Worth County routed North Andrew 84-26 and put its naysayers to shame once again as pundits had been predicting that the Cardinals would be too quick for "the power teams of the 275." North Andrew had beaten Worth County the year before and they were coming into the same situation Friday night -- they had to win, or they would be out of the playoffs. But the result was totally different this time as Worth County matched a school record by scoring 84 points. The last time they scored 84 in a game was when Jared Findley, Bart Hardy, Brandon Hunter, Joel Terry, and company hung 84 on South Nodaway when they won Worth County's second state title and Coach Chuck Borey's first.
The Tigers struck right off the bat as Barrett Baker's (10 carries, 76 yards) first down run went for 12 yards up to the 37. An offsides penalty put the ball on the North Andrew 38 and then Zach Harmening (9 completions, 202 yards in one half) threw to Eli Mullock for a 38-yard touchdown to open up the scoring. Barrett Baker would barrel over two defenders for the extra point to make it 8-0 with 11:34 left. With that play, the Tigers showed just how much they had improved over last year as they were befuddled by North Andrew's team speed in their 32-24 overtime loss at North Andrew. But this year, the Tigers not only showed power, they showed that they had gotten so quick since the year that they played last that they left the Cardinal defenders in the dust time and time again. North Andrew had their prize runningback Alex Kier back -- he did all he could, getting 170 yards for the Cardinals. But he was the one person who could match Worth County's team speed, and he could only do so much.
Coach Chuck Borey said after the game that he had reminded his players of the situation last year in which North Andrew had to win. "We had to stay away from stupid penalties and turnovers and we did," he said. Worth County only fumbled the ball away once and they were penalized a lot less than they were earlier in the year. Last year, the Tigers collected a ton of penalties against the Cardinals to kill numerous potential scoring drives.
Clayton Townsend ran back a short kick into Tiger territory at the 37. But Anthony Gabriel was hammered by four Tiger defenders for a loss and then two carries by Kier only netted four years as Alex Harmening led a swarm of Tigers on third and six to throw him for a loss of one. The fourth down pass was tipped and Worth County took over on downs at their own 34.
Barrett Baker caught a pass in the flat for eight yards and then got seven more on a dive play. A botched screen pass was incomplete and Baker went for no gain on his next play to set up third and 10. Baker then took a short pass and went down the left side for nine of the ten yards and set up fourth and one on the 22. A false start moved it back to the 27, but Eli Mullock caught another pass in the flat and put a move on his defender for 16 yards down to the 11. But that was as far as the Tigers would get as they fumbled the ball on their next play.
But that did not matter. Josh Pittman's first down pass was almost intercepted and Kier was stuffed for no gain. Barrett Baker then broke up a pass for fourth and 10. On the ensuing punt, Josh Wagner came straight up the middle with a heavy rush and a botched kick gave the Tigers first and 10 at the Cardinal 18. On the ensuing series, Barrett Baker got 15 yards on a sweep as he got blocks from Eli Mullock and Dylan Kinsella and then scored with 5:55 left in the first quarter as J.J. Mullock threw a perfect chop block of his man to open up the hole. Alex Harmening caught the two-point converson pass to make it 16-0.
At that point, North Andrew changed their strategy, going to Pittman on their runs instead of Kier. Alex Kier got eight yards for them on first down into Tiger territory at the 37 and then Kier ran a quarterback sneak four yards to the 32 to convert third and one. But then a screen pass intended for Kier was too far, Kier's sweep only netted five yards, and Kier's run only got one yard. Pittman aired it out to Clayton Townsend, who was open; however, Pittman's pass was too far and the Tigers took over on downs at their own 26. Worth County only needed one play to get into the end zone as Zach Harmening aired it out to Eli Mullock for 54 yards to make it 22-0 with 3:34 left in the first quarter.
