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North Huskies vs Castle Knights - at John Lidy Field Aug 18, 2023

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Offense

Team Stats

Defensive Stats

Game Recap

FEROCIOUS HUSKY DEFENSE NEUTERS KNIGHTS IN 21-14 VICTORY

A ferocious defense enabled the North Huskies to come from behind and win a 21-14 decision over the Castle Knights on the road at John Lidy Field.  The victory, in many ways, resembled last season’s heartbreaking defeat in the same arena in a contest for the Sectional Championship.  The major difference was that this time, the offense completed its mission and scored the ‘game winner’ with 35 seconds to play.

EXCEPTIONAL DISPLAY OF DEFENSE

A review of the game statistics will verify that the contest was a total domination by the Huskies.  North held Castle to just 49 yards rushing despite the Knights attempting 30 runs.  The Huskies exceptional pass rush and tight coverages gave up just 76 yards through the air on 16 pass attempts.  North, however, gained 400 yards of total offense with senior running back Cainen Northington leading the way by gaining 170 yards rushing on 21 carries.  Junior Jason Rucker added another 77 yards and a touchdown while senior quarterback Sam McKinney threw for 156 yards and a pair of touchdowns without an interception.

The Huskies forced three Castle turnovers, sacked their quarterback three times, and held the Knights to just five first downs in the game compared to TWENTY for North.  The ‘Green and White’ held a time of possession advantage of over 28 minutes to just 19 for the home team.  North built a 13-point advantage before the game was even one quarter old.

So why did they have to come from behind to win?

A FAMILIAR STORY AT JOHN LIDY FIELD

The write up from last years Sectional Championship game contained these very words and they appear to have been prophetic for this year’s season opener:

“As so often happens at John Lidy Field, once the Huskies took the lead, there were multiple 20-yard game changing offensive plays that were called back by holding and blocking penalties.”

What was true last fall held true again this summer…

During the first 47 minutes of play in a 48-minute game, other than irrefutable kicks out of bounds or delay of game penalties (miscues that are impossible for an official to either ‘miss’ or ignore), Castle was flagged ONCE.  During that same period of play, the Huskies were called for THIRTEEN penalties (two were declined) totaling over 100 yards.

All of which made the remarkable come-back at the end of the game more dramatic and satisfying for the Husky faithful.  With each significant gain, the crowd held their breath, waiting to check and see if the play would hold up or if a yellow marker would be thrown 12 yards behind the ball carrier to negate the yards advanced.  In the end, there was a brief sigh of relief that went through the stands prior to the roar of satisfaction with the touchdown catch by senior Kasey Hospelhorn.

THE OFFENSIVE LINE SETS THE TONE

It is always easy to proclaim the stars of a game as those players who handle the ball and very justifiably so they were mentioned in the opening paragraphs of this write up.  But… if there was a major signal from this game to the rest of the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference, it is that the 2023 Huskies are loaded with linemen on both sides of the ball.  The first possession of the game spoke to the dominance of the offensive line.  With an opening night starting rotation of seniors Timothy Dixon and Jayden Hazelwood at tackles, juniors Ben Brasher and Brady Reeves at guards, and senior Delshan Davis at center, the Huskies simply pushed what was considered to be one of the better defensive lines in the conference ‘out of the way.’

Following Jason Rucker’s electrifying opening kickoff return (only a desperate grab by the kicker stopped him from ‘taking it to the house’), North had the ball near mid-field.  With the line opening holes that sprang runners into the secondary and liberal use of a new play that allowed McKinney to roll out and pass the ball to a runner just ahead of him, it took the Huskies just five plays to score.  Not even two minutes into the game, North led 6-0.  A procedure penalty pushed the extra point kick back five yards and the ensuing attempt was on line, but came up short by hitting the cross bar.  The penalty had negated the seemingly automatic point and the loss would haunt the Huskies until the end of the game.

THE DEFENSIVE LINE’S ‘TURN’

To say the Husky defense ‘humbled’ the Knights would not be an overstatement.  Take for instance the first four plays of the game for Castle.  Following a nifty kickoff return of their own, the Knights had first down at the 40-yard line.

• On first down, Jayden Hazelwood tackled the runner for a loss in the backfield.

• On second down, senior Kaleb Harris leapt high and tipped a pass so that it flew out of bounds and incomplete.

• On third down, Hazelwood then sacked the quarterback for a big loss.

• On fourth down, Harris put on such a ferocious rush that junior Zethan Colon tackled the would-be-punter now turned ‘run-for-your-life’ prey for a five-yard loss.

Suddenly the Huskies had the ball at the Castle 30-yard line and all signals were that this would quickly become a ‘two-score-game’.

PROPHESY

“As so often happens at John Lidy Field, once the Huskies took the lead, there were multiple 20-yard game changing offensive plays that were called back by holding and blocking penalties.”

