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North Huskies vs Floyd Central Highlanders - at Ron Weigleb Stadium Oct 27, 2023

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Offense

Team Stats

Defensive Stats

Game Recap

HUSKIES ADVANCE TO FINALS WITH 28-20 WIN OVER HIGHLANDERS

In a physical battle at Floyd Central, the North Huskies played mistake-free football in a decisive 28-20 victory over the Highlanders.  The win on the road set up a rematch with the Castle Knights at John Lidy Field for the Sectional Championship next Friday night.

A WELL-PREPARED TEAM

The Huskies arrived at Ron Weigleb Football Stadium and there was no doubt from the opening kickoff that they were well prepared for this critical matchup.  North begrudgingly gave up ground on Floyd Central’s first drive.  The strength of the Highlander offense was their ground game—they featured a pair of 1,000-yard rushers this season—and they slowly marched down field on 11 plays.  There were no big gains and the two lines clashed together time and again as Floyd Central drew first blood with under two minutes remaining in the quarter.

In seasons past, North football teams, upon falling behind and playing on the road after a couple hour bus ride have tended to lose focus and play less than their best football.  The Paridaen era, however, has played witness to games like the one at Bloomington North a few years ago where the Huskies refused to lay down and battled back to a game winning touchdown on the final play of the game (only to have it called back by a highly suspicious out-of-bounds call that video and photographic evidence showed was a bad decision by the official).  Friday night proved to be the turning point in the next decade of Husky football.

Led by a group of seniors who knew their roles and relished them, supported by a defensive backfield that played some of the smartest football Husky fans have seen, prepared by a staff that showed up with a gameplan to win, and combined with masterful clock management, the Huskies looked like a ball club with ‘The Right Stuff’.

THE OH-LINE DELIVERS

If there was a theme to the night, from North’s second possession forward, it would be the strength differential between the Husky line and the Highlanders’.  Floyd Central had ‘big’ linemen on defense—both tackles were listed as tipping the scales at 365 pounds—but what was unmistakable was the strength differential when they were matched up against North’s pair of junior guards:  Brady Reeves and Ty Acuff.

On second down and ten from the North 24, the Huskies ran their patented ‘counter’ play where seniors Timmy Dixon and Delshan Davis pull out of the line and run to their left with quarterback Sam McKinney following them.  The play only works if the guards can ‘cover’ the holes that Dixon and Davis leave when they pull out.  As big as Reeves and Acuff are, they were both giving up 60 pounds or more to their Highlander counterparts.

The differential was overcome by the Husky players’ superior technique and greater physical strength, Davis ‘trapped’ the end as Dixon raced behind him to block the linebacker and McKinney gained eight yards. 

The following play Acuff and Dixon double teamed one of the behemoth tackles and junior Jason Rucker was able to slip through a crease for an 11-yard gain.

ENTER ‘MISTER’ NORTHINGTON

Things don’t always go as planned up front.  When the Huskies went back to the well with the counter play, things did not go quite as smoothly.  Dixon was required to assist with a block to stop a blitzer who threatened to blow up the play.  The difference in the play call this time, however, was that the ball carrier was senior Cainen Northington.

Northington has proven to be an explosive runner capable of turning ‘nothing’ into ‘something’ by his elusiveness and his ability to shake a would-be tackler.  Arriving at the spot where the hole ‘should’ have been only to find Dixon standing in it ‘filling the gap’ against the blitzing linebacker, Northington quickly bounced his run to the outside.  Davis, having made his screening block on the end, naturally assumed that the play was progressing as planned behind him and released his block to begin looking up field for another defender to hit—it’s a normal progression for a lineman.

Unfortunately for Northington, having chosen to carry his run outside, it now left him squeezed between the end, another defender pursuing from inside, as well as a safety coming up to contain the play, and the nearby sideline.  By all appearances, it was 3-0n-1 in favor of the Highlanders several yards behind the line of scrimmage.

But this was Cainen Northington ‘toting the rock’:  the odds meant nothing to him.  He split the difference in the triangle of defenders and accelerated between them without letting their one-handed grabs slow him down.  Surging past the defenders, he arrived at a point where junior James Mercer was displaying textbook downfield blocking for a wide receiver and suddenly Northington was sprung into the open.  22 yards later the Huskies had a first down at the Highlander 34 as the first quarter ended.

A TD CALLED BACK?  “NO PROBLEM”

This sequence of rushing plays was typical of the Husky attack for the remainder of the game.  North steadily marched to the ten-yard line and took to the air on first-and-goal.  McKinney rolled left and launched a pass that junior Hunter Skelton went up and plucked out of the air in the back corner of the end zone.  The North sideline erupted—only to find out a holding call had negated the play and it was now first-and-goal from the TWENTY yard line.  That’s not normally a place from which success flows.

