2A CAL handily knocks off 3A North Oldham at CAL...

 

North went into tonight's game a bit behind the 8 ball with 11 players out with injuries, including star RB Zach Evans (267 yards rushing week 1), FB Austin Peterson (who stars in defensive backfield) and 9 others...

 

Not a pretty game, by any stretch...decided by North miscues in the first period, when CAL took a 17-0 lead:

 

CAL QB Jacob Richter, a senior who is a 3-year starter, showed tremendous sleight-of-hand, and brutalized the North defense in the first half with his running. He got CAL on the board first with an 80 yard quarterback keeper with 7:24 to play in the first. 7-0 CAL

 

After a North Oldham interception inside their own 35 yard line, CAL got a 26 yard field goal to make it 10-0.

 

Another North turnover again gave CAL the ball inside NO territory, and Richter scored his second TD run from 35 yards out with 11.4 seconds left in the first period. After one period, CAL 17, North Oldham 0

 

North had 18 offensive yards on 11 plays from scrimmage in the first period, and was struggling with a smaller, younger OL vs. a bigger, older CAL DL.

 

CAL added a TD run from Ivan Talley in the second to take a 24-0 lead into the locker roomo.

 

Unofficially, Richter had 176 yards and two TDs in the first half on ten carries. North had just 49 yards total offense (all on the ground).

 

Another Talley TD - this one a 4 yard reception from Richter - pushed the lead to 31-0 in the third. North had opportunities, turning the ball over on downs inside the five, and another time lost the ball via fumble after a 50 yard run to inside the CAL 35 yard line...

 

Logan Windhorst had a 5 yard run in the fourth for CAL's final score with 11:30 to play; North blocked the kick. It was the third PAT North has blocked in two weeks.

 

North's lone score came on a 5 yard run by Austin Crawley with 4:34 to play. The PAT was blocked.

 

North did fare much better offensively in the second half, rushing for 256 yards (unofficially) in the second half. Austin Crawley - unofficially - rushed 14 times for 181 yards and the score. As a team, North had 305 yards rushing on 50 carries, an average of over 6 yards per carry.

 

But North was 0-13 passing with a pick. It was not all the quarterback's fault, as many passes were dropped, including two in the end zone.

 

North finished with 15 first downs to 14 by CAL. North had 3 turnovers; CAL had 4. CAL put the ball on the turf at least 10 times - no exaggeration - but was fortunate enough to only lose it three times.

 

Jacob Richter of CAL was erratic passing in the first half and had an interception, but was hot in the second half (7 for 7 for 107 yards in the 2H) and finished 10 of 15 for 144 yards with one TD and one INT. He rushed (unofficially) 13 times for 200 yards and two scores.

 

CAL improves to 2-1; North falls to 1-2.

 

KUDOS to the Centurions for the win; better luck to the banged-up Mustangs next week against Trimble County at home.

Injuries as no excuse, hat's off to a solid well coached 2A football team in CAL.

None of the young starters stepped up for North to get any momentum going and the few veterans left available seemed no where to be found.

Given the pressure from CAL's D-Line North's QB did put at least 4 or 5 passes where they should have been caught in the hands of the receiving core which should be humiliated by their effort last night with an 0-13 receiving stat.

 

So where does Coach Billy Martin go from here ?

Obviously get people healthy is # 1.

#2 to me is find leadership to get the young starters a sense of stability in the heat of things.

#3 Don't panic! Ok, a young battered team played a solid more experienced team and got their butts kicked.

Move on. Get some focus back with a softer Trimble County game next week and then a win against Arch rival South Oldham the following

week could put thing right on track going into the key district games.

 

Lots of work to do!

Injuries as no excuse, hat's off to a solid well coached 2A football team in CAL.

None of the young starters stepped up for North to get any momentum going and the few veterans left available seemed no where to be found.

Given the pressure from CAL's D-Line North's QB did put at least 4 or 5 passes where they should have been caught in the hands of the receiving core which should be humiliated by their effort last night with an 0-13 receiving stat.

 

So where does Coach Billy Martin go from here ?

Obviously get people healthy is # 1.

#2 to me is find leadership to get the young starters a sense of stability in the heat of things.

#3 Don't panic! Ok, a young battered team played a solid more experienced team and got their butts kicked.

Move on. Get some focus back with a softer Trimble County game next week and then a win against Arch rival South Oldham the following

week could put thing right on track going into the key district games.

 

Lots of work to do!

 

That sounds good... but some boys are going to have to be men in a hurry. North needs a whole lot more toughness, or they will continue to struggle vs anyone. 15 guys not playing out of 70...come on that is ridiculus. We spoted them 24 points before we decided to play. You can not beat anyone like that The well coached Cal team had 10 fumbles and an interception, North made zero adjustments at halftime other than to challenge some players to rise up. 250 yds rusing in 2nd half, and should have had about 3 scores. Very poor effort by all involved, coaches, players, etc.

That sounds good... but some boys are going to have to be men in a hurry. North needs a whole lot more toughness, or they will continue to struggle vs anyone. 15 guys not playing out of 70...come on that is ridiculus. We spoted them 24 points before we decided to play. You can not beat anyone like that The well coached Cal team had 10 fumbles and an interception, North made zero adjustments at halftime other than to challenge some players to rise up. 250 yds rusing in 2nd half, and should have had about 3 scores. Very poor effort by all involved, coaches, players, etc.

 

Coach Martin and an excellent North coaching staff will undoubtedly get some players' attention this week in practice. I agree with Mustang Nation...although this ranks as one of the worst losses in North Oldham's relatively short history, now is not the time to panic. Certainly, many things - extreme youth, extreme injuries to key players, etc. - put North in a spot before the game even kicked off. Sure - these aren't excuses any team should ever use to hide behind, but they are reality.

 

Having Austin Peterson off the field I think was huge Friday night; he appears to be a major leader among the kids, from what I've seen. And obviously, the Mustangs miss Zach Evans and his "home run" abilities a lot.

 

The bottom-line, though, is that if the Mustangs can maintain/regain their focus, they have tremendous potential this year - and beyond. With so many sophomores playing key roles - shoot, almost the entire OL and DL are sophomores! - the future could be VERY bright for North. And forgetting about future seasons for a minute, North still has three games to accelerate the development of the youngsters and get healthy before the critical district games...

 

Definitely a crossroads point in the season, of sorts, but all is not lost in Goshen...

Does CAL still run the option attack? I know they did a good job at it last year

North seems to always have problems with mental and physical toughness. Have some good skill kids but lacking in the trenches where games are won. Injuries are a pert of the game but you have to play when your hurting. Big difference between being hurt and injured. I had a coach tell me one summer at the beginning of practice, "This is the best you'll feel 'til the season's over." You know what, he was right.

Does CAL still run the option attack? I know they did a good job at it last year

 

CAL did run the option a few times Friday night. Came across as more a designed pitch out play than a read and react option off the QB and was not executed very well.

North seems to always have problems with mental and physical toughness. Have some good skill kids but lacking in the trenches where games are won. Injuries are a pert of the game but you have to play when your hurting. Big difference between being hurt and injured. I had a coach tell me one summer at the beginning of practice' date=' "This is the best you'll feel 'til the season's over." You know what, he was right.[/quote']

 

Interesting observation from a district rival, but based on the number of all-district linemen coming out of North - where North is "lacking in the trenches" - that's a rather debatable one.

Knute Rockne seems to be questioning North's toughness as well. Perhaps he has some observations to relate? Teams and players are certainly able to turn things around. I think North will be fine come district time. That's really all that everyone works towards, isn't it.