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North Huskies vs Mater Dei Wildcats - at Reitz Bowl Sep 26, 2025

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Offense

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Game Recap

HUSKIES RUN OVER WILDCATS IN 49-18 VICTORY AT THE BOWL

For over a dozen seasons between 2008 and 2021, the North Huskies suffered mightily on trips to Reitz Bowl to face the Mater Dei Wildcats.  The average beat-down during those contests resulted in a four-touchdown loss for the Green & White.  In the worst of those defeats, a Mike Goebel led Mater Dei team ran up the score with a humiliating 52-7 final in 2017.

EXORCISING DEMONS

The last two trips to the Bowl to face the Wildcats have exorcised those old demons.  In 2023, the Huskies walked away with a 30-0 shutout victory and Friday night, it was a tour-de-force victory for North.  The Green & White scored touchdowns on EACH of their first SIX possessions on their way to a 49-18 win.

OH-LINE IS AWWWWW-SOME

North’s dominance was apparent from their first possession of the game.  After taking the kickoff to the Husky 34, ten straight running plays hammered away at the Mater Dei interior.  The return of junior Zerin Wood at center, after missing the last game with injury, was noticeable immediately.  Combining with guards Ike Elmer and Jason Bohleber, the trio provided openings into the interior of the Wildcat defense that allowed North to average seven yards per run on the drive.  Games are won or lost in the trenches and after six-minutes of play, there was no doubt that, along with tackles Jaxon Schmitt and Ben Smith, North’s offensive line was going to win their portion of this game.  A quarterback sneak by Jayden Jones from the three-yard line gave the Huskies a 7-0 lead.

A HUNTER SLAYS HIS PREY

Late in the first quarter, a Mater Dei receiver broke open into the secondary for a big-gain that set up a field goal for the Wildcats and when North next got the ball, it was time for North’s offensive line to wreak havoc again.  This time, however, when a hole opened, sophomore Hunter McKinney took the ball ‘to the house’.

On first down at the North 39, a receiver came in motion from the left and crossed behind Jones.  On the snap the quarterback faked a handoff to the motion-man that caused the center of the defense to hesitate and pursue the fake.  Jones then slid to his left and handed the ball to McKinney.  Ahead of him, Elmer had effectively walled off any interior pursuit and Schmitt removed the defensive end out ‘somewhere-beyond-the-hashmark’.  Junior tight end Carson Conley mowed over the safety and there lay nothing but open field ahead of McKinney.

Displaying the speed the McKinney family has been known for at North, Hunter outran the remainder of the defense and went into the endzone in a sixty-yard sprint that he won by fifteen yards.  Kicker Stuart Land’s second of seven perfect extra-point kicks gave North a 14-3 lead.

HE’S NOT DONE

A three-and-out by Mater Dei followed by an exceptional punt return by senior De’Amontey Layne gave North the ball at the Wildcat 35.  Faced with a short field, it was McKinney’s opportunity to put the game out-of-reach—despite the fact it was early in the second quarter.

Lined up at left wingback on second down, McKinney came to his left along the line of scrimmage to take a handoff on a ‘counter’ play.  Ahead of him, center Zerin Wood stood up the nose tackle and Jason Bohleber pancaked the defender in front of him.  Ben Smith turned the defensive end around backwards with his block and those combinations yielded an opening into the Mater Dei secondary.

Unfortunately, a linebacker slipped off an intended block and stood squarely between the runner and the path forward.

Despite his comparative youth, Hunter McKinney is known for more than just his speed.  He is also known for his dedication to his preparation.  This includes his work in the weight room.  The linebacker found out exactly what McKinney’s dedication to strength is worth.

Hunter put him down with a shoulder blow that would have knocked over a giant.

And then he zipped 30-yards to the end zone putting distance between himself and his pursuers.  North led 21-3 with 8:34 to play in the half.

OFFENSIVE DOMINANCE?  CHECK MARK!

After another Mater Dei receiver got loose in North’s secondary and picked up sixty-yards to enable a Wildcat touchdown, North took over at the 23 with a 21-10 lead and 5:36 remaining before the break.  Senior Cole McBride ‘kick-started’ the drive with a sweep around end that moved the ball to midfield in just one play.  From there a judicious use of short passes and punishing runs up the middle with senior ‘Q’ Pauley methodically moved the ball toward the end zone.

