By Nick Brockman, Messenger Sports Reporter nbrockman@the-messenger.com
Playing on the road to begin the football season presents no easy task, but for Madisonville-North Hopkins committing five turnovers made it impossible.
The Maroons (0-1) took to the road Friday night at Murray (1-0) and struggled to take care of the ball in a 21-6 loss.
"We didn't handle the football very well at all (Friday) night," coach Will Weaver said. "We ended up having five turnovers. You're not going to win any game when you have five turnovers."
North lost three fumbles and threw two interceptions on the evening. The Tigers turned two first-quarter turnovers into at 14-0 advantage.
"We had two critical mistakes to give up those 14 points," Weaver said. "The first one was when we threw the interception for the touchdown. The second mistake we made, (Murray) had fourth-and-5 and they actually called us for encroachment, which gave them a first down, and they ended up going down and scoring.
"You take away those two major mistakes and we're definitely in the ballgame."
Quarterback Tray Carr made his first start as the offensive play-caller. A fumbled exchange on North's first drive gave Murray the ball near midfield. On third-and-2 from the North 25-yard line, Maroon Travin Hardy tackled running back Brandon Wicks for a 3-yard loss.
The Maroons (0-1) took to the road Friday night at Murray (1-0) and struggled to take care of the ball in a 21-6 loss.
"We didn't handle the football very well at all (Friday) night," coach Will Weaver said. "We ended up having five turnovers. You're not going to win any game when you have five turnovers."
North lost three fumbles and threw two interceptions on the evening. The Tigers turned two first-quarter turnovers into at 14-0 advantage.
"We had two critical mistakes to give up those 14 points," Weaver said. "The first one was when we threw the interception for the touchdown. The second mistake we made, (Murray) had fourth-and-5 and they actually called us for encroachment, which gave them a first down, and they ended up going down and scoring.
"You take away those two major mistakes and we're definitely in the ballgame."
Quarterback Tray Carr made his first start as the offensive play-caller. A fumbled exchange on North's first drive gave Murray the ball near midfield. On third-and-2 from the North 25-yard line, Maroon Travin Hardy tackled running back Brandon Wicks for a 3-yard loss.
Murray lined up to go for it, but automatically received the first down on an encroachment penalty by the Maroons. Four plays later, Wicks dashed through the left side of the line for the contest's first points on a 6-yard touchdown rush.
The Tigers scored again when Carr's intended pass for receiver Isiah White was tipped and intercepted by Murray's Christian Duncan, who returned the ball 40 yards for a touchdown.
Weaver said there were many factors that led to North's missed exchanges, including starting sophomores at center and quarterback.
Carr completed just 12-of-27 passes, but ran for 91 yards on 17 carries.
"Tray did OK, he did alright," Weaver said. "We just have to protect the football a little bit better. We've got to give him a little bit more time to throw. They were blitzing off the weakside (Friday) night quite a bit and we just couldn't make our fan calls and implement Tray as much as we needed to."
Carr shined on North's lone scoring drive of the game, which happened in the second quarter. Carr accounted for 38 yards on three carries, including a 14-yard touchdown rush on third-and-goal.
Then, the Maroon defense, which allowed less than 150 yards all night kept Murray to a three-and-out.
"Our defense definitely played hard," Weaver said. "They probably outweighed us double in most positions. They had 280, 290-pound kids and they just ran the football right at us, but defensively I was pretty happy with our effort. We played well enough to win the football game, we just turned the football over."
The Maroons moved to Murray's 15-yard line on the ensuing possession. With a shaky kicking game, North opted to go for it on fourth-and-11 with back-up quarterback Jawan Combs after Carr left following an injury on third down. Combs lobbed a pass to the endzone, but it was picked.
North's offense did not breach Murray territory again until the fourth quarter. After a sack, the Maroons faced fourth-and-7 from the Tiger 43-yard line. Carr, who also works as punter, took the snap, dropped back and tossed for J.C. Wade, but the pass sailed too long resulting in a turnover on downs.
Six plays later, Murray punched in for another score and a 21-6 lead.
Weaver said the fake-punt play was designed to be a run. He said he knew it was a risk, but felt it was necessary as the game winded to an end.
"My thought process was we weren't down just a score, we were down eight points, and the way Murray had been milking the clock if we punted it and they got it back, they were just going to try and hold onto the football the entire time," he said.
"We just took a gamble and I was trying to give us a shot in the arm. If it worked out, you never know how it would have went."
Weaver said the team expects to be at full health for Friday's 7:30 p.m. home contest against Webster County. Ryan Morris and Chris White are also expected to return to action after missing the Murray game.
The Tigers scored again when Carr's intended pass for receiver Isiah White was tipped and intercepted by Murray's Christian Duncan, who returned the ball 40 yards for a touchdown.
Weaver said there were many factors that led to North's missed exchanges, including starting sophomores at center and quarterback.
Carr completed just 12-of-27 passes, but ran for 91 yards on 17 carries.
"Tray did OK, he did alright," Weaver said. "We just have to protect the football a little bit better. We've got to give him a little bit more time to throw. They were blitzing off the weakside (Friday) night quite a bit and we just couldn't make our fan calls and implement Tray as much as we needed to."
Carr shined on North's lone scoring drive of the game, which happened in the second quarter. Carr accounted for 38 yards on three carries, including a 14-yard touchdown rush on third-and-goal.
Then, the Maroon defense, which allowed less than 150 yards all night kept Murray to a three-and-out.
"Our defense definitely played hard," Weaver said. "They probably outweighed us double in most positions. They had 280, 290-pound kids and they just ran the football right at us, but defensively I was pretty happy with our effort. We played well enough to win the football game, we just turned the football over."
The Maroons moved to Murray's 15-yard line on the ensuing possession. With a shaky kicking game, North opted to go for it on fourth-and-11 with back-up quarterback Jawan Combs after Carr left following an injury on third down. Combs lobbed a pass to the endzone, but it was picked.
North's offense did not breach Murray territory again until the fourth quarter. After a sack, the Maroons faced fourth-and-7 from the Tiger 43-yard line. Carr, who also works as punter, took the snap, dropped back and tossed for J.C. Wade, but the pass sailed too long resulting in a turnover on downs.
Six plays later, Murray punched in for another score and a 21-6 lead.
Weaver said the fake-punt play was designed to be a run. He said he knew it was a risk, but felt it was necessary as the game winded to an end.
"My thought process was we weren't down just a score, we were down eight points, and the way Murray had been milking the clock if we punted it and they got it back, they were just going to try and hold onto the football the entire time," he said.
"We just took a gamble and I was trying to give us a shot in the arm. If it worked out, you never know how it would have went."
Weaver said the team expects to be at full health for Friday's 7:30 p.m. home contest against Webster County. Ryan Morris and Chris White are also expected to return to action after missing the Murray game.
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