Sunday, September 21, 2008
Leading up to Madisonville-North Hopkins’ football game Friday night against Hopksinville, Maroons head coach Will Weaver emphasized moving the chains rather than going for the big play and judging by the team’s 22-21 win, it certainly paid off.
Instead of being tempted by the end zone, the Maroons tried to advance with small gains and focused on achieving each first down at a time.
“We actually brought the chains out to practice and we told the receivers (to act like it was) third-and-eight or third-and-five,” Weaver said. “A lot of times they have to adjust their routes and what we’re doing based on where the chains are.”
North finished the game 8-of-14 on third downs, which propelled the team to victory.
Making the Maroons’ victory even more impressive was the fact the Tigers held a 2-to-1 advantage for time of possession in the first half.
Despite the time advantage, Weaver credited his defense for keeping the game close.
“The whole first quarter (Hopkinsville) had the ball, the entire first quarter almost,” he said. “They did put a few drives together to score, but it took them 12, 15 plays.”
Down 14-7 with Hopkinsville threatening to score again with time winding down in the first half, North defender Iven Jessup tied the game on a 75-yard interception return and turned the tide.
“That play that Iven made and ran it back for the touchdown, it really gave us the momentum that we needed,” Weaver said.
Weaver called Jessup his “defensive player of the game” as he finished with 21 tackles. Also flying to the ball was Jacquez Samuel, who ended the day with 17 tackles.
Although Samuel trailed Jessup for the game, Samuel leads the team in tackles by one.
Weaver said he motivates the defense by keeping track of each players’ tackles every week with a running tally.
“When the kids come in, they go to the tackle chart,” he said. “They see how many they had and how many they have for the year.”
As for offensive player of the game, Weaver gave the honor to wide receiver Carl Hatchett.
Hatchett finished the game with six grabs for 61 yards and a touchdown.
“He made some tremendous catches,” Weaver said. “He really sucked it up and there for a little bit really carried the team on his back by making some incredible grabs.”
No single catch was bigger than Hatchett’s 26-yard touchdown reception with 10:45 left in the game. Quarterback Matt Levin dropped it over Hatchett’s shoulder and he was gone for the endzone, setting up the go-ahead, two-point conversion.
Instead of tying the game with an extra-point, Weaver chose to go for the score and put the pressure on his defense.
“I really wanted to put the ball in the defense’s hands, that’s why we went for two,” he said. “It was still a little bit early to where I felt if we didn’t get the two we could get it back offensively and go down, kick a field goal or go down and do something to win.
“I really felt if we went up 22-21, and we put it on our defense they were going to step up and finish it.”
As if he could not predict the game any better, that’s just what North did. The Maroons converted on the two-point and North’s defense came away with two fourth-quarter take aways to cement the victory.
Notes
n After scoring just one touchdown in the past two games, the North offense came to life Friday, led by Levin.
The senior completed his first seven passes of the game and entered the lockeroom at halftime with 12-of-16 passing.
Weaver lauded not only Levin’s play, but the lineman up front as well.
“He played very well last night and made some good decisions,” Weaver said. “Our offensive line improved tremendously. They keep getting better and better as we come along.”
n The Maroons continue to improve with fewer penalties. North had just three accepted penalties for a total 25 yards.
“That’s one area where we try to continuously improve,” Weaver said. “We don’t want to shoot ourselves in the foot.”
Only one North penalty exceeded five yards, and the team did not make more than one penalty in any single quarter.
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