Northmor edges Indians

An offensive performance that saw them control the ball for roughly two-thirds of the game gave Mount Gilead a great chance to stun undefeated Northmor on the Golden Knights’ turf Friday night, but the home team was able to get a couple big defensive stops in the fourth quarter to remain perfect on the season at 8-0, 5-0 in KMAC play.

Northmor didn’t clinch their 16-14 win over the Indians until Cowin Becker picked off a Cole Fricke pass with 1:21 left in the fourth quarter. Until that moment, MG’s ability to control the ball and keep it out of the hands of Northmor’s potent offense kept them right with their opponents.

“Credit to Northmor,” said Indian coach Mike Reid. “They’ve got a very good team obviously and they’ve got a wonderful senior class and I don’t know if I’ve seen a more pure quarterback then (A.J.) Bower. He’s a tremendous quarterback and our game plan was to keep the ball out of their hands.”

The Indians did that thanks to a running game that was able to consistently move the chains while eating lots of time off the clock. “We worked real hard on getting that push up front which gives them a little bit of room,” said Reid. “Northmor’s a well-prepared team. They know what they’re doing, but we teach our backs to finish their runs and they finished their runs and turned three yards into five. We’ll take that.”

And for much of the game, they were able to hold down the Northmor offense. Starting with the ball, it looked like the Golden Knights would quickly take a 7-0 lead after they recovered an onside kick at midfield and quickly moved to the MG 13 behind two runs for 19 yards by Carson Campbell and an 18-yard pass from Bower to Bo Landin. That drive would stall in the red zone, though, and Northmor would be held to a 25-yard field goal by Bower to lead 3-0.

The Indians would then respond with a 17-play drive that moved the ball from their 20 to inside the Northmor 10. A false start on the Northmor two proved costly, though, as MG wasn’t able to make up those five lost yards and turned the ball over on downs at the six. Northmor would have to quickly punt, though. Taking the ball on the Golden Knight 40, Mount Gilead went back to their bread and butter, running the eight straight times until Cam Vickers crossed the goal line on a two yard carry. Carson Barnum’s extra point kick gave the Indians a 7-3 lead with 7:46 to go in the half.

“It’s hard to score touchdowns when you’re on defense,” said Northmor coach Scott Armrose. “We got pushed around up front a bit tonight. It’s going to be good for us going forward. We’re going to learn from the film and get better.”

Northmor was able to to make the most out of the remainder of the second quarter. After Mount Gilead took the lead, they immediately responded with a 10-play drive that ended with a 21-yard pass from Bower to Becker for a touchdown. The team would then force a three-and-out and go 62 yards in just over one minute of game time.

Bower hit Landin on two passes that netted 34 yards and also hit Jax Wenger for 10 yards and Becker for nine before finding Becker again for a 12-yard touchdown that allowed Northmor to take a 16-7 lead into the locker room.

“It was nice,” said Armrose of how his team ended the half. “We went up tempo and we did really well. When we run up tempo offense like we did, we’re tough to stop. We got into a rhythm there and that was the difference in the football game — our being able to do that at the end of the first half.”

The Indians would take the momentum back with their first drive of the second half — a mammoth possession that ate up the entire third quarter and the opening seconds of the fourth. Fricke got a 10-yard pass to Carson Trainer and one of four yards to Vickers, but most of the team’s work came on the ground with Vickers, Eliot Jones, Barnum, Trainer and the quarterback all running the ball to good effect on a drive that saw the team go 80 yards on 22 plays, converting a pair of fourth down plays in the process.

Vickers would score on a three-yard run and the extra point would make it a 16-14 game. Reid was impressed with his team’s heart in the contest.

“The biggest takeaway is the heart of the boys,” he said. “We’ve been on a tough stretch here. We’ve lost close games like this and we got whipped pretty good last week at Centerburg. They responded this week in practice and we came up here and battled tonight.”

The Indians would get the ball back at midfield after a Northmor fumble, but would not be able to capitalize after a personal foul call pushed them back 15 yards. Northmor would then drive from their 17 into Mount Gilead territory and eat nearly four minutes off the clock before giving up the ball on downs. MG would have one last chance starting from their 40 with 3:06 left on the clock. They would move the ball down to the Northmor 34, but Becker came up with a big interception to give Northmor the hard-fought win.

Armrose noted that his team can expect to get the best effort of opposing teams and will have to work to correct things that those squads exploit in order to keep winning.

“When you’re in first place and you’re undefeated, you’ve got a target on your back and you’re going to get everyone’s best effort,” he said. “Mount Gilead was playing for a playoff berth. They had a lot to play for and they played well and executed very well. Our defensive line has been dominant this season; they weren’t tonight. Mount Gilead did an excellent job executing their game plan, they did a great job of controlling the line of scrimmage and it showed.”

For the Indians, Vickers ran for 132 yards, while Barnum added 44. Northmor got 61 rushing yards from Becker and 44 by Campbell, while Bower threw for 168 on 15-of-21 passing. Landin (77 yards) and Becker (43) had four catches each, while both Wenger and Cameron Goldbach had three catches for 22 yards.

Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS