Saturday, October 24, 2009

Tigers Hang 30 in First Quarter on Mustangs, Win 46-20

Worth County Tigers hung 30 points in the first quarter on North Nodaway as they contained a potent passing attack and beat the Mustangs 46-20 in a game that was not as close as the final score. North Nodaway scored all 20 points in the second half after Coach Chuck Borey had pulled out all of his starters and the Mustangs elected to keep playing after it was 46-0 and elected to keep all their starters in the game.

North Nodaway got the ball on their opening possession and with nothing to lose, began airing it out almost every single play. They had the arm to do it with as Mustang quarterback Jason DeMott was ranked fourth among eight-man quarterbacks by the St. Joseph News-Press. Tiger quarterback Zach Harmening (7 completions, 180 yards in one half) is ranked third. However, on their initial series at their own 15, the first snap sailed over DeMott's head and he had to throw it away. His second bomb was dropped and this third was broken up by Barrett Baker, forcing them to punt. "We did a good job getting pressure on DeMott," said Coach Borey. "Our ends were doing a good job putting pressure on him, and our backs were doing a good job covering their receivers." Fears that the Tigers would be short-handed because of the flu did not materialize. There were only 15 players at practice at one point during the week, but everyone got themselves healthy by game day. And despite North Nodaway leaving their starters in against Worth County's JV, the Tigers were able to come out of the game healthy as they prepare for their annual showdown with Stanberry this Friday at 7 at home.

Worth County got on the board right away thanks to a short field as a short kick gave them the ball on the North Nodaway 30. They got on the board on their very first play as Zach Harmening aired it out to Alex Harmening, back from a hip injury as Coach Chuck Borey had held him out of the South Nodaway game as a precautionary measure. Alex showed no ill effects as he outleaped a Mustang defender much bigger than he was and hauled it in just inside the right end zone marker for the score with 11:20. Alex Harmening also caught the extra point pass as he broke to the middle and caught a pass to make it 8-0.

Poor field position would doom any hopes of an upset by the Mustangs as well as poor special teams play. First of all, Cody Green stuffed a first down run and threw DeMott for a loss of two. Eli Mullock covered two DeMott bombs successfully and a false start moved it back to the 11. The ensuing punt was blocked by Brian Hall, who recovered the carom at the Mustang 8. Two plays later, the Tigers were in the end zone again as Barrett Baker did it in two cracks, the second a five-yard run helped by a block from Eli Mullock. Baker took the extra point handoff and leveled DeMott and barreled his way in for the two points to make it 16-0 with 9:39 left in the first quarter.

North Nodaway finally got into Tiger territory as DeMott aired it out to Cody Bix for 28 yards to the Tiger 31. But two running plays only netted five yards and then DeMott, going back for a pass, slipped and fell at the Tiger 34 for fourth and 13. On the ensuing play, a bad snap sailed over DeMott's head and Dallas Greenland collared him all the way back at the Mustang 25, where Worth County took over on downs. For the third consecutive series, the Tigers had the short field to work with and they used it as Zach Harmening went back as though to throw a short pass to the right side and faked the throw perfectly. He then handed it to Eli Mullock going around the left side for 16 yards down to the 9. On the next play, Worth County handed it off to Josh Wagner, who got a block from Barrett Baker and leveled a defender for Worth County's third score. J.J. Mullock and Dylan Kinsella opened a huge hole for Wagner on the extra point try and he ran through it for the two points to make it 24-0 with 6:56 left in the first quarter.

North Nodaway's troubles were not over in the first quarter as they tried to go to Jesse Birkenholz for a draw play, but Barrett Baker dropped him for a loss of 4 back to the Mustang 13. DeMott went back to pass on second and long, but his pass was too high for his receiver and then Eli Mullock sacked him to force North Nodaway to punt. But this time Worth County, despite getting the ball on the North Nodaway 20, could not convert as a fumble and a dropped pass gave North Nodaway the ball back on downs at their own 20.

