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North Huskies vs Reitz Panthers - at Bundrant Stadium Sep 09, 2022

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Game Recap

PANTHERS DOMINATE HUSKIES IN 38-15 GAME

The Reitz Panthers routed the North Huskies 38-15 at Bundrant Stadium Friday night.  The victory was the first in the series for Reitz since 2018 and represented a thorough dominance of the scoreboard.

It was a game devoid of highlight reel type plays for the Huskies.  Despite the Panthers contributing an unprecedented and unheard of six first downs to North via penalties, the home team was unable to mount more than a single scoring drive while the Reitz first string defense was on the field.

The Panthers managed to miraculously recover a muffed opening kickoff and went on a 17 play, six-minute opening drive.  During this drive, Reitz found no running room up front and instead chose to take to the air completing nine of ten passes.  With North defensive backs lining up well off the line of scrimmage, the Panther quarterback completed all seven passes he attempted that were shorter than ten yards.  In doing so, Reitz was able to overcome a holding penalty and string together seven first downs in going 91 yards for the score.

REITZ TOSSES A BOMB

When a North drive stalled at the Reitz 33-yard line, the Panthers again resorted to short passes to move the ball into Husky territory.  This strategy had allowed them to convert their first six third-down opportunities in the game.  Realizing this, the North secondary tightened up their stances and lined up just five yards off the Reitz receivers.  This led to tighter coverage, but, when a North cornerback fell for a pump fake by the Panther quarterback, the receiver zoomed past the flat-footed Husky defender and went on to catch a 40-yard touchdown pass.  Reitz led 14-0 and the game had barely entered the second quarter.

HUSKIES RESPOND

The Huskies took advantage of the first of many significant penalties against Reitz and found themselves at the 44-yard line following a face mask call.  Senior quarterback Jaylonn Mitchell then found junior Lucas Petit wide open over the middle for a pass and the 6’1” receiver turned up field for an 18-yard gain.  When North faced a third down and 13, Mitchell then took a run-pass-option play up the left sideline for a 14-yard gain.  Sophomore Jason Rucker benefited from a well-timed block by backfield mate Angelo St. Louis and sprinted outside left end to gain a first and goal at the 8-yard line.

With a pair of tight ends (senior Cale Johnson and junior Kaleb Harris) lined up on the left side, St. Louis then took a handoff and split the gap as they served as can-openers with blocks that created a crease between them.  Met by two defenders at the three-yard line, St. Louis, in what has become customary fashion, juked left, spun right, and then dove into the end-zone for the touchdown.

In a bit of a razzle-dazzle extra point play, Mitchell took the snap and tossed the ball to kicker Mitchell Renfro who ran hard to the flag at the right-hand corner of the goal line.  North trailed by just 14-6 with eight minutes to play in the half.

HIGH WATER MARK FOR THE HUSKIES

Junior Jayden Hazelwood greeted the Panthers with a tackle for loss on first down of their next possession.  A pass (finally) fell incomplete on second down, and Hazelwood and junior Delshan Davis’ tremendous interior pass rush forced the quarterback to run for his life on third down.  A Reitz punt rolled dead at midfield and the Huskies appeared to have weathered the worst of the Panthers’ assault and were ready to take over the initiative in the contest.  A North fumble on first down ended those thoughts. 

Reitz drove downfield again on the strength of deep passes over the Husky secondary.  With a first and goal at the North four-yard line, it was Cale Johnson who dropped a runner for loss on first down before a pair of passes fell incomplete in the end zone.  Reitz settled for a field goal and went into halftime with a 17-8 lead.

THIRD QUARTER DISASTER

Where special teams play had been a tremendous strength for North the week before, Friday night they were not so fortunate.  The kickoff coverage team had failed to capture an opening kickoff fumble inside the Reitz ten.  North’s first punt of the game went just 25 yards.  The squad that had the least amount of success in the game was the kickoff return team.  Four times in the third quarter the Huskies would have an opportunity to return kickoffs—that quantity in and of itself bodes disaster—and the returns would gain a grand total of 17 yards.  As a result, North’s starting field positions were the 13-yard line, the 21-yard line, the 19-yard line, and the 11-yard line. 

By contrast, Reitz’ starting field position in the quarter were the North 35-yard line, the Reitz 43, and the North 45.  The Panthers put up 21 unanswered points in the quarter as the air-assault continued and the Huskies were forced to gamble to catch up.  One gamble resulted in an interception and the other resulted in a drive stalled on fourth down in North territory.

The fourth quarter began with North now trailing 38-8.  The difference in field position had played a huge factor in the selection of plays each team was able to call and the game was decided as a result.

North got a late score when the Panthers rested significant portions of their starting defense to make the score a more respectable 38-15.  To represent the game as anything other than a dominant display by Reitz would be inaccurate.  Both North scores were aided by significant Reitz penalties that moved the chains at key moments; the final scoring drive received two such penalties.  The defense yielded 290 yards through the air and three touchdowns in just three quarters of play—Reitz was content to call ineffective running plays in the fourth quarter to simply run the clock as much as they could.

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