Worth County, trying to keep the ball out of the hands of Kier, tried an onsides kick and apparently recovered it, but it did not go the necessary 10 yards and the Cardinals had it first and 10 at the Tiger 36. Kier bounced outside for 13 yards down to the 21 and then Anthony Gabriel caught a fourth and six pass for 14 yards down to the 3. Two sneaks by Pittman got them into the end zone; the touchdown was thanks to a questionable call by the officials, who were the same crew who made bad calls against the Tigers in the CFX game. The official on the side that the play was being run did not signal the touchdown, but the official on the far side, who was in no position to see the play, signaled touchdown even though it was clear that Pittman did not break the plane. The gift by the officials handed North Andrew their first six points to make it 22-6 with 14 seconds left in the first.
Already in catchup mode, North Andrew tried an onsides kick of their own, but Worth County covered it at their own 33. They seemingly stalled at their own 31 and and were seemingly forced to punt, but Coach Borey, making a concerted effort to keep the ball out of the hands of Kier, gambled on fourth and 12 with the same sort of play that Texas used to beat Nebraska one year; the Longhorns had the lead and the ball late in the game and aired out a touchdown on fourth and one. The occasion was not as dramatic for Worth County, but for the Tigers, it was a matter of keeping the Cardinals from getting back into the game and establishing Kier as a threat. Zach Harmening aired it out to Eli Mullock who dove for it and bobbled it. Even the Tiger players afterwords thought the pass might have hit the ground at one point, but Mullock's play was ruled a catch and Worth County had new life at the Cardinal 14. Barrett Baker then took a sweep, got a block from Josh Wagner, and broke some tackles to the two. An offsides penalty put it on the one and then Baker followed another Wagner block into the end zone with 11 minutes left in the half to make it 28-6.
Coach Borey said that it was important for the team to force North Andrew out of their game plan, calling the two interceptions the Tigers had "huge." The Cardinals followed the lead of teams like Nebraska and UNO and Pitt State and have established a power running game during their recent return to the top tier of eight-man football. However, the Tigers proved that once they got them behind, they were unable to play catch-up. In the meantime, the Tigers were able to run and pass effectively. "People don't lock in on Zach Harmening, but he is one of the better quarterbacks in eight-man football," said Coach Borey. He said that the difference between this year and last year was that the Tigers were mixing things up better. "We have Barrett, Alex, Eli, Josh, and Zach, who are all able to make big plays. Other teams can't focus on one guy this year," he said.
At that point, North Andrew was in catch-up mode and they changed their plan again. This time, they put Anthony Gabriel at quarterback in the shotgun formation. The move initially paid off as Gabriel ripped off a 19-yarder down to the Tiger 23. But on their next play, Gabriel attempted to throw a pass to Kier, but Alex Harmening read the play, jumped the pass, and was gone the other way for six points to make it 34-6 with 10:35 left. North Andrew then put Kier at quarterback and ran the sweep with him every single time and finally found some success as he used runs of 10, 15, and 34 yards to score with 9:09 left to make it 34-12. Worth County answered by going tit for tat as they put Eli Mullock (11 carries, 67 yards) at quarterback and he took a spread draw for five yards to the 31 and then took a sweep into North Andrew territory at the 39. He was stopped for no gain the next play but then took a sweep for 15 yards down to the Cardinal 24. At that point, Zach Harmening came back in and aired it out to Alex Harmening for the final 15 yards to make it 40-12 with 7:20 left.
For some reason, North Andrew did not stick with the end around plays that had gotten them their last score and instead put Gabriel at quarterback and tried to establish their option game. But they could only net six yards in three plays to midfield and then their fourth down attempt to air it out was broken up by Eli Mullock. Worth County took advantage of the short field as Barrett Baker ripped off a gain of 7 yards and Eli Mullock took a pitch 10 yards down to the North Andrew 23. Eli was stopped for no gain on the next play, but then caught a 10-yard pass down to the Cardinal 13 with 3:57 left. Barrett Baker then picked up a block from Mullock and pushed a defender the last few yards into the end zone with 3:57 left in the half. Baker's run on the extra point was successful as nobody was home to defend against the sweep.
