LINDEN — North Montgomery celebrated homecoming Friday with a 34-27 Monon Athletic Conference victory over county rival Crawfordsville. The Chargers’ offense received a great game from senior Dakota Glasson to key the victory.
Glasson was the workhorse for his team. The speedster carried the ball 38 times while racking up 227 yards and scoring twice. He also caught a touchdown pass and earned 39 yards with two receptions. Glasson totaled 266 yards, and with a successful 2-point conversion, he accounted for 20 of North’s 34 points.
Charger Coach Josh Thompson said the reason Glasson and his team had offensive success was because everyone did their job.
“We were at the right places and were able to execute much better,” Thompson said. “I was proud of our players with their enthusiasm. We ran the ball well because I felt our line won the battle of the trenches. Our defense probably played their best game of the season.”
The Charger defense had success stopping the Athenian rushing game. The Athenians were held to 24 rushing yards and 180 passing yards for a total of 204 yards. Three passes totaled 117 yards of the passing total. Charger defenders recorded nine tackles for a loss including five sacks.
Charger coach Josh Thompson said his team responded well after losing four games in a row before Friday.
After Crawfordsville went three-and-out on their opening drive, North went on an eight-play drive that covered 87 yards that was capped with Glasson scoring the first of his three touchdowns. Glasson found pay dirt on an 8-yard sweep. A successful 2-point conversion put the Chargers up 8-0. North would never trail in the game.
Undaunted the Athenians kept coming back to stay in the game.
On Crawfordsville’s next possession they drove 53 yards to score. The big play was a 33-yard pass from junior quarterback Braeden Schlote to junior Johnovan Smith. Schlote ran the ball into the end zone from the 3-yard line. After junior Dario Huesca hit the extra point, the score was 8-7 in favor of the home team.
The Athenians fumbled the ball back to North on their next possession. The Chargers marched into the redzone but turned the ball over on downs on the Athenian 3-yard line. But North senior Tyler Thompson intercepted a pass at the 12-yard line and returned the pick to the 2-yard line. The Chargers’ senior quarterback Caden Eller found paydirt on a 2-yard run. Another successful 2-point conversion made the score 16-7 early in the second quarter.
Crawfordsville again came back. The Athenians scored on their next possession on another long pass. Smith out jumped two Charger defenders for the score and a successful extra point made the score 16-14.
It was Chargers turn to score and they did when Glasson ran it in from the 17 yard line. The 2-point conversion failed to make the score 22-14.
Huesca kicked his first of two field goals from 31-yards out which sent both teams into halftime with the Chargers leading 22-17.
North made the score 28-17 on their first possession of the second half when Eller threw a 27-yard scoring strike to Glasson. The drive covered 52 yards in eight plays.
After another 38-yard Huesca field goal the Chargers led 28-20 heading into the final period.
Athenian Coach Brