Sunday, November 02, 2008
PARK HILLS — With a playoff spot already secured and nothing much to play for more than pride, the Madisonville-North Hopkins football team turned in one of its gutsiest performances of the season Saturday afternoon in northern Kentucky.
Leading 7-0 entering the game’s final minute against Covington Catholic (4-5), the Maroons (6-3) surrendered a game-tying touchdown and went to double-overtime to crown a victor, but the visitors never lost hope, pulling out a 17-14 win.
“That team has so much heart,” coach Will Weaver said. “To have a chance to finish 7-3 in 6A, nobody would have thought that at the beginning of the year. They fought and fought and fought and I’ve never been more proud of a group my entire life.”
Defensive success has propelled North all season long and
did so once again, limiting the Colonels to just one score in regulation. It was defensive back J.C. Wade who made an interception in the second overtime to give the Maroons a chance to put Covington Catholic away.
After both teams scored in the first overtime, the Colonels began the second OT with the ball. On their first play, Wade made the game-changing turnover.
“It was an out route and I was over top of (the receiver),” Wade said. “When I saw it, I just went for the ball. We worked all week on reading our keys and when I saw that, I broke on it and made a good play.”
Ryan Robinson took three consecutive carries for the Maroons, keeping the ball in position for kicker Rush Dugger after the pick. Dugger stepped up and made a 19-yard field goal to send the North players into a frenzy.
“It was just a chippie, but still I was real nervous,” Dugger said. “I was just concentrating and hoping it was going to be a good hold and a good snap and just put it through there like practice.”
In the first overtime period, the Maroons’ offense assumed control to begin and quarterback Matt Levin needed just one snap to locate Isiah White in the endzone for a go-ahead score.
The Colonels answered with their own 10-yard touchdown toss to continue the game.
That touchdown seemed to signal the Covington Catholic offense finally found its groove, following a Colonels’ score with 46 seconds in the fourth quarter to tie the game.
With just four and one-half minutes, Covington Catholic manufactured a 14-play, 77-yard drive, erasing the Maroon shutout bid.
Running back Will Deters accounted for nearly half of the drive’s yardage as he did most of the game.
“They have a very good offensive line and Deters is one heck of a back, he really is,” Weaver said. “He’s one of those guys that kind of brings his lunch box (to the game) and he gets four or five per play.”
Once the Colonels reached the 10-yard line, North’s defense provided back-to-back stops, but on third-down quarterback Matt Young dropped a pass to Alex Connelly in the right corner of the endzone to tie.
Although the score could have broken the Maroons’ spirit, Wade said he was not worried.
“It wasn’t frustrating that much because in the end, I knew we worked harder than them and we wanted it more than they did,” he said.
Wade and the rest of his teammates would have never guessed the game would be a defensive struggle determined in a second overtime, judging by North’s first offensive play of the day.
Just inside nine minutes to play in the first quarter, Levin went under center for the first time of the afternoon. He dropped back and passed to an open L.J. Gregory down the sideline for a 48-yard touchdown reception.
“The first play, the corner walked up, cheating off the snap and Matt picked it up on the hot read and threw it to me,” Gregory said. “I was wide open. I was hoping it was going to be like that all day, but it wasn’t.”
During the course of the game, the Maroons moved the ball inside the Colonel 40-yard line a few more times, including a fake field goal from the 6-yard line, but could not muster any points.
Dugger had two chances from 50-yards plus, narrowly missing wide left once and just short on the other, but made his final kick count.
After the game, Dugger said the victory will not only show the northern half of the state what Maroon football is about, but also prove any remaining doubters wrong in Hopkins County.
“About 80 percent of the people in Madisonville probably think that we weren’t going to win, so coming up here and getting a win is big for us,” he said.
North 7 0 0 0 7 3 — 17
Cov. Cath. 0 0 0 7 7 0 — 14
1st quarter
MNH — Matt Levin 48 pass to L.J. Gregory (Rush Dugger kick) - 8:41
4th quarter
CC — Matt Young 14 pass to Alex Connelly (Kevin Heath kick) - :46
1st overtime
MNH — Levin 10 pass to Isiah White (Dugger kick)
CC — Young 10 pass to Patrick Vansant (Heath kick)
2nd overtime
MNH — Dugger 19 field goal
Individual statistics
Passing
MNH — Matt Levin 22-36, 267 yds, 2 TD, INT; Carl Hatchett 0-1
CC — Matt Young 14-24, 132 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT
Rushing
MNH — Chris Scisney 10-40; Ryan Robinson 8-3; Isiah White 1-(-8); Levin 4-(-4)
CC — Will Deters 26-93; Patrick Vansant 9-37; Joe Hearn 3-4; Craig Furnish 1-(-3); Young 4-(-16)
Receiving
MNH — Robinson 4-78; L.J. Gregory 4-77-1; Ryan Quinn 4-38; Scisney 3-15; Isiah White 1-10-1; Trey Carr 1-4; Hatchett 1-(-2)
CC — Alex Connelly 4-68-1; Deterns 3-20; Vansant 3-17-1; Hearn 1-14; Samuel Burhans 1-11; Furnish 1-10
Defensive
Interceptions
MNH — Iven Jessup, J.C. Wade
CC — Andrew Hodge
Kicking
Field goals
MNH — Rush Dugger (53), (51), 19
CC — Kevin Heath (51)
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