Back

North Huskies vs Bosse Bulldogs - at Bundrant Stadium Sep 17, 2021

Game Stats    Game Recap   

Offense

Team Stats

Defensive Stats

Game Recap

HUSKY DEFENSE OVERWHELMS BULLDOGS IN 49-26 VICTORY

The North Huskies’ defense thoroughly dominated the Bosse Bulldogs in a 49-26 victory at Bundrant Stadium Friday night.  The visitors were held to negative three yards rushing and were unable to convert ten of eleven third down opportunities.  The Huskies recorded a whopping 20 tackles for loss in the game with five quarterback sacks.  Senior Mitchell Happe’s night included three tackles for loss, a pair of quarterback sacks, six tackles and a 41-yard touchdown following a fumble recovery.

HANKINS UNSTOPPABLE ON OPENING DRIVE

After Happe & Company set the tone for the evening on Bosse’s first possession with a ‘three-and-out’, North’s first possession featured a familiar face.  Taking over at the North 45 and with freshman Luke Grayson starting at quarterback, the Husky offense relied upon their featured weapon in 2021:  senior running back T.J. Hankins.

His first carry saw Bosse showing blitz at the line of scrimmage.  On the snap, freshman left guard Ben Brasher expertly picked up the blitzing linebacker and sophomore Timmy Dixon slid past him to seal off the interior pursuit.  Hankins took the handoff and raced into the hole before the unblocked end could reach him.

What came next was typical of Hankins’ senior season.  The safety came up to make the play and Hankins simply battered him to the ground with his shoulder and advanced into the secondary.  Another defender quickly engaged the big running back ten yards downfield only to fall victim to a wicked hip shove that left him in the dirt.  Fifteen yards downfield a third defender got to feel the full brunt of a stiff arm as Hankins picked up another five before being forced out of bounds.

With first down at the Bosse 32, Grayson again handed the ball to Hankins.  With sophomore H-Back Kaleb Harris effectively screening the defensive end, Hankins busted outside to his right into open space.  The Huskies then got to witness the effect of a pair of receivers neutralizing defenders down field.  Junior Jayvonn Mitchell shielded the safety from getting to Hankins and then senior Jewellz Hailey walled off the cornerback.  Hankins had a full head of steam going and rambled to the Bosse 4-yard line before being pushed out of bounds.

North overloaded the right side of the line with a pair of tackles and a tight end on first and goal.  Dixon walled off the inside of the defense and senior Gunnar Sales relocated the defensive end to the back of the end zone with a drive block.  Harris again screened off the linebacker and Hankins plowed in for a touchdown.  North went 55 yards on four rushes in just one-minute of play.

HAPPE’S BIG SCORE

After an exchange of punts, the Bulldogs had the ball at their 41 and were facing third and eight.  Bosse’s running back ran left looking for room to turn up field but junior Cale Johnson ‘set the corner’ and turned the play back inside.  Pursuit from sophomore Delshan Davis and Happe caught up with him in short order and after Davis collapsed the runner, Happe reached in and took the ball away from him.  At first, he held the ball up to show the referees his possession and then realized no whistle had blown.  He sprinted along the sideline and went 41 yards to put the Huskies up 14-0.

DEFENSE STIFLES BULLDOGS…AGAIN

A Bosse penalty forced them to start from their 16-yard line and senior Angus Davis quickly dropped a runner for loss.   The line pressured their quarterback into an incomplete pass on second down and junior Ethan King paired with Cale Johnson to produce another tackle for loss on third down.  When Bosse went to punt from their seven-yard line, the kick went off the side of the punter’s foot and North took over at the Bosse 15.  Three straight handoffs to Hankins produced a 21-0 North lead as the first quarter neared its end.

LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE

When Angus Davis thwarted a Bosse drive at the North 29 with a fumble recovery, it appeared that the Huskies rout of their opponent was going to continue.  Sometimes the football gods like to even things up a bit and that happened Friday night. 

After a Husky punt, Bosse had the ball at their 40.  When sophomore Jayden Hazelwood exploded into the backfield and dropped a runner for a five-yard loss, the thinking in the Stadium was that Bosse was done for this possession.  When the Bulldog quarterback got a high snap from center that he nearly fumbled, the thinking in the Stadium was that Bosse would lose more yards on the play.  When the quarterback lobbed the ball to his left and backwards toward a receiver, the thinking in the Stadium was that there were more than enough defenders there to contain him.

And then there weren’t.

Catching the ball at the 30, Bosse’s receiver evaded one Husky and then picked up a screening block just past the line of scrimmage that broke him free down the sideline.  There was no one in the Husky defense who could catch him and Bosse was on the scoreboard.  A two-point conversion made the score 21-8.

North got the ball back near midfield following a kick return by Hailey and sophomore quarterback Sam McKinney—inserted into the game at the start of the second quarter—picked up 16 yards on first down.

And then lightning struck a second time.

When McKinney dropped back to throw a slant pass to Hailey on the left, the linebacker blitzed from that side, batted the ball in the air, caught it as it came down and streaked 50 yards untouched for Bosse’s second touchdown in one minute of play.

Suddenly there was a game at Bundrant Stadium.

