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North Huskies vs Mater Dei Wildcats - at Reitz Bowl Sep 24, 2021

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Game Recap

MISSED CHANCES COSTLY IN 21-14 LOSS TO WILDCATS

Despite dominating nearly every measurable statistic in the game, the North Huskies lost a 21-14 verdict to Mater Dei at Reitz Bowl.  North held the ball for 30 minutes out of 48, gained 21 first downs to just 8 for their opponent, ran twice as many plays from scrimmage, outgained their opponent in terms of total yards, committed half as many penalties, converted 65% of their third or fourth down opportunities, and held the Wildcats scoreless in the second half.

BRAWDY RETURNS TO THE BOWL

Senior Ethan Brawdy returned to the starting lineup and picked up at Reitz Bowl where he left off two weeks ago.  Starting from their 28-yard line, Brawdy led the Huskies on an eleven play, 72-yard drive that saw the Huskies generate five first downs and jump out to a 7-0 lead.  The drive ate up six minutes and thirty seconds and was capped off by T.J. Hankins’ ninth touchdown of the season on a three-yard run.  Mitchell Renfro added a perfect extra point.

LIGHTNING STRIKES

…and then North missed three tackles on a 95-yard kickoff return by the Wildcats.  A pre-planned fake kick on the extra point attempt resulted in a two-yard pass and Mater Dei led 8-7.

THE HUSKIES DRIVE BACK DOWNFILED

Undaunted by the quick score, North’s offense returned and performed a nearly identical drive back down the field.  The Huskies, for the first time in five years, are not blessed with a player who can score from anywhere on the field.  There are no Shawn Coanes, Capelton Presswoods, or Dylan McKinneys to slip the ball to and watch them light the afterburners as they head ‘to the house’.  North has to work for every score, displaying teamwork and discipline along the way.

The Huskies are blessed with an experienced quarterback in Brawdy—North’s best player at the position since Max Mooney was guiding the offense over a decade ago.  After a spectacular junior season, Mooney injured his knee in an offseason basketball game and was forced to play his senior season ‘on one leg’.  His grit, will, determination, and mastery of the game allowed him to lead North to five wins despite his lack of mobility.  He inspired the players around him to elevate their game.

Like Mooney, Brawdy enjoyed a spectacular junior season but suffered an injury that has forced him to play his senior season with essentially one arm.  He uses his smarts, his grit, and his legs to overcome the loss of the use of his left arm and he elevates the game of the players around him.

Given his injury, the Huskies’ margin for error is diminished.  Every snap from center must be where it belongs—if a ball is ‘up’ and to the left from center, instead of being catchable, it becomes an adventure for the quarterback to gain control in time to make a handoff.  Every running back must have his hands in the correct position to accept a handoff or there is a risk of mishandling the ball.

But what North gains when Brawdy is behind center is immeasurable in terms of competitiveness.  His ability to extend plays with his legs that would otherwise collapse for a loss of yards is becoming legendary.  His competitive drive to win is contagious and his vision of the field is unparalleled and the result of starting for three seasons.

Three different times he drew the Wildcats—a team historically know for intense discipline—offsides in the first quarter alone and converted three third downs in the process.  On fourth and two at the Mater Dei 45, Brawdy evaded a heavy rush, rolled to his right, and when trapped by three defenders near the sidelines, he threaded the eye-of-a-needle with a pass to sophomore Kaleb Harris for a first down.

The drive continued into the second quarter—Mater Dei never got the opportunity to run a play from scrimmage in the first quarter—but ended at the Wildcat five when Brawdy came under heavy pressure and was forced to evade it by going to his left.  Without the cast on his left arm, he could have better balanced himself to toss the ball downfield, but with the cast he was forced to make a throw without proper footing.  A Wildcat picked off the pass and North missed out on a scoring opportunity.

LIGHTNING STRIKES AGAIN

The Husky defense concentrated on stopping the Wildcats’ potent running game and led by senior Garrett Mooney’s best game of his career, they did so.  “Mooney” is a prominent name in the history of North football—besides the aforementioned Max Mooney who was named quarterback on North’s All-Decade team, Ben Mooney was named the Player Of The Decade for North in the 1980’s.  On the night, Garrett would end up with ten total tackles including seven solos, three tackles for loss, and a quarterback sack.

With the North defense anticipating ‘runs’ early, linebackers were blitzing frequently, and the Huskies were in man-to-man coverage in the backfield.  Twice in a series of five plays, receivers got open for the Wildcats and the final time it occurred, a tackle was missed and the receiver went 63 yards for a touchdown.  A botched extra point attempt kept the score at 14-7.

A PUNT RETURN AND ANOTHER STRIKE

Brawdy again drove the Huskies into Wildcat territory but the drive stalled and North punted the ball away.  Renfro’s punt was hauled in at the Mater Dei ten and the Huskies appeared to have the return well-covered.  Then the first tackler failed to hold on at the twelve.  A second defender failed to bring the return man down at the fifteen.  The runner bounced outside and a third defender over-ran the runner and missed his opportunity to stop the play.  62 yards after he fielded the punt, sophomore Kaleb Vashon ran the runner down from behind as he shifted to avoid Renfro and Mater Dei had the ball at the North 28.

In the most controversial call of the game, a Wildcat receiver ran a corner pattern toward the left end zone flag, leapt high for a pass thrown his way, bobbled the ball, landed out of bounds, the ball below him hitting the ground and bouncing back up into his chest, and rolled over to display the ball in his grasp three feet out of bounds.  Not hesitating for a second, an official 15 yards behind the play failed to ask any of the other officials if they saw the play and ruled the catch a touchdown.

