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North Huskies vs Mater Dei Wildcats - at Bundrant Stadium Sept 28, 2024

(game delayed to Saturday noon start due to inclement weather on Friday night)

Game Stats    Game Recap   

Offense

Team Stats

Defensive Stats

Game Recap

COMEBACK FALLS SHORT IN 17-14 LOSS TO WILDCATS

With a near constant rain coming down, the North Huskies’ fourth quarter comeback came up short in a 17-14 loss to Mater Dei.  Having fallen behind 17-0 after a Wildcat ‘pick six’ with less than seven minutes to play, North mounted a furious comeback.  Sophomore Aden Baggett caught a pair of touchdown passes—including one that went 67 yards—and senior Ethan Bowden sacked Mater Dei’s quarterback in the end zone, but time ran out on the Huskies.

The wet conditions played a role in neither team’s offense being able to produce first downs.  The game featured eleven punts and three turnovers—North junior Aman Kincaid came up with a second quarter interception but the Husky offense was unable to take advantage of the opportunity.  The Wildcats, however, turned a pair of North turnovers into 10 points—the aforementioned interception returned for a touchdown and a 42-yard field goal that split the goal posts with plenty of room to spare.

MATER DEI KICKING GAME UP TO THE TASK

Neither team was able to move the ball with any consistency in the first quarter and throughout the game Mater Dei’s punter was the most valuable weapon in their arsenal.  As the opening period wound down, North repulsed a Wildcat threat when senior Matthew Pegram sacked their quarterback for a 12-yard loss and forced a punt from beyond midfield.  Mater Dei’s punter then uncorked a 50-yard punt that rolled dead at the one-yard line.

The Huskies could only manage two yards and Baggett had to punt from the back of the end zone.  His kick resulted in a fair catch at the North 38.  Five plays by Mater Dei generated 14 yards and their punter came out to attempt a 42-yard field goal in the rain.  The kick was good and the Wildcats led 3-0.   North had no chance at a runback on the ensuing kickoff because he blasted his kick out of the endzone for a touch back.

North’s second quarter offense consisted of three-and-outs and, ultimately, Mater Dei got favorable field position at the Husky 48-yard line.  A screen pass resulted in a 20-yard gain to the North 22 and from there the Wildcats ran the ball into the line five consecutive times.  The final attempt resulted in a one-yard touchdown run by their quarterback and Mater Dei took a 10-0 halftime lead.

SECOND HALF

After sophomore Carson Conley sacked the Wildcat quarterback to force a punt from the Mater Dei 41, their punter then uncorked another beauty that rolled dead 54 yards later at the North 5-yard line with 9:05 to play in the third quarter.  It appeared that North would again be punting from their end zone and providing their opponent with great field position.

That was not to be the case.

After a false start penalty on first down, the Huskies were backed up to their two-yard line.  This was the moment at which fortune changed.  Senior Grant Happe took off on a fly pattern down the right sideline and quarterback Zack Tenbarge tossed the ball deep Happe’s way.  With a tremendous leap forward, he caught the ball while parallel to the ground—arms outstretched ahead of him—and came down with a 30-yard gain.

The fantastic catch seemed to ‘jump start’ the Husky offense as North ate up all the remaining time in the quarter and put together a seventeen-play drive.  They drove all the way to Mater Dei’s eight-yard line before stalling out on fourth-and-two yards to go.

DEFENSE REMAINS STRONG

Three fourth quarter possessions by Mater Dei would not generate any points and only three first downs.  North’s line repeatedly repulsed runs and held the Wildcats to just 24 yards rushing on 15 attempts in the quarter.

Unfortunately, Mater Dei’s defense capitalized on a North error and gave them an insurmountable lead.  North had the ball first and ten at their 22 when an errant pass fell into the hands of Wildcat defender and he returned it 28 yards for their final score of the game.  North trailed 17-0 with 6:55 to play.

THE PASSING GAME FINDS ITS FOOTING

Just when it appeared all was lost, junior Evan Garnett rode to the rescue.  Lining up in the slot to the left, he ran a slant pattern into the center of the field.  Tenbarge zipped a pass that hit him in the numbers and Garnett showed the speed that has garnered him a reputation as one of the fastest players on the field.  He left his defender in his wake and zipped 65 yards to the Mater Dei thirteen before a trio of defenders could corral him.  On fourth-and-three from the six, Tenbarge then found Aden Baggett at the goal line with a pass where the 6’2” sophomore out-wrestled the defender for the ball.  North trailed 17-6 and chose not to attempt a kick.  The two-point conversion pass fell incomplete and it fell to the defense to get the ball back.  5:09 remained in the game.

THE LINE COMES UP BIG AGAIN

Mater Dei attempted to run as much time off the clock as they could and attempted three running plays.  Junior defensive tackle Mike Epps twice teamed with other linemen to hold runners to one-yard gains.  After each play, North called a time out to stop the clock.  On third down, seniors Ben Brasher and Zethan Colon teamed up to throw a runner for loss and the Huskies used their final timeout to stop the clock at 4:44 remaining.

BAGGETT GOES THE DISTANCE

Following the punt, North had the ball at their 33-yard line.  Baggett lined up in the left slot and was facing press coverage.  The big sophomore fought past the defender on a straight fly rout and Tenbarge passed him the ball 12 yards into the Mater Dei backfield.  The Wildcat safety came up to intercept the pass and failed.  Baggett took off in a dash down along the Mater Dei sideline and went 67 yards for the score.  Another two point pass attempt and North trailed 17-12 with 4:23 to play.

CLOCK RUNS DOWN

A block-in-the-back penalty forced Mater Dei to start from their ten-yard line.  With North out of timeouts, they ran the ball on five straight attempts and were facing fourth and six at their 26-yard line.  With 30 seconds remaining, rather than punt, the Wildcats chose to have their quarterback scramble and eat up clock as he ran back to the end zone.  Senior Ethan Bowden tackled him for a safety with 13 seconds to play.  North trailed 17-14 when a free-kick by Mater Dei went out of bounds and the Huskies had the ball at the Mater Dei 48 with time for two plays.  A snap from center was low and Tenbarge fell down trying to retrieve it.  The clock ran down before North could get a play off and the final score ended at 17-14.

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