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North Huskies vs Central Bears - at Bundrant Stadium Oct 17, 2025

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Offense

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Defensive Stats

Game Recap

HUSKIES HONOR #47 WITH 47-7 WIN OVER BEARS

On a night honoring former Husky football star #47 Drew Watters (2010-12 roster), North put up 47 points on the scoreboard in a victory over the Central Bears.  Watters, a two-time Captain of the Huskies and a member of the North Football All-Decade team, died in the service of his country.  His family including his surviving son, Jack, were on hand to participate in the pre-game coin toss.  North honored his memory with a 47-7 ‘running clock’ victory to retain the North-Side-Trophy.

SENIORS KEY HOT START

On ‘Senior Night’, the Huskies moved several seniors into prominent roles to start the game and the results were apparent immediately.  Kamen Parson and Cameron Watkins combined to force a third and long situation with a tackle-for-loss on the Bear’s first possession.  T.J. Michel defended the third down pass. 

When Central’s punt rolled dead near midfield, it was De’Amontey Layne who carried the ball around left end to advance the ball deep into Bear territory.  ‘Q’ Pauley did most of the ‘heavy lifting’ from there culminating in a one-yard touchdown run with 8:39 to play.  Senior Colt Hout handled the kicking chores for the game and wound up with eight points on the night.  The seniors were making the most of their final clash with their arch rivals.

ROLL HUSKIES ROLL

As the game moved into the second quarter, the Huskies began to insert more underclassmen into the line up and the results were very much the same.  Sophomore Hunter McKinney began to pile up rushing yards and a few freshmen added to the production as Elijah Hedgepeth and Kreig Ingler made their presence felt. The Huskies went up 14-0 when junior quarterback Jayden Jones ran a play-action fake that fooled everyone in Bundrant Stadium and then tossed a pass to Pauley who was all alone in the endzone.

PASS DEFENSE IS EXCEPTIONAL

When the defensive backfield features four multi-year starters, you expect the experience to yield results.  The Huskies got those results and then some Friday night.

While Central was not blessed with talented linemen, they were explosive on the perimeter and featured some of the city’s most talented athletes.  Ten times in the first half, the Bears sent receivers on deep routes in which their speed would pose advantage against some teams.  The Husky defensive backs proved they were up to the challenge,

Senior Aman Kincaid and De’Amontey Layne matched up one-on-one against the swiftest receivers and routinely swatted balls away as they approached the outstretched arms of Bear receivers.  Senior safeties Darian Walker and T.J. Michel routinely covered the center of the field and defended passes to the tight-ends and backs as they emerged from the line.  The Bears saw 9 of their first 10 passes thwarted by the North defense and the lone completion was for just five yards.

CAPITALIZING ON A SHORT FIELD

After a North turnover at their 31, the defense managed to not only stop the threat, but also backed the Bears up EIGHTEEN yards on the ensuing possession.  Layne batted away a pass on first down, Watkins recorded a QB sack on second down, senior Mike Epps hurried the quarterback into tossing the ball away to avoid another sack, and then senior Parker Daugherty recorded a huge sack of the quarterback on fourth down.

With the offense taking over a midfield, five running plays advanced the ball to the Central 26-yard line.  What followed was a text-book sweep play to the right.

Layne came in motion from left to right and took a handoff from Jones.  Layne followed McKinney towards the end of the line and got a monster ‘pan cake’ block on the defensive end by junior Jaxon Schmitt.  When tight end Carson Conley sealed off the linebacker from pursuing, Layne jetted his way up field behind McKinney.  Senior wide receiver Evan Garnett wiped out the safety with a block and that just left the cornerback for McKinney to deal with.  Layne cut to his left behind McKinney’s hip as he laid into the defender.  That left the center of the field open for Layne to blaze his way to the end zone.  North went up 21-0 with 2:12 to play in the half.

CENTRAL TAKES ADVANTAGE OF CONFUSION

As mentioned, Central possesses many weapons on the outside if they can get the ball to them.  One such play occurred on the half’s next-to-last play.  Junior defensive end Jeraden Copeland flushed the quarterback from the pocket and Mike Epps very nearly tackled him to end the half, but he escaped Epp’s grasp.  As he ran toward the line of scrimmage, all the North defenders began to converge upon him. 

At the last moment, the quarterback planted his foot and lobbed a short toss over the heads of the converging defenders to a receiver who had remained behind the North players.  Only Layne’s great speed allowed him to catch up to the receiver from behind and bring him down at the Husky one with one second remaining.  The Bears scored on the final play of the half to make the score 21-7.

SECOND HALF

McKINNEY TAKES THE GAME OVER

Following a halftime performance by the North ‘Green Brigade’ Marching Band that was perhaps the most breathtaking, well-coordinated, and finest show of its kind, it was time for a familiar Husky name to ascend to the spotlight.

Since 2017, there has been a member of the McKinney family in uniform for the Green-and-White.  Dylan McKinney starred as an All-State wide receiver and Sam McKinney led North to its first Sectional in 20 years while playing quarterback.  The youngest McKinney, Hunter, added to the family’s all-time “North Family Scoring Title” on Friday night.

While his older brothers combined for 330 points scored in their careers, Hunter advanced that total significantly in the third quarter of the Central game.  First, he broke free for a 35-yard touchdown run with 8:39 to play and then followed up with a spectacular 58-yard score just three minutes later.  North went up 35-7 and all the fight went out of the Bears.

THE FLOOD GATES OPEN

Hout’s kickoff following McKinney’s second score netted the Bears a starting position of their 11-yard line.  On first down, Parker Daugherty and Ricky White, Jr. stopped a runner for loss.  On second down, the snap from center was bobbled and Mike Epps chased the quarterback into the endzone and pounced on him for a safety to put the Huskies up 37-7.

The free-kick by Central that followed gave North the ball at the Bear 25.  Jones converted a fourth-and-one with a quarterback sneak.  McKinney carried the ball down to the five and then Pauley zipped through a massive hole opened by Schmitt and Conley to make the score 44-7.

In just five minutes, North had put sixteen points on the board and initiated a running clock for the remainder of the game.  Hout added a 35-yard field goal to cap off the scoring and the final score of 47-7 matched the uniform number of Husky honoree Drew Watters. 

A NIGHT FOR THE AGES

The Huskies finished the regular season with SEVEN victories for the first time since 2007 (the ’23 club only won six in the regular season, their other two were in the sectional).  The North Side Trophy remains with North for the fifth consecutive season (during which the average score has been North 46 Central 4) and the Green Brigade Marching Band put on a halftime show for the ages. 

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