On first down, McKinney found Northington open in the flat and the shifty senior back used his ‘jump-cut’ abilities to get outside the closest defender and veer down the Castle sideline.  What appeared to be a twelve-yard gain to the 18-yard line was called back by a block-in-the-back penalty that film review showed was a block that took place square in the numbers ON THE FRONT of the defender’s jersey.

It was now first and 25 at the Castle 45.

Still, two plays later, Dixon and Brasher relocated the right side of Castle’s defense to another zip code and gave Northington a chance to reach the edge quickly.  He accelerated up field where junior Grant Happe pummeled the safety and senior Lucas Petitt laid out the cornerback.  Before any defender could catch up, North had a first down at the 16.  Two more Northington carries took the ball to first and goal at the four.

The ensuing play then saw the backfield official, standing near the center of the field on the 24-yard line, make a holding call on North from over twenty yards behind the spot where the infraction occurred while watching the play through the backs of two Husky players. 

The Huskies were unable to overcome the penalty and a field goal attempt went wide left.

NOT ANOTHER PENALTY?

The defense stood tall on the second possession and forced a punt.  When the rush again threatened to overwhelm the Castle punter, he shanked a punt that Hospelhorn called for a fair catch on the North 45-yard line.  Another short field was in order and given the Husky success to this point, the likelihood stood for another touchdown.

Except a personal foul ‘on the return’ of a Fair Catch Punt resulted in a 15-yard penalty and the Huskies were moved back to their 30-yard line.  Rucker picked up 20 yards on a first down run that saw Dixon and Brasher pull down the line and clear a path into the secondary and Davis take out a linebacker with a pancake block. Still the drive stalled following a quarterback sack and a short punt gave Castle the ball at their 40.

NEVER FEAR, ‘THE BIG D’ IS HERE

The first possession of the game had seen Castle with the ball near midfield but the defense negated the threat.  This possession was no different.  Hazelwood and junior Luke Grayson stopped a runner ‘with authority’ on first down.   On second down, a pitch was mishandled and Kaleb Harris flew in like an angry hawk to pounce on the runner just as he retrieved the ball and thought about turning up field.  A third down screen pass saw a runner open with the ball and three blockers ahead of him.  Hospelhorn and Happe blew threw his interference like they weren’t even there and stopped the runner before he could gain five yards.  A long punt left North with the ball at their 30 and just a few seconds left in the first quarter.

MERCER TAKES FLIGHT

Where the early success of the game had come with Northington and Rucker carrying the ball, this was the moment that the Husky passing game caught the Knights ‘loading the box’ with seven players.  Following a quick ‘jet sweep’ by Hospelhorn for a first down at the 40, the Huskies lined up with three receivers bunched tight on the right-hand end of the line.  With so many defenders on or near the line of scrimmage to stop the run and three receivers bunched tightly, it left junior James Mercer in one-on-one coverage on the left side with his defender shading toward Mercer’s outside shoulder. 

Because the Knights were putting so many defenders ‘in the box,’ they could only position a single safety and he was forced to play 20 yards deep behind the line.  Mercer ran a slant rout to his right which immediately gained him a step on his defender who had lined up to protect against an ‘outside rout.’  With a step advantage, he had plenty of separation and it allowed McKinney to toss him the ball in stride at the 50-yard line.  The safety missed his chance to stop Mercer and with a full head of steam, the junior won the foot race to the end zone.  Senior Maya Baggett’s extra point kick perfectly split the uprights and the Huskies led 13-0 at the end of the first quarter.

SECOND QUARTER BLUES

When the Huskies dropped the kickoff return man at the 25-yard line, it appeared as though the Knights would have a long distance between them and the goal.  Of course, a personal foul on the return added 15 yards to the Castle field position and it was their ball at the 40-yard line.  Kaleb Harris immediately answered the call of duty when he stripped a runner of the football and junior Austin Bell recovered at the Castle 46.

What had worked in the first quarter stopped working as well in the second and it set the tone for the rest of the half.  The Huskies were unable to convert a first down and Castle took over at their 36.  A pair of drive sustaining third down passes (because their running game was going absolutely nowhere) gained them 45 yards and soon they were knocking on North’s door.  With 6:07 to play in the half, they scored and made the game 13-7.

North began throwing the ball more frequently but was unable to sustain a drive and the Husky defense remained just as stubborn.  Despite Hospelhorn stripping a runner of the ball and senior Alex Heck recovering at the Castle 41, a pair of offsides penalties killed any North scoring chances and the half ended at 13-7.

SECOND HALF

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Two plays were all it took for Castle to regain their footing and control of the game.  On the opening of the second half, the return man broke into the clear and only senior Keonta Barton—playing arguably the best game of his career—saved a touchdown.  Castle had the ball at midfield and was looking at third and five after junior Matthew Peagram dropped a runner in the backfield for loss.  A receiver got open in a zone over the middle and went 45 yards before he could be brought down.  Despite Hazelwood sacking the quarterback on first down, in four down territory the Knights punched it in to take the lead 14-13 with 8:22 to play in the third quarter.

NORTHINGTON IS A MAN

The Huskies returned to their first quarter formula with their first possession of the half.  They trusted their line to open holes and they trusted Cainen Northington to ‘tote the rock.’  Blessed with great quickness, there is also a measure of elusiveness to his game.  Where others possess amazing straight-line speed, Northington responds to defenders with lightning fast ‘jump cuts’ to change his lane of progress—he alters his intended path more quickly than any runner the Huskies have seen since Capelton Presswood was running the ball.  He possesses upper body strength that belies his stature—he shakes off would be tacklers if they grab or pull at him.  It takes a clean blow to bring down #22… and he doesn’t give a defender many opportunities to give him one of those.

In four carries, Northington went a total of 46 yards sandwiched on either side of a 22-yard completion from McKinney to Hospelhorn.  What is worth noting about this possession is that, by and large, the running plays were ‘up the gut’ rather than off tackle or around end.  North’s response to Castle’s defense (which stacked the ends with defenders to keep Rucker and Northington’s speed from coming into play in the second quarter) was to insert Luke Grayson at fullback and then run up the middle on the strength of holes opened by Delshan Davis and Brady Reeves in the interior of the Castle defense and Grayson neutralizing the middle linebacker.

The change of strategy worked to perfection…

…until a holding penalty following a second and goal run to the one-yard line by McKinney moved the ball back to the 15-yard line. 

When Baggett entered the game to attempt a field goal from the 12-yard line on fourth down, a penalty backed the ball up five yards and her attempt fell short by about three yards.  North still trailed by the missed extra-point from the opening touchdown drive.

TURNOVERS ALMOST KILLED THE HUSKIES

Castle never again recorded a first down in the game.  Harris sacked the quarterback to stop one possession, Barton swatted away a pass on another at a key moment, Davis and Timmy Dixon stopped a third down run on another.  The Knights never did solve the Husky defense.  Their final four possessions of the game gained a total just EIGHT YARDS COMBINED.  It was near total domination of what was expected to be a potent adversary.

Of course, the Huskies failed to capitalize but this time it wasn’t penalties that stalled the offense.  It was turnovers.  A fumble and a bad snap that resulted in a turnover put North in a desperate hole in the game’s final minutes.

MOJO MAKES A STAND

To be 5’11” and 215 pounds would not normally mark a young man as undersized.  When you compare Mojo Shaffer to the rest of the Husky defensive line (guys who go 285 lbs, 320 lbs, and the little one stands 6’2 and goes 215), he is obviously the one who is least physically imposing.  But, as the saying goes, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

With Castle knocking on North’s goal line following a turnover and facing fourth and two at the 17-yard line, Mojo showed there is a lot of fight in this ol’ Husky dog.  He dropped a runner at the line of scrimmage one-on-one and North got the ball back without allowing a touchdown that would have likely put the game ‘out of reach.’

DRAMA PLAYS OUT REAL TIME

To this point in the game, tellingly, the Huskies had not converted a third down.  While they had racked up yardage, their first seven third-down opportunities had failed to yield a new set of downs.  Over the course of the next seven minutes, North would be faced with three opportunities for the drive to stall.  Northington and Rucker’s runs were not breaking through to the ‘next level’ of the defense. 

First, McKinney found Grant Happe open for a 15 yard pick up on third down and move the ball to midfield.  A third-and-two at the Castle 45 saw Northington squeeze every last inch out of a draw play up the middle and he cleared the marker by less than a centimeter.  A similar run by Rucker produced the desire result on third-and-one at the 31.

By now, fewer than two minutes remained in the game and the Huskies were still 30 yards from a game winner.  Given the perils of the kicking game already experienced, a winning field goal attempt would be an unlikely conclusion.  North needed a touchdown.

ENTER HOSPELHORN

With clock management a concern, it was necessary for receivers to get open get quickly and get back up for the next play.  Kasey Hospelhorn proved to be just that receiver.  Lining up in the slot to the left, he ran an out pass to the left, got underneath the deep coverage, caught a pass from McKinney and turned up field quickly to gain 13 yards to the Castle 19.  He popped up, ran to the opposite side of the field, and did another out-rout to gain a handful of yards that moved the Huskies inside the 15.

A pair of runs carried the ball to the Castle seven with 40 seconds on the clock when Hospelhorn again lined up in the slot—only this time on the right-hand side.  McKinney stepped to his right on the snap, got good clean blocking in front of him, and whipped the ball into the end zone where Hospelhorn had run a similar rout as the one that had picked up 13.  The senior wide receiver cradled the ball with two hands into his bread basket and the Huskies had proven once again that it’s not always Knight time in Paradise.

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