The Huskies went ‘back to the well’ on the next play.  Lining up with a group of receivers bunched together tightly on the right side of the line, the trio ran a complementary group of patterns that left a linebacker trying to cover North’s best ‘deep threat’ in 2023—James Mercer.  On the season, Mercer was averaging over 26 yards per reception on a dozen receptions coming into the game.  (The school record is 25.8 yards per catch by 1981—All-Metro WR Robbie Jones).  To say this was a defensive mis-match is an understatement.  It was the perfect call from the correct formation and McKinney rolled left again and delivered a perfect strike at the goal line.  Senior Alex Hess’ extra point kick tied the game at 7-7.

HARRIS REMINDS THEM WHO’S THE BOSS

In a season of big plays, senior Kaleb Harris was able to make his mark on the game in the next series of plays.  A pair of runs had gained Floyd Central a first down at their 46.  Their vaunted running game was not flashing brilliance, but was showing why they were among the state’s leading teams in rushing yards.

And then they dropped back to pass.

On first and ten, Harris got to the outside shoulder of the tackle in front of him with an explosive first step and a sweep of his left arm.  The Highlander quarterback gave ground assuming that Harris was some ordinary lineman—not possessing enough speed to match his own.  He was very much mistaken in that assumption. 

After retreating a few steps and attempting to use Harris’ momentum against him, the hapless quarterback finally realized that this was no ordinary lineman:  this was Superman flying towards him.  Harris dropped him to the ground like a sack of bricks FOURTEEN yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Now facing second and 24, the quarterback lined up in shotgun formation and when Harris again bull rushed the end, the quarterback had to step forward and rush a hurried throw downfield that fell incomplete.

On third and 24, the quarterback thought he got a gift when senior Mojo Shaeffer dashed in from the other side of the line but over ran the play and the quarterback was able to flush from the pocket and roll to his right away from danger.

Unfortunately for him, the defensive call had been for Harris and his tackle partner on his side of the line, senior Jayden Hazelwood, to run a twist—where the tackle goes outside and the end comes inside.  This had the affect of putting Harris on an inside rout to the right side of the offensive line—precisely where the quarterback was attempting to make his escape.  Harris’ greater footspeed was apparent and the quarterback never saw #7 trailing him as he was slammed out of bounds three yards behind the line of scrimmage.

THEY GET ‘THEIRS’

An exchange of punts ensued and just when it appeared that the Huskies were about to force another punt, an encroachment penalty gave new life to a Highlander possession.  They made the most of their ‘second chance’.  Recall that Floyd Central has one of the leading rushing attacks in the state.  This was the moment they got to shine.  With a first down at the Husky 43, the Highlanders ran a dive play into the line behind their biggest lineman.  The lineman rolled back the defender and a middle linebacker got trapped behind him by the block and was unable to cover the center of the defense.  The runner exploded into space in the middle of the field and a footrace ensued that the Husky defense did not win. 

HARRIS ‘FLIPS’ THE FIELD

The Huskies took the kickoff trailing 14-7 with 3:30 to play in the half and sophomore Deamontey Layne parlayed it into a beautiful return to the 35-yard line.  Unfortunately, a block in the back call resulted in North trapped in the shadow of their goal posts at the six, in a playoff game on the road, against a tough opponent who had just scored on a long touchdown run to take the lead.

These are the moments on which games hang.

North hung its hopes on Kaleb Harris.  It was a wise choice.

Split wide to the left, Harris immediately caught a pass from McKinney two yards behind the line of scrimmage and with two defenders ahead of him and closing.  He stepped out of the grasp of one would-be tackler and shucked the other with a shoulder as he zipped towards the sideline.  Blessed with both size and speed, smaller defenders have little chance of bringing him down one at a time.  A desperate shove managed to push Harris out of bounds at the Highlander 44.  One play had flipped the field and moved North into scoring position with plenty of time on the clock.

USING THE CLOCK

Over the next three minutes, McKinney and Northington alternated turns plugging away for steady gains into the line.  Using their timeouts judiciously, the Huskies stuffed seven running plays and one pass into a limited amount of clock space as they steadily gained six- and seven-yard chunks.  Arriving at the four-yard line with 20 seconds left before half, the Huskies again called the ‘counter’ play.  Acuff blew away the end, Dixon bowled over the linebacker, and McKinney (after a nearly bobbled ‘fake’ handoff) had a wide opening in which to dive into the end zone.  Myra Baggett tied the score at 14 at half time.

SECOND HALF

The North defense stopped giving up yards on the ground in the second half.  Whatever adjustments were made in the locker room at half had the following affect:  The Highlanders rushed ten times for a grand total of MINUS three yards in the second half.  When they lined up to ‘go for it’ on fourth-and-one at their 44 early in the third quarter, they did it with the confidence that the first half of play had given them.

