LINDEN – There is a hero at every turn at North Montgomery today, as the Chargers made all the alumni ecstatic with a 20-17 Homecoming football win over Western Boone.
“When we needed guys to make a play, someone stepped up,” said North coach Josh Thompson, whose team breaks an eight-game losing streak to the Stars. “We had guys on offense, on defense. We had coaches making adjustments in the middle of drives and guys making those changes. When we needed it, someone got it done.”
The win over the Stars moves North to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the league, while WeBo falls to 3-2 and 1-2 in the Sagamore.
“It’s a huge win,” Thompson said. “A week of real effort and work paid off. We overcame some adversity, and came back to get a big win. The guys never gave up and believed in themselves.”
The home team made adjustments ran from start to finish, and the Chargers gave back as much as they got.
When WeBo took the opening possession the length of the field for an easy score in less than two minutes, things didn’t start well.
The Chargers punted the ball right back, and the Stars moved down the field again. More bad vibes.
This time it was different, as the North defense held on fourth and goal.
The home team got on the board early in the second quarter, when Austin Sulc scored from eight yards out and then added the two-point conversion.
It was the first of three times the Chargers took the lead back.
The Stars got a field goal to re-take the lead, but North capped the second long drive of the second quarter and took the lead into halftime when Ross Dyson scored on a five-yard dash. A 38-yard Dyson to Kelby Harwood pass on fourth down was sort of important.
Both teams made defensive adjustments at the half that turned into offensive frustrations, but the fourth quarter gave the fans plenty to remember for a while.
WeBo scored on the second play of the fourth, capping a long drive.
The Chargers got the ball back, down 17-14.
First was a run for one, then a missed pass.
Next was a pass and run as Dyson found Sulc in stride and the two seniors made it work for 39 yards.
A run for zero was followed by a penalty against North – their fifth offensive penalty of the game.
No matter, as Dyson then found the outstretched arms of Roman Utterback, and that senior finished the 37-yard play with his fifth TD catch of the season.
The lead was back in the hands of the upset-minded Chargers, but the Stars offense that had churned out 206 rushing yards and two scores, was ready.
Until they were not, as the Chargers defense stepped up and forced a three-and-out.
Then, the biggest non-scoring drive in a long time salted the game away, as the Chargers kept the ball for 14 plays and took 7:31 off the clock.
WeBo got the ball back with :30 left, no time outs, and a long way from paydirt.
A Jarrod Kirsch pick after a pass was batted and bobbled ended the night.
“We have 13 seniors who helped make this a special homecoming,” Thompson said. “It is more than just that, we know, but it is really special for them, and gives them something to remember forever. It also gives us a shot of momentum as we get ready for Crawfordsville next week.”
Dyson passed for 225 yards on a 15-of-24 night. He had 40 rush yards and accounted for the one pass and one running TD.
Noah Hopkins was the leading rusher, as the senior had 43 yards on seven carries.
Overall, the Chargers ran for 125 and passed for 225, while the Stars ran for 221 and passed for only 35. Cannon Brunes led the run game for WeBo with 181 yards on 24 carries.
Utterback had seven catches for 79 yards, while Harwood hauled in five for 83. Sulc accounted for 25 rush yards and a score and 57 receiving yards on two grabs.
“We can do great things,” Thompson said of his heroes after the game. “We have a lot of weapons and we showed how much adversity we can overcome with the injuries we had to work around. “We have a lot of skilled kids with experience who really don’t care who gets the ball. They just want to win. Tonight, we stuck with it, we believed and we won.”
The Stars have a home game next Friday against Frankfort.