ST. LOUIS RIGHTS THE SHIP

With the score 21-14, the Huskies took over at their 33.  Seven straight running plays busted away at the Bosse defense.  Crossing midfield, Hankins picked up 21 yards off tackle to put the ball at the Bosse 20.  Giving Hankins a rest, junior Angelo St. Louis entered the game at running back.

The first down play was designed to go between guard and tackle to the right, but the snap from center ended up on the ground.  By the time McKinney could pick the ball up, the hole had closed and defenders were surrounding the quarterback.  He somehow got the ball into St. Louis’ hands and the runner accelerated hard to his right to avoid the rush.  St. Louis saw some daylight just outside the tight end and cut straight up field on a dime—there was no waste of motion or time.  He simply accelerated into the defense.  Jayvonn Mitchell provided a timely block and Harris screened off the safety.  It took a pair of defenders to bring St. Louis down at the one.  On the next play, St. Louis took a straight ahead hand off into the right side behind seniors Zane Hatt and Garrett Mooney and North led 28-14 after Mitchell Renfro’s fourth extra point kick of the half.

SECOND HALF

As the game entered the second half, it appeared that the script would feature more of the same Husky domination.  Mitchell Happe recorded another quarterback sack to force a Bosse punt from their 22-yard line and North took over at the Bulldog 48.  Two plays later lightning struck again.

Hankins drove through the line for a gain of five yards but was stripped of the ball.  Bosse’s linebacker took the ball and ran to the Husky one-yard line before being knocked out of bounds.  Hazelwood again threw a runner for loss and junior linebacker Deshaun Horne did the same on second down.  A Bosse offsides penalty moved the ball back to the 14 and given that their kicking game was non-existent on the evening, it appeared it would take a miracle for them to score.

They got one.

Dropping back and giving ground on fourth down, the Bosse quarterback planted his back foot and threw the ball under a heavy rush.  On the night he had routinely missed his targets, but on this play, throwing from near the left sideline at the 20 into the far-right corner of the end zone, the ball had to fly over 40 yards in the air.  A receiver broke hard that direction, outran the safety pursuing him from behind, and caught the ball to make it a one-score game again.  A Bosse runner tripped attempting the two-point conversion and the score remained 28-20

THE HUSKIES ANSWER

There are moments when plays work to perfection.  With Bosse having failed in their second consecutive on-sides kick-off of the half, North had the ball at their 47-yard line and four minutes to play in the third quarter.  The next play was one of those perfect moments.

St. Louis lined up to the right of McKinney and came left on the snap and took the handoff.  Big freshman Ben Brasher walled off the tackle to his right and because Bosse had gambled by blitzing a linebacker up the middle (and behind the play), sophomore Timmy Dixon had one single block to make in order to spring St. Louis up field.  Dixon put up a roadblock and St. Louis cut off his backside and sprinted into the secondary.  Cale Johnson executed a text-book block on the safety and St. Louis picked up 30 yards before the defense could bring him down. 

When it appeared the drive might stall, St. Louis picked up 14 yards on third and 16 and then McKinney ‘manned up’ for a tough five-yard pickup on fourth-and-two to set up first and goal.  Two plays later, McKinney dove in from the one and Renfro’s fifth kick made the game 35-20

MAN, THOSE GUYS ARE FAST

Bosse’s teams are always known for their speed.  The 2021 edition is no exception.  Renfro’s kickoff flew all the way to the one-yard line.  Unfortunately, the Bosse return man flew 68 yards to the North 31.  Faced with a short field, the Bulldogs picked up a first down on a pass and then converted their only third down of the evening with an eleven-yard run to make the score 35-26.  Deshaun Horne promptly sacked the quarterback on the two-point attempt and the Husky lead remained 11 points.

HANKINS HAS ANOTHER BIG PLAY

Senior K.J. Bell returned Bosse’s short kick to the North 48 and the Huskies started on a drive that featured healthy doses of McKinney and St. Louis alternating running blays.  The game entered the FOURTH QUARTER as North arrived at the Bosse 28-yard line.

And then a holding penalty nullified a big gain.

And then a runner was dropped for a loss.

A short pass from McKinney to fellow sophomore Brady Martin cut the distance to third-and-fourteen and it appeared that the drive would stall.

Enter T.J. Hankins from stage right.

As if on cue, the big senior returned to the game at running back.  On the snap, Bosse brought a linebacker on a blitz straight up the middle.  Hankins slid out into the flat to his right and delayed his turn up field until a pair of receivers on that side had angled to the left and into the center of the field.  This allowed Hankins to ‘wheel’ into open space along the side lines and run toward the 10-yard line.

McKinney, however, was facing a less opportunistic set of events.  The blitzing linebacker had flown through the line and was practically breathing into his face mask.  The sophomore quarterback showed his mettle, planted his back foot, launched the ball, and accepted the savage hit as he threw.

It was not a pretty pass and Hankins looked more like he was fielding a punt as he sought the ball near the 10-yard line.  He came back just far enough to catch it before being slammed by the safety who attempted to jar the ball from his hands.  Hankins held on, North had a first down at the eleven, and McKinney scored from the one three plays later.

FINAL SCORE

North’s dominance continued, Bosse gained just eight yards on offense in the final eight minutes of the game, and Hankins ran one in from 29 yards out to put the finishing touch on a 49-26 victory.

BACK TO TOP