The Mustangs tried the ground game with a little success; however, they stalled at midfield. Zack Gladman ran for a first down to the North Nodaway 32 and then DeMott found daylight and scrambled seven yards to the 39. But a quick pass went astray and then DeMott's fourth down pass short-hopped the receiver and Worth County once again had the ball in North Nodaway territory. This time, they were not to be denied. An offsides penalty moved the ball to the 34 and then Barrett Baker took a sweep nine yards to the North Nodaway 25. Baker's reverse only went for two yards to the 23, but then that set up the next play perfectly. This time, the Tigers faked the reverse and Zach Harmening found Eli Mullock over the middle for a strike in the end zone to make it 30-0 with 24 seconds left in the first quarter.

A botched snap put North Nodaway in the hole again as they were forced into second and long. An incomplete pass, a false start penalty, and another incomplete pass as the Mustangs were desperately trying to air it out to get back in the game set up fourth and 18. But this time, the Tigers gave them new life thanks to some poor tackling and a penalty. DeMott took the snap to punt and it was apparently going to be blocked. But DeMott juked some defenders who were grabbing at him instead of wrapping up and drew a 15-yard facemask penalty to give them new life at their own 35. A pair of carries by Zack Gladman and Travis Koster gave them a first down into Tiger territory at the 34, but then Josh Wagner and Brian Hall stopped Gladman for no gain to set up second and long. An incomplete pass was followed by a four-yard run from Gladman and DeMott's pass was short of the receiver and Worth County took over on downs at their own 30.

Barrett Baker caught a 34-yard pass over the middle to put Worth County into North Nodaway territory at the 28, but on third and three, a bad snap sailed over Zach Harmening's head and he had to eat the ball at the 40. Barrett Baker caught a short pass for what looked like a good gain on fourth down, but his knee hit the ground at the Tiger 38, where North Nodaway took over on downs. But Worth County stiffened up despite the short field as Cody Green dropped Gladman for a loss of two. A dropped pass set up third and long and then Josh Wagner ran down DeMott for a sack to force the Mustangs to punt.

The punt pinned the Tigers at their own 4, but they were able to pass their way out of trouble and score. First, Eli took a long pass and corralled it for 30 yards to the 34. A pair of false starts and a sack set up fourth and 18 at their own 28, but Worth County shifted from a conventional punt formation into a set with triple receivers at the last possible moment and Zach Harmening aired it out to Barrett Baker for 54 yards for a score with 1:59 left. Baker ran a counter sweep in for the extra points to make it 38-0. North Nodaway could only get to midfield before time expired at the half.

Barrett Baker took the first play of the second half and ran through a big hole created by Dylan Kinsella for Worth County's final tally with 11:46 left in the third quarter. Eli Mullock spun his way in for the extra points to make it 46-0.

An offsides penalty gave North Nodaway a first down and Travis Koster ran for another as North Nodaway kept their starters in while Coach Borey began subbing in his JV. But an interception thwarted the drive as Dallas Greenland picked off a tipped pass at the Tiger 34. Greenland got a 12-yard carry to the North Nodaway 34 and then the Tigers rescued second and long as Dallas Greenland picked up a six-yard carry, Jordan Harding got 4, and Adam Summers converted a fourth and one sneak for two yards to the 23. Greenland got 7 yards to the 15, but then Summers was sacked back to the 25. Jordan Harding caught a 12-yard screen pass to the 13 to set up fourth and one, but the Tigers tried to pass and it fell incomplete.

For the rest of the game, it was North Nodaway scoring at will with their starters against the Tiger JV in a scene that Coach Chuck Borey said was "not pretty at all." Zack Gladman ran for a 52-yard touchdown run with 8:37 left to get North Nodaway on the board; Gladman ran another one for 18 yards with 4:09 left for their second score, and then Jason DeMott returned a punt 50 yards for their final score of the evening with 1:37 left before Worth County knelt down for the win.

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