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North Huskies vs Jasper Wildcats - at Bundrant Stadium Oct 7, 2022

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Game Recap

JASPER 'FLIPS THE SCRIPT' IN 20-10 VICTORY OVER NORTH

The Jasper Wildcats ‘flipped the script’ on the North Huskies at halftime with adjustments, stopped North’s running game, and scored three second half touchdowns to win 20-10 at Bundrant Stadium Friday.  North dominated the first two quarters but could only manage three points.  Jasper dominated the second half with a power running game that produced a pair of eight-minute drives for scores.

LONG NORTH DRIVES BUT JUST 3 POINTS

The Huskies first possession was typical of their night.  Starting at their 25-yard line, North strung together eight plays that gained 58 yards but stalled out at the Jasper 18 when junior Kaleb Harris was stopped inches short of the first down marker.

North’s next possession was epic.  Not only did that put together a drive that was 18 plays in length, ran nearly ten minutes off the clock, and generated five first downs, but they also overcame 25 yards in penalties.  Little did anyone realize, however, that when the Huskies faced second-and-sixteen at their 46-yard line, they would complete what would prove to be their two longest passes of the night—and one of those was a jet sweep that resembles more of a handoff than a pass.

On second down, junior Cainen Northington came in motion from right to left, took a “sweep pass” from quarterback Sam McKinney, and turned the corner to head up field.  Northington dodged one tackler and escaped another before being brought down by a third after gaining 11 yards.  Still looking at third-and-five, McKinney kept the drive alive with a ten-yard pass to junior Lucas Pettit that gave North a first down at the Jasper 33-yard line.  The Huskies would not complete a pass longer than five yards in length for the rest of the game.

Ultimately, this drive stalled at the Jasper 15 and senior Mitchell Renfro came on kick to his fourth field goal of the season from 32 yards out and give North a 3-0 lead.  North’s other second quarter possession ended with a Jasper interception at their 9-yard line to close out the first half.

SECOND HALF

At halftime, the North defense had held the Wildcats to just 19 yards rushing and zero yards passing.  In large part that was due to the Huskies running 28 plays and keeping the Jasper offense off the field.  North held a time of possession advantage at halftime of 17:30 to Jasper’s 6:30.

The second half was a complete flip of that script.

With a single run by their freshman quarterback on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, Jasper changed the ballgame.  Faking a handoff to the fullback on an option play, the first-year player made it to the end of the line, turned up field, got a block from a wide receiver on the North safety, and jetted past the secondary.  In one of the more notable displays of athleticism of the evening, senior end Cale Johnson was trailing the runner by seven yards as the quarterback crossed the 50-yard line and headed for the North end zone.

Defensive ends are not supposed to be as fast as offensive backs.  Cale Johnson is no ordinary defensive end.  With 13 career quarterback sacks and over 160 career tackles, his speed has been noticeable to many hapless running backs and wide receivers as they experience bone jarring tackles from behind.

Johnson dropped the Jasper quarterback from behind at the four-yard line before he could score.  He made up seven yards in 46 yards—it was a play that ‘should’ have stood out on this evening, but Jasper took the lead two plays later and never looked back.

HUSKIES COME UP SHORT

It appeared as though the Huskies would ‘answer’ the Wildcat score as they benefitted from a Jasper ‘squib’ kick and senior Jaylonn Mitchell returned the kick out near midfield.  After moving into Jasper territory with a first down at their 46, a pair of third and fourth down passes failed to move the chains and Jasper began their first of two huge second half drives.

A PAIR OF EPICS FOR THE VISITORS

Six minutes remained in the third period when Jasper took over at their 40.  Fourteen consecutive times they hammered at the center of North’s defensive line.  Nine of those times they came up with four yards or less, but they always came up with positive yardage.  It took them nearly eight minutes of playing time to pound their way 55 yards to the North five.  Four times in the drive, they moved the chains with barely inches to spare, but they repeatedly came up with a fresh set of downs.  Following a tackle for loss by senior Sean Bennett and Cale Johnson, the Wildcats faced third and goal from the five.  This time, however, they tossed an option pitch to a back who was outside the end—the only time in the drive they ran outside the tackles—and he angled into the endzone just inside the out of bounds marker.  An extra point kick made the score 14-3 with 10:40 to play in the game.

The Wildcats were called for a personal foul on the kickoff and North had the ball at the Jasper 43.  A quarterback draw gained three yards, a pair of passes fell incomplete, and senior Angelo St. Louis was dropped for a loss on fourth down.

And then Jasper repeated the exact same script for their final touchdown. 

They ran off 16 plays with 12 of them being dives into the center of the North defensive line.  The Wildcats only went to the air twice.  Senior Jeremiah Thomas held a receiver to no gain on third-and-eight and it appeared North might stop the onslaught.  The Wildcats went for it on fourth-and-eight and picked up 12 yards—their ONLY pass completion of the night—and had a first down at the North 22-yard line.  From there it was six more slugs to the gut of the Husky defense—no play gained more than four yards, but every play gained positive yardage until they had first and goal at the Huskies’ nine.

Cale Johnson stopped a runner for loss on first down, junior Timothy Dixon repulsed another dive play on second down, but a third-down option play got loose outside and completed a 15 play, 58-yard, eight-minute drive.  The extra point was wide left and Jasper led 20-3 with 2:29 to play.

A LATE HUSKY SCORE

Sophomore Grant Happe ignited the crowd with a stunning 58-yard return of another ‘squib’ kick from Jasper.  Streaking along the North sideline, he made it to the Jasper 10 before being forced out of bounds.  Sam McKinney successfully converted a fourth and goal-to-go from the five-yard line with under a minute on the clock and the final tally was 20-10.

JASPER PACKED ‘THE BOX’

Jasper followed the same formula that Mater Dei did in their victory over the Huskies.  In the first half they played with a pair of safeties back to deal with pass attempts.  After North’s power running game accounted for 120 yards of rushing before the break, Jasper played most of the second half with a single safety and eight (and sometimes nine) defenders packed close to the line of scrimmage.  The Huskies gained just 18 yards rushing in the second half as they were unable to force the Wildcats to pay a price for this tightly packed defense.  It is likely that North will see this same defense come Sectional time.

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