“They understand their strength. When you can play defense and have a kicker like they have …”
That was Houston County Head Coach Ryan Crawford on Northside – the condensed version. He was probably a lot more accurate than he wanted to be. True to form, the Eagles played defense, and with two seconds left, brought in Cory Munson for a 33-yard field goal to win it, 17-14.
The first possession for each to start the game proved extremely productive, although it took a break for the Bears to make it so. After picking up a first down, they stalled and went to punt. It was subsequently touched by a Northside player and recovered by Houston County on the Eagles’ 38. Two passes got it to the 8 where quarterback Max Rigby ran it in. Jon David Ferraris made it 7-0.
Northside answered that with a 13-play drive that went 62 yards. Eric Smith finished it off from the 2. Munson tied it at 7 with the clock at 13 seconds.
After forcing the Bears to punt again, Northside went 58 yards on four plays and scored again. Smith did the trick again, this time from the 13. The rest of the half was finished out with punts.
Which is exactly how much of the third quarter played out. That is until it got a bit wild.
Houston County turned it over on downs after driving inside Eagle territory. Northside then fumbled. That led to a 47-yard touchdown pass from Rigby to Xavier Duncan. Ferraris tied it at 14 with seconds left in the quarter.
The Eagles turned it over again on a fumble on their next possession. The Bears returned the favor via an interception.
Northside apparently didn’t want it. Not really, but it did fumble again. Houston County again recovered but Houston County again turned it over on an interception. (Note: And with enough flags flying through this whole ordeal to supply a nice Veterans Day parade.)
Although the Eagles did fumble again following, they managed to hang onto it and move it close enough for Munson’s foot to take care of the rest.
The win evened Northside’s record in 1-AAAAAA to 2-2, 7-3 overall. Houston County fell to 0-3, 2-7.
MCDONALD’S OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME ERIC SMITH. PAPA JOHN’S DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME KENTREZ ANTHONY.
MCDONALD’S OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME XAVIER DUNCAN. PAPA JOHN’S DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME EDWARD FRANKLIN.