When it appeared the drive might stall with a fourth down situation at the Mater Dei 20, Jones hit Pauley for an 11-yard gain to the nine.  Three plays later, the same combination covered the remaining eight yards for a touchdown to give the Huskies a 28-10 lead with two seconds remaining.  North gained over 200 yards rushing in the first half alone.

SECOND HALF

If the first half of the game was a testament to the potency of North’s offense, the defense shined brightest after the break.  The second half highlights began in earnest from the opening kickoff.

In succession:

1. De’Amontey Layne tracked down a return man for a bone-jarring tackle at the 20-yard line.

2. Senior Darian Walker swatted away a deep pass down the middle before a receiver could grab it.

3. Seniors Kamon Parson and Ricky White, Jr. overwhelmed Mater Dei’s All-City running back at the line of scrimmage and threw him to the grown for no-gain.

4. White blitzed the quarterback and forced him to throw the ball out of bounds before he could be tackled.

5. Senior Jalen Lynch and junior DeShawn Steppe swarmed in and dropped the punter for an 8-yard loss on a botched snap from center.

As a result of this onslaught, North took over at the 12-yard line and Cole McBride took a sweep around left end and danced into the end zone with the ball held high.  Barely two minutes into the second half, North led 35-10.

McBRIDE’S NIGHT CONTINUES

Mater Dei abandoned the run and, where the Huskies had given up a pair of long passes in the first half, the North ‘air-defense’ tightened up in the second half.  Senior T.J. Michel defended a pass on first down and Layne then used his great speed to close on an open receiver on second down and force an incompletion.  On third down, White’s furious rush forced a hasty pass that senior Aman Kincaid nearly turned into his fifth career interception.

After a penalty on the ensuing punt return backed up North to its 15-yard line, a long field faced the offense.  Pounding steadily forward with runs up the middle, the Huskies took nine-plays to cover 33 yards to the 48-yard line.

From there, however, it was “all downhill” for North.

Taking the snap under center, Jayden Jones faked a handoff to McKinney into the center of the line.  The linebackers froze on this play-action-fake and it opened up space in the secondary for a speedy receiver to slide into.

That speed came in the form of Cole McBride.

Running a post pattern from the left side, he gained a step to the inside of the cornerback and the safety was slow to recover from the play-action-fake.  Jones stood on the 40-yard line behind a wall of protection and delivered a strike at the Mater Dei thirty that hit McBride in stride.  The quickness that the senior had shown on his last touchdown run was matched by the straight-line speed he displayed after catching the ball at the 30.  He continued diagonally across the field and left the defenders 15 yard behind him as he ‘lit the afterburners’ and blazed into the endzone to make the score 42-10.

HOW MANY PERSONAL FOULS IS THAT??

A series of (at least) questionable if not spurious personal foul calls against North then resulted in a kickoff from the Huskies own 10-yard line and resulted in a short field for Mater Dei on their ensuing possession.  While Mater Dei would gain just 59 yards rushing in the game, the last 20 came in the form of a touchdown run that brought the score to 42-18 entering the fourth quarter.

Twice more in the intervening six-minutes of play, North would be whistled for what appeared in film review to be ‘phantom’ personal fouls.  In the end, however, the defense failed to yield to the one-sided nature of the penalties.

A DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHT REEL

In their final two possessions, Ricky White would record not one, not two, but three more tackles for loss in addition to a ‘hurry’ that flushed the Wildcat quarterback from the pocket and led to senior Parker Daugherty’s second quarterback sack of the game.  The defensive gem of the game came in the final two minutes of the contest when De’Amontey Layne stepped in front of a pass at the Mater Dei thirty and ran the interception all the way back to provide the final margin of victory at 49-18.

BOTH LINES ARE OVERWHELMING OPPONENTS--CONSISTENTLY

The defense only allowed the Wildcats 66 yards of total offense in the second half and dictated both field position and the tempo of the game.  As North enters next Friday’s home game against Vincennes Lincoln, the Husky defense is allowing opponents a measly 64 yards rushing per game.  The offense, by contrast, is averaging over 230 yards rushing per game.

Those statistics are indicative of not just both the offensive and defensive lines overwhelming opponents with their technique and speed, but also that the Husky staff has designed schemes that get the right players in the right places at the right time.  With backs behind them on both sides of the ball that can execute with skill, North is rolling towards the end of the season in position to make some noise in both the Conference and the Playoffs.

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