On their very first play from scrimmage, North Andrew tried to air it out to get back in the game, but Barrett Baker jumped the route and picked it off, running down the right side and getting all the way to the Cardinal 21. A false start moved it back to the 26 but then Eli Mullock got runs of 6 and 3 yards down to the 14. A play action pass was incomplete, but a long count on fourth and three drew the Cardinals offsides and gave the Tigers first and goal at the 9. Zach Harmening then threaded the needle and Barrett Baker caught a pass towards the front pylon of the end zone with 2:16 for the score. Baker ran in the extra points to make it 56-12.
North Andrew put Kier at quarterback, but lost their will to fight at that point, letting the clock run out. Three consecutive carries by Kier got them to the 35 with 34 seconds left; on his third carry, Cody Green made a perfect open field tackle of Kier to hold him to three yards. Then, Gabriel came in at quarterback to throw a pass, but Clayton Townsend heard footsteps and dropped a short pass as Dylan Kinsella hit Gabriel on the play. Finally, Eli Mullock and Josh Wagner ganged up on Kier and held him to no gain on the final play of the half.
The Cardinals got the ball on their own 17 and were promptly pushed back to their 9 thanks to an equipment penalty and a delay of game penalty. Kier tried to sweep to the right side, but then Dylan Kinsella made a perfect open field tackle on him, dropping him for a loss of two back to the 7. A horsecollar penalty gave the Cardinals new life on the 25, and Kier's first down run moved it to the 37. But then Barrett Baker shot through and dropped Kier for a nine yard loss back to the 28. Josh Wagner then shot through and dropped Pittman for a loss on a keeper and then Barrett Baker and Cody Green combined on a sack to set up fourth and 29 on their own 18. But the Cardinals wanted no part of the Tiger punt rush and elected to go for it; however, the pass to Dallas George was short of the first down and the Tigers took over on the North Andrew 34.
Eli Mullock picked up a pair of sweeps to the 22 and then Josh Wagner got a counter and Barrett Baker held his block perfectly to spring Wagner for an 18-yard gain down to the Tiger 4. Two plays later, Mitch Andrews took a pitch in for a touchdown. Wagner hurdled over a defender for the two points to make it 64-12. At that point, Coach Borey began putting in his JV as North Andrew elected to play on; Kier ripped off a 58-yard touchdown run with 2:28 left in the third quarter to make it 64-18. But Worth County ran the kickoff right back for a touchdown as Barrett Baker ran straight up the middle and then bounced out to the left side. Adam Summers ran in the extra points to make it 72-18.
Clayton Townsend ran off 21 yards to the Tiger 33 to keep their drive going and then Josh Pittman aired it out to Cody Edwards for a 30 yard score with 10:44 left in the game. Tyler Smith ran in the extra points to make it 72-26. But North Andrew, unlike two years ago when they left in their starters against Worth County's JV and ran off three straight scores to turn a 46-6 score into 46-30, began subbing freely at that point.
Worth County's JV got a nice sustained drive going in response, going 9 plays and 56 yards to score. Mitch Andrews started the drive by moving a pile eight yards to the 32; an offsides penalty gave the Tigers first down at their own 38. Dallas Greenland then took a pitchout 11 yards to the 31. Jordan Harding then rescued a third and long as he caught a 21-yard pass in which Wyatt McClain leveled a defender to clear the way. That put the ball on the Cardinal 12 and then Adam Summers broke a bunch of tackles and jumped to the outside to score to make it 78-26 with 5:44 left. Wyatt McClain was not done as he recovered a fumble to give the Tigers the ball on the Cardinal 20; Jordan Harding ran it in for the final score on Worth County's first play from scrimmage with 4:03 left.
No comments:
Post a Comment