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North Huskies vs Bosse Bulldogs - at Bundrant Stadium Sep 15, 2023

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Offense

Team Stats

Defensive Stats

Game Recap

McKINNEY'S RECORD 5 TD PASSES SAILS HUSKIES PAST BOSSE

North quarterback Sam McKinney’s school record five touchdown passes drove the Huskies to a 48-16 victory over the Bosse Bulldogs.  Junior James Mercer caught one of the touchdowns on a 54-yard bomb and set up another score with a 53-yard catch.  Senior Alex Heck punctuated the North domination with an exclamation point by returning an interception 84 yards for a touchdown on the game’s final play.  On a night when Husky legend John D. “Deke” Cooper would be inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame, the marching band would premiere their complete competition routine, the cheerleader clinic saw over 100 girls joining in on the sidelines, and another 100 boys from the North Youth Football League lined up to welcome the team from the Husky tunnel to start the game, evidence of the strength of the football program was apparent to over 2,000 attendees.

EARLY GAME COMMAND

The Huskies dominated the line of scrimmage from the game’s opening moments.  After the Bulldogs’ kickoff went out of bounds, North got the ball at their 38-yard line.  A ‘hammer-and-tongs’ approach to offense carried the Green and White steadily downfield.  Eight of nine plays were rushes and you could hear pads busting like the sound of a blacksmith’s hammer on an anvil as North ground its way to the six-yard line.  From there, McKinney rolled out to his right and laced a ribbon to senior Kasey Hospelhorn for the first of his two touchdown receptions on the night.  Senior Alex Hess’ extra point gave the Huskies a 7-0 lead.

After the defense forced a ‘three-and-out’ on Bosse, North took over at their 30.  Where the first drive had featured the running game, the second witnessed the Huskies getting a 54 yard catch from Mercer to set up a nearly identical seven-yard touchdown pass from McKinney to Hospelhorn.  Senior Maya Baggett’s first of three perfect extra point kicks gave North a 14-0 lead with 2:24 to play in the first quarter.

BOSSE ‘GETS AWAY’

The Husky defensive front four were working a scheme that dictated keeping the Bulldog quarterback from getting outside the end.  Lightning-fast, the quarterback was for the most part contained.  An eleven-yard pass set up first-and-ten at the North 36 and the Husky pass rush flushed the quarterback back into the middle of the line.  This time, however, he eluded one tackler and then another and was on his way to a touchdown.  He then put the ball across the goal line on a two-point conversion and Bosse was within 14-8 as the first quarter ended.

LIGHTNING STRIKES AGAIN

It took just 50 seconds of play for North to change the momentum in the game for good.  McKinney perfectly executed a zone-read option play and rambled for 16 yards to the 41-yard line.  On the next play, Mercer broke open on a fly pattern down the left side and McKinney, standing behind an impenetrable wall of linemen, arced a toss into his hands just past the thirty-yard line.  Mercer then out-ran three defenders to the end zone and Hess’ kick made it 21-8.   

THE DEFENSE BEGINS TO ‘FEAST’

Before the game was over, the Husky front seven would feast on a weary Bosse offensive line and sack their quarterback EIGHT times.  The feast began with 10 minutes to play in the half when senior Kaleb Harris blew past his opponent and dropped the Bulldog quarterback to stall a drive.    Senior Cainen Northington got in on the rain of touchdown passes on North’s ensuing possession and sailed into the endzone with a 39-yard score to make it 28-8 Huskies.

Senior Timmy Dixon nailed the quarterback the next time Bosse had the ball and then ‘Mojo’ Schaffer and Hospelhorn tackled a pair of runners for loss.   The parade of tackles for loss continued thru the end of the half with juniors Luke Grayson and Justin Will as well as seniors Alex Heck and Jayden Hazelwood all dropping runners well behind the line of scrimmage.  The signature play of the first half for the defense, however, may have occurred when senior Keonta Barton made a tremendous play on a long Bosse pass to break up what would have been a certain touchdown.

SECOND HALF

Bosse got the second half kickoff and was benefitted by four Husky penalties on their first possession.  They made their way to the North 32 with first and ten and looked determined to get back in the game.

…until Dixon and Harris decided enough was enough.

In quick succession, Dixon blew through an opening and dropped the quarterback for a three-yard loss.  Facing fourth-and-long at the North 35, Bosse decided to ‘go for it’.  In doing so, all 2,500 attendees knew the quarterback was going to pass.

Kaleb Harris clearly understood his assignment.  Blasting off the line of scrimmage, Harris’ neon-green gloved hands grasped the quarterback around the waste before he had taken two steps and what followed was either breath-taking or took-the-air-out-of-your-lungs depending upon your point of view.  Using the leverage of his hips and momentum, Harris swung the quarterback around his body and threw him five yards down the field.  When the dust had cleared, Bosse had experienced a 13-yard loss and North had the ball at midfield.

McKINNEY HAS WHEELS!

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Sam McKinney has deceptive speed on the football field.  He had touchdown runs of 50 and 70 yards in last season’s final two games.  When North got the ball back after Harris’ destruction of the Bosse drive, the Huskies lined up in shot gun formation.  On the snap, junior left tackle ‘Big’ Ben Brasher removed the defensive end to the side line with a tremendous amount of authority.  Tim Dixon pulled from the right tackle position and raced down the line to step through the hole that Brasher’s huge block had created.  McKinney followed Dixon into the line and the big senior tackle promptly acted like a wrecking ball to the middle of the Bosse defense.  McKinney angled to the outside and raced 42 yards to the Bosse ten-yard line.  An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty well behind the play resulted in a first down at the 25.

BRASHER MAKES PANCAKES

The Huskies again hammered away at the Bulldog line and eight plays later faced first and goal at the two.  As North lined up with Northington in the backfield, Brasher was again at left tackle.  On the snap the 6’3” 300-pound tackle laid into the defender in front of him and turned him to Brasher’s right.  The impact was so solid that it bowled the defender into the man next to him.  Brasher then gathered himself and delivered a second blow to the stack of bodies in front of him.  Three defenders lay pancaked to the ground from his blocks and Northington ambled into the end zone unscathed.  Hess made the score 35-8 with his extra point kick.

ONE LAST BOSSE ASSAULT

As the game rolled into the final quarter, the Bulldogs snuck a receiver down the left side on a delayed pass rout and the Husky defense was caught napping.  52 yards later, Hospelhorn chased the receiver out of bounds at the North eight.  Bosse scored their final points with an eight-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 35-16 with eleven minutes to play.

With North liberally substituting on offense, neither team made significant drives until the Huskies took over at midfield with seven minutes to go.   A steady dose of runs with junior Avier Mitchell and Luke Grayson carried the ball to the four-yard line and ate up nearly six minutes of time.  With second and goal from the four, McKinney rolled right and delivered a pass intended for junior Grant Happe.  The ball got tipped up in the air and senior Lucas Petitt acted like it was a practice ‘tip drill.’  He leapt past a Bosse defender and plucked the ball out of the air for the record fifth touchdown pass of the game.

Trailing 42-16, the Bulldogs tossed up desperation passes in the game’s final seconds.  On the final play of the night, senior Alex Heck stepped in front of a receiver at the 16-yard line and returned the ball 84 yards for a touchdown as the final whistle was sounded. 

The sensational run back served as the artist’s signature on a picturesque night for North High School.

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