Seniors Kasey Hosplehorn and Delshan Davis were ready for them after the break.  Floyd Central lined up tight to the center in an attempt to help drive back the defense to gain the required yard.  They had not counted on Davis getting lower and driving into the center of their line.  The running back recognized that he was not going to go anywhere in the center and moved to his right to avoid Davis.  Hospelhorn shot around the end and tripped the runner up before he could gather the forward momentum to gain the single yard he needed.

North took over on downs at the Highlander 44.

THE HUSKIES GO ‘HEAVY’

A pair of Northington runs gained 14 yards to the 30 and at this point, the Huskies decided to resort to ‘smash mouth’ football.  Harris was inserted at tailback and the Huskies removed a receiver and inserted a pair of fullbacks.  One was familiar—junior Luke Grayson, who had been called on throughout the season to bull his way for the tough yards ‘up the middle’.  One was not—senior Jayden Hazelwood who normally excels at tackle was added to backfield as an additional blocker.

It was immediately apparent that the North staff felt the tide was turning in the game and that the Highlanders could not meet the physical onslaught that the Huskies could bring to the contest.  The observation was a good one.  It was not pretty, as each play was composed of big bodies slamming into the action with full force from behind the Husky line and gained four, or five, or six yards per play.

The net effect, however, was that the shock of the drive that ensued took the ‘fight’ out of the Floyd Central line and North drove downfield with Harris scoring from the four-yard line to make the game 21-14.

HIGHLANDERS GO ‘UP TOP’

With their running game neutralized, it fell to Floyd Central to rely upon the passing game and the results were initially successful.  With the Husky defense designed to shut down the run, the Highlanders mixed screen passes with play-action throws to complete five of their next six passes.   They scored on a 23-yard reception to make the score 21-20.  The snap for the extra point was errant, bounced free, and North recovered.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD RECOVERS

As the game rolled into the fourth quarter with the Huskies nursing a one-point lead, the Husky pass defense stiffened.  Following a quarterback sack by Kaleb Voshon that brought up third and nine, Hospelhorn defended a pass over the middle with a timely hit that jarred a ball loose.  On fourth and nine at the North 29, the Floyd Central quarterback had plenty of time to throw but had no one open to throw to.  Every receiver was covered by the sticky defense and he launched a prayer of a pass that sailed incomplete and out of the end zone.

McKINNEY, HOSPELHORN, AND DIXON END THE GAME

When a team has the ball in its own territory, ten minutes to play, and a one-point lead, the most important thing is to keep stringing together first downs.  A punt would yield the opponent good field position to mount another threat.  A turnover would be disaster.  A ‘sack’ could result in a series of events that all lead to loss.

A team relies upon its senior experience and leadership in these moments.

North’s seniors came through.

Northington gained the ‘first’ first down with a spirited race around right end to the short side of the field, but the joy was short lived.  The Huskies were soon facing third down and 10 and a possible punt with plenty of time left on the clock.  They lined up with three receivers bunched tight on the right-hand side.

On the snap, Hospelhorn delayed his trip up field by a split second.  The defenders immediately chased after the other two receivers and Hospelhorn found himself in the open by the sideline as McKinney tossed him the ball.  The senior wide receiver spun quickly to his left to avoid stepping out of bounds and 25 yards later, North had a first down at the Floyd Central 30 with under six minutes to play.

With the clock now the only thing that mattered, the Huskies ran 39 seconds off the clock with every play as they handed the ball to runners diving into the line.  Ultimately this tactic, however, found them facing fourth down and four at the 24 and 3:49 to play.

It was here that Dixon and McKinney ‘planted their flag’ and put the final knife in the Highlanders.

THE FINAL KNIFE

The call was the expected ‘counter’ play that had yielded success earlier.  The play is a bit of a gamble in this situation at this point in the field and facing fourth down.  It depends upon a measure of deception and perfect execution.

Northington came in motion and McKinney faked a handoff after the snap.  Acuff and Dixon pulled down the line in the counter direction.  Ben Brasher collapsed the tackle to his right.  Acuff screened off the end, but the block left very little space behind him for both Dixon and McKinney to squeeze through.  The play threatened to come up short due to a few meager inches of space behind Acuff.

We don’t normally include pictures in these write ups but in this case, the exception is made because the resulting next two seconds of play were typical of the type of effort that these two seniors have made throughout their careers.

Dixon squeezed through and manage to take on not one, but two defenders, pancaking one and deflecting the other.  But even that effort was not enough to gain the four yards and put the game away.  A safety had come up on defense and was running headlong to stop McKinney’s forward motion.  The contact would be made a yard short of the first down marker.

McKinney didn’t just gain the first down; he got four more yards beyond it.

With the first down, the Huskies ate up the clock before Harris scored his second touchdown of the half, Baggett made the extra point, and North had a rematch with Castle for a chance at its first Sectional Title in two decades.

Go seniors, Go Huskies!

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