Back

North Huskies vs New Albany Bulldogs - at Buerk Field Oct 31, 2025

SECTIONAL SEMI-FINAL

Game Stats    Game Recap   

Offense

Team Stats

Defensive Stats

Game Recap

HUSKIES EXPLODE FOR 55-7 SECTIONAL VICTORY OVER NEW ALBANY

For the first time in 18 seasons, the North Huskies raised their season record to 8 wins against just 2 losses with a 55-7 victory over New Albany in the 5A Sectional Semi-Final.  North’s defense held the Bulldogs to just a single first down over the first three-and-a-half quarters of the game and the Husky offense scored touchdowns on nine of their ten possessions.

DEFENSE RULES

Following a North turnover at the New Albany six-yard line on its opening possession, the defensive line systematically broke down the Bulldog offense.  Throughout the contest, seniors Mike Epps and Kamen Parson along with junior Jeraden Copeland bested their counterparts and provided New Albany runners with no daylight to run through.  The benefactors of this gap-closing smothering were linebackers Ricky White, Jr and Parker Daugherty as they routinely dropped runners when attempted to loop runs outside in a desperate search for an opening.

As a result, five of New Albany’s first six possessions resulted in a punt from inside their 35-yard line—the lone exception occurring when they fumbled the ball at their four-yard line and senior Jalen Lynch recovered.  Typically, short punts or long returns resulted in North having a first half average starting field position of the Bulldog 47-yard line.

OFFENSE UNSTOPPABLE

To characterize the North offense as a “steam roller” would not have been an exaggeration on Friday night at Buerk Field.  In the first half of the football game, as North rolled to a 42-0 lead, the Huskies faced third down just twice in seven possessions—and both of those resulted in a touchdown on third down!

OPENING SCORE

The opening possession saw the Huskies fly to the six-yard line of New Albany only to lose the ball on a fumble.  When the defense held and forced a punt that senior De’Amontey Layne returned to the Bulldog 37.  The Huskies hammered away with five straight runs to the ten-yard line before a bobbled pitch resulted in an eight-yard loss to set up third-and-fourteen.

Junior quarterback Jayden Jones faked a handoff and then rolled to his left on a naked-bootleg looking for an open receiver.  As four defenders closed in on him, he continued to roll to his left before finding senior T.J. Michel open at the ten-yard line.  He calmly zipped a pass to Michel who then raced untouched to the flag for the opening score.  Junior Stuart Land kicked his first of seven perfect extra point kicks to give North a 7-0 lead with 5:14 to play in the quarter.

THE LAYNE-TRAIN

Several times in the game De’Amontey Layne would use his great speed to North’s advantage returning punts.  When the Bulldogs’ second possession resulted in a kick, Layne returned it 37 yards—back to the line of scrimmage from where the New Albany punter kicked from.  It took the Huskies just seven plays before senior ‘Q’ Pauley barreled into the endzone from the six to make the score 14-0 as the first quarter ended.

SECOND QUARTER EXPLOSION

New Albany recorded their lone first half first down on the ensuing possession before Mike Epps stalled the possession with a big tackle-for-loss.  Trying to angle the punt away from Layne, the Bulldog kicker pushed it too far toward the sideline and it went out of bounds after just 19 yards.  What followed was an explosion of FOUR North Husky touchdowns in just eight minutes of play.

The first occurred when T.J. Michel scored his second touchdown of the game with an electrifying 41-yard run around left end.  He danced along the sideline and avoided two tacklers while simultaneously avoiding the out of bounds line before angling back to the center of the field.  He easily outraced the Bulldog secondary to make the score 21-0.

PAULEY BANGS AWAY

After Jalen Lynch batted away a third down pass at the New Albany sixteen, it forced another punt.  Just like the others before it, Layne snared the punt in North territory and returned it all the way to the Bulldog 36.  From there, it was the ‘Q’ Pauley show as he gained all 36 yards on three running plays and made the score 28-0.

LYNCH AGAIN

After a Stuart Land kickoff resulted in a touchback, New Albany started at their 20.  Mike Epps again dropped a runner for a huge loss on first down to set the ball at the eleven.  When the Bulldogs attempted a ‘razzle dazzle’ pass-off-reverse play, the ball fell free from the third ball handlers’ hands and it was Lynch who smartly dove immediately for the ball and recovered it at the four-yard line.  Sophomore Hunter McKinney scored on North’s ensuing play and the Huskies went up 35-0.

ONE-MINUTE DRILL

The combination of Epps, White, and Parson bottled up the Bulldogs’ last possession of the half for zero-yards gained and New Albany’s punt rolled dead at the North 28 with under a minute remaining in the half.  Rather than kneel down and end the half, the Huskies lined up in shotgun formation, the line provided Jones ample time to scan downfield, and he found Evan Garnett streaking down the left sideline on a fly pattern. 

Garnett was well covered but, as he has so many times over the last two seasons, the senior wide receiver wrestled the ball away from a defender for 30-yard gain to the New Albany 42.  When Layne carried a sweep around left end, he was forced out-of-bounds after just a two-yard gain.  A frustrated Bulldog defender, however, hit him late and out of bounds and was called for a penalty.  The unhappy defender then compounded the issue by appealing the official’s call with ‘extreme prejudice’.  That resulted in a second penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. 

The net effect of the two penalties yielded a North first down at the eleven with six seconds to play.  Jones again lined up in shotgun formation and found junior Carson Conley all alone in the end zone to cap the first half scoring at 42-0.

SECOND HALF

With the second half played with a running clock, there were only four possessions. On the first one, New Albany recorded just their second first down of the game before giving the ball up on downs following tackles for loss by White and Parker Daugherty.  Freshman Kreig Ingler then set up North’s next score with a 41-yard sweep around left end that gave the Huskies a first-and-goal at the four-yard line.  Hunter McKinney recorded his second touchdown on the ensuing play to put North up 49-0.

From there the Huskies substituted liberally.   A New Albany runner broke free for an 80-yard touchdown run—their lone play of the game to gain more than eight yards.  North’s junior varsity squad answered the score when freshman Tyrie Compton broke through the center of the line and went 47 yards on the final play of the game.  Compton’s score set the final margin at 55-7 and North advanced to the Sectional Final against Floyd Central.

 BACK TO TOP

BACK TO TOP