ever-increasing margin.

Brawdy then threw to Mitchell and the ball landed arrived perfectly over his left shoulder at the 35-yard line.  Only a defender playing the angle was able to stop Mitchell from scoring on the play and tackled him at the one-yard line after a 62-yard gain.  Brawdy punched the ball into the end zone behind Gage Sales two plays later.

Willis’ fumble recovery set up Presswood’s first touchdown of the game for North’s second score.  North’s line rolled back the Warriors on a fifty-five yard drive the next time the Huskies touched the ball and Angus Davis caught a Brawdy pass for a one-yard scoring play to cap the drive off.  North exited the first quarter up 21-0.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

The Husky offense stalled on a pair of incomplete passes during their first possession of the second quarter, however, it was ‘one-of-those-nights’ for Harrison.  Brawdy lined up to punt, booted the ball inside the Warrior 30 only to have one of the offensive players touch the ball without recovering it.  Angelo St. Louis lapped up the loose ball and North had first-and-ten at the Harrison 24.  A few plays later, Presswood would bust a run up the middle for a four yard touchdown.

BRAWDY WORKS SOME MAGIC

Even when faced with bad field position, the Huskies could not be contained.  After Harrison’s fourth punt of the first half rolled dead at the Husky five, it appeared North’s juggernaut offense would have to get conservative to keep their opponent from gaining momentum due to a potential Husky error.

Brawdy put that notion to rest on the very first play.

With the offense again lined up in the familiar spread formation with one running back next to the quarterback in the shotgun and a pair of wide receivers split wide to both sides, on the snap, the play looked to be a running play to the offense’s right side.  Brawdy appeared to slide the ball into Presswood’s capable hands and everyone lunged that direction.

Except the junior quarterback still had the ball and sprinted to his left into an opening and cut upfield, trailed by Mitchell.  As the defense recognized its collective error and rapidly re-deployed to stop Brawdy from gaining more than a few yards, the nimble footed and heady quarterback stopped his forward momentum.  Planting his right foot, he looked behind him and to his left, and passed the ball backwards to Mitchell—who was running without a defender near him.  A quarterback cannot normally pass the ball after he crosses the line of scrimmage—unless he throws it backwards at which time it is considered a lateral rather than a pass.

The play gained an additional 10 yards before Mitchell was forced out of bounds.  North was now outside their 25-yard line and the offense could operate with impunity and without regard to allowing a momentum-building big play due to an error.  North ran off ten more plays and moved the ball inside the Harrison 30 before a holding penalty stalled the drive.

MITCHELL HAPPE AND CAPELTON PRESSWOOD CLOSE OUT THE HALF

It really did not matter, because Mitchell Happe immediately killed the Warriors possession with a quarterback sack that forced a punt by Harrison.  This was Happe’s second of what would prove to be three ‘drive killing’ sacks of Harrison’s quarterback in the first half. 

North assumed control of the ball at the Husky 45 and Capelton Presswood immediately showed why he is the most explosive player in the city this season.

The offense lined up in shot gun formation with Davis as the ‘H’ back behind left guard.  A high snap forced Brawdy to do some fancy footwork to come down with the ball—any other quarterback might have abandoned the play at that point, but Brawdy snagged the ball and followed through with the play as designed. 

Presswood took one-and-a-half steps to his right and then came back to Brawdy for handoff in a play designed to have a ‘delay’ built in before the handoff.  The quarterback’s struggle to handle the snap proved to be the perfect timing for the delay to work.  Brawdy quickly got the ball in Presswood’s hands.

The defense, having seen Presswood initially step twice to his right had reacted by racing to that side of the field.  Meanwhile, in the offensive line, right guard Timothy Dixon and right tackle Kaleb Lowe had pulled to their left.  Dixon smashed into the unblocked defensive end just as Presswood accelerated with the handoff and into the line.  Gage Sales bulldozed the enormous defender lined up in front of him to a position where the defender could get a better view of the cheerleaders than he could of Presswood. 

The hole in the line was six yards wide and growing when the running back stepped through it.  Lowe had sprinted down the line behind Dixon and, when the freshman laid out the end, turned upfield looking for someone to hit.  The linebacker was the next person in line and Lowe demolished the threat on the spot.  Presswood was well into the secondary but still fifty yards from the end zone.

His immediate threat came from the safety, but that didn’t bother ‘Cape’.  A stiff arm and a quick cut to his left carried him past the safety without a hand being laid upon him.  Unfortunately, the cut to the left effectively put him on a collision course with the Warrior cornerback on that side of the field.

For some runners, that would have been an inescapable collision.

Not for ‘Cape’.

‘CAPE’ BRINGS THE SHOWTIME TO PRIMETIME

After a nifty change of body contortion with a quick throw of his shoulders to his right, he changed his path and was now headed straight down the center of the field at the Harrison 45…

…where three defenders awaited him in a triangle formation. 

Presswood’s great field of vision allowed him to correctly judge that one white jersey (worn by Delavion Crenshaw) was arriving at a speed that would allow ‘Cape’ to take advantage of Crenshaw’s presence to act as a screen on one defender.  Utilizing the screening block, Presswood again cut to his right and ducked low enough that the center defender in the triangle had nothing but shoulder pad to grasp as ‘Cape’ dashed by.

A defender cannot tackle number 28 by simply grabbing his shoulder pad.  That simply is not an effective technique to deploy against a runner with the balance of a professional dancer, the strength of a baby bull, and the speed of a thoroughbred.  Presswood utilized all three and was free of the defense as he crossed the 30-yard line.  He went into the end zone and North was up five touchdowns with 1:47 to play in the half.  Only a blocked extra point would prevent the second half starting with a running clock.

SECOND HALF CLOCK RUNS, SO DO THE HUSKIES

The Huskies received the opening kickoff of the second half and sophomore Angelo St. Louis came into play running back.  The lone defender that Presswood had left in his tracks on his 55-yard touchdown had come up from behind him and tackled him in the end zone after he had scored.  The contact produced some minor injury and the Husky staff withheld him from playing the second half.

St. Louis gained 67 yards on North’s 70-yard scoring drive to open the half.  The line’s domination continued into the third quarter and St. Louis’ slashing, upright running style took advantage of the openings just as Presswood had.  North led 41-0 with seven minutes to play in the third quarter and the rest of the game was played with a running clock.

EVERYONE GETS TO PLAY, EVERYONE GETS SOME COACHING

It was a night in which the entire Husky team got into the game and contributed.  The second team lines were nearly as effective against Harrison as the starters were.   Several different quarterbacks were deployed, and a variety of runners got a chance to carry the ball.

For their part, the Husky coaching staff was in full force on the sidelines during the second half.  No coaches were up in the press box—all were present and reinforcing their messages with one-on-one conversations with players as they came and went on the playing field.

Seasons past, many Husky opponents got to enjoy just such a night while taking on North.  This was a night when everyone got to share in the fruits of the off-season’s labors and revel in the joy that winning big brings.

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