With three minutes remaining in the half, Mater Dei was essentially done for the evening and led 21-7.  The Husky defense would hold the Wildcats to just over 100 yards of total offense for the remainder of the game including just 44 yards rushing on 19 carries.  Their quarterback would complete just 4 of 10 passes after that and throw an interception.

North thoroughly dominated the game from that point forward but missed opportunities would come back to haunt them.

SECOND HALF

Mater Dei’s only play that gained more than seven yards in the second half carried them deep into North territory on their first possession of the third quarter.  Junior Deshaun Horne promptly dropped the Wildcat quarterback for a 10-yard sack.  Senior Angus Davis batted down a pass at the line of scrimmage.  Sophomore Keonta Barton defended a pass on third down, and Mooney put a punctuation mark on the defensive stand with a seven-yard quarterback sack on fourth down.

A ‘VERY BRAWDY’ DRIVE STALLS

Ethan Brawdy picked up where he had left off in the first half and completed three straight passes to lead the Huskies into Mater Dei territory.  The third of those passes was again to sophomore Kaleb Harris and converted another fourth down with plenty of room to spare.  In the redzone, a Hankins run was stopped for no gain and then, heartbreakingly, a pass was dropped at the Mater Dei ten-yard line and instead of first and goal, it was third and ten.  Brawdy then very nearly willed himself to the first down marker when he shook off two defenders in the backfield, picked up a block from senior Gunnar Sales that sprung him through the line, but was tackled short of the first down marker.  A fourth down plunge into the line came up short and another redzone scoring opportunity was missed by the Huskies.

ANOTHER DROP

The defense forced a three-and-out by Mater Dei and junior Jordan Hunt returned the punt to the Mater Dei 39-yard line.  On first down, the Huskies set up in an “I” formation with two running backs behind the quarterback and two receivers split wide right.  Brawdy faked a handoff to Hankins and the entire defense ‘bit’ on the fake.  Brawdy rolled right behind good blocking, spotted a receiver open inside the ten-yard line, and delivered a perfect strike.  Unfortunately, the pass was dropped and another scoring opportunity was missed by the Huskies.

FOURTH QUARTER DÉJÀ VU

Junior Ethan King delivered North a chance to relive recent events.  He picked off a deep pass and gave North the ball, 95 yards from the end zone, and trailing by two scores at Reitz Bowl.  When faced with an identical set of circumstances two weeks ago, Brawdy and the Huskies had beaten the Panthers and appeared to be up to the challenge. 

When two plays failed to generate yards, the senior quarterback took the snap and rolled to his right.  He spotted senior Jewellz Hailey out past the first down marker and delivered a strike that the senior hauled in before he went out of bounds.  A defender added a hit on Hailey when he was well outside the playing surface, cost his team a personal foul, and North had the ball at midfield.

A snap from center was high and to the left of Brawdy’s helmet—without a cast on his left arm, he would ordinarily catch the ball and move on.  In this case it bounced off the cast and resulted in an 11-yard loss.  He picked four of those yards back up when the pass protection broke down and he refused to let three defenders bring him down.  The tough-as-nails quarterback not only got back to the line of scrimmage but refused to go down until two more defenders had piled onto the group he was carrying up field.

On third down, a Mater Dei blitz broke through the middle, forcing Brawdy to throw to a receiver who was unprepared for the toss.  The ball fell incomplete, but the linebacker refused to break off his rush, grabbed Brawdy by the shoulder pads and hurled him to the ground—well after the quarterback had released the ball.  The penalty yielded a first down and after that Brawdy ‘willed’ the Huskies towards a score.

On third and four at the 45, Brawdy slipped through a crease in the Wildcat line created by seniors Zane Hatt and Gunnar Sales, followed Hankins into the middle of the defense, and it took four defenders to bring him down at the 36.   He tossed a 14-yard completion to sophomore Brady Martin for another first down and the Huskies were at the Mater Dei 22.

When the pocket collapsed around him on first down, he stepped forward, slipped away from a defender, and was forced to stutter step to his left.  With great field vision, he extended the play long enough for senior Cameron Gelhausen to get open at the five and somehow managed to toss him the ball without planting his back foot to throw.  Gelhausen’s catch gave the Huskies first and goal at the four.

A blitzing linebacker broke through and spoiled a run play on first down and the Huskies were at the 8 as they squared up on second down.  Brawdy rolled right on the snap and followed Hankins into open space.  Hatt and Hankins neutralized the defenders and gave the quarterback time to spot Jewellz Hailey crossing from left to right just inside the goal line.  His pass split two defenders and hit Hailey in the numbers.  Renfro’s kick made it 21-14 with four minutes to play.

No player in recent memory has ever delivered more fourth quarter highlights at Reitz Bowl than Ethan Brawdy in 2021.

UNABLE TO GET THE BALL BACK

The defense dug in following the kickoff but a facemask penalty allowed Mater Dei to convert a third down and get a new set of downs.  With no timeouts left, North could not stop the clock after repeated runs by Mater Dei and the Wildcats ran out the final 3:51 of the game.

PLAYING WELL ENOUGH TO WIN

The Huskies played well enough to win this game.  They cut down on their penalties, played stellar run defense, and dominated the game throughout.  Unfortunately, too many missed opportunities in the Red Zone on offense gave the Wildcats the margin they needed to win.

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