By BRYAN GASKINS Tribune sportswriter
10/28/2008
Northwestern flipped a switch in the second half — and in the process, turned the lights out on Taylor’s season.
The Tigers rallied from a 14-7 halftime deficit to beat the Titans 20-14 in a Class 2A Sectional 28 football game Friday night at Northwestern. The Tigers knotted the score with 2:11 remaining in the third quarter and scored the winning touchdown with 51 seconds left in regulation.
“The whole key to the game was our defense coming out after the first half and just turning it up a complete notch,” Northwestern coach John Hendryx said. “We didn’t make any [strategic] adjustments. We just made some adjustments in effort. The kids came out in the third quarter and played really well.”
Taylor coach Josh Ousley tipped his hat to Hendryx and his players.
“Sometimes you get outcoached, you get outplayed, you get out-everything and in the second half, I think we got a little bit of everything there,” he said.
Defending sectional champion Northwestern (6-4) advances to play Tipton (7-3) in a semifinal round game next week. Taylor, which beat Northwestern 24-20 in the regular season, closed with a 6-4 record.
Tied 14-all, Northwestern used a defensive stand to set up its game-winning drive. The Titans had a first down from the Tiger 26 with around four minutes remaining, but the Tigers’ Zach Crumley had a tackle for loss on first down to stall the drive. Three plays later, Taylor turned the ball over on downs when Jake Leicht’s deep pass attempt to Shawn Fogleman fell incomplete with 3:28 left to play.
Fogleman, who had an interception on defense in the first half, briefly checked out of the game with an apparent injury and the Tigers took advantage. On first down from the Tiger 34, quarterback Trevor Gibson rifled a pass over the middle to Mitch Daily for a 22-yard pickup.
“Fogleman was the guy out there defending Mitch in our power set that we’re running. We didn’t really plan on taking a shot, but he goes down and I just immediately said, ‘We have to take a shot. They have a sub who is going to have to come in here and play Daily.’ We got a break there,” Hendryx said.
Two plays later, Gibson scrambled to his right looking for a receiver, found none, and then took off for a 15-yard pickup to the Taylor 28 at 2:23.
From there, the Tigers turned to Derek Mumaw to finish the drive. The sophomore tailback had six straight carries, picking up two first downs and scoring a one-yard touchdown with 51 seconds remaining. Taylor blocked the PAT attempt, leaving the score at 20-14.
Mumaw finished with 104 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries.
“I have to give our offensive line credit. I think they just kept banging and banging and finally wore them down,” Hendryx said. “We planned on rotating tailbacks, but I thought Mumaw was playing too well. We started with [Michael] Schulte, but he’s out there chasing Taylor’s receivers all night defensively and Mumaw just plays offense.”
Taylor refused to go down without a fight. Quarterback Jake Leicht found Teddy Nolley for a 42-yard reception to the Northwestern 18 with 30 seconds remaining — but Taylor came no closer. Leicht spiked the ball on first down, then saw three straight pass attempts fall incomplete.
“That’s a credit to our seniors — they never quit. We had nine seniors on the field there at the end,” Taylor coach Josh Ousley said. “I am really proud of the seniors. They have helped turn the program around. It’s exciting from that standpoint, but it hurts right now.”
The Titans outplayed the Tigers in the first half, but the Titans had two costly turnovers that kept the game close. Taylor had a 7-0 lead when it lost a fumble on its 3-yard line. Northwestern recovered and Mumaw scored the tying touchdown on the next play. Later, Taylor had a 14-7 lead and the ball inside the red zone, but the Tigers’ Daily picked off a pass in the end zone.
Field position favored Northwestern greatly in the third quarter and it took advantage of a short field to score the tying touchdown.
Nolley finished with 128 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries for the Titans. Leicht injured a knee on the Titans’ first offensive play of the game and sat out some offensive drives. He finished 9 of 24 passing for 128 yards.
“I have to give Josh and his kids a lot of credit. They had a great season and they have a great team. I’ve been there a lot of times — it’s hard to beat somebody twice. But he does a tremendous job. He definitely has the corner turned with the program,” Hendryx said.
“I think the Leicht kid may be one of the classiest acts you’re ever going to meet. He is a class-act kid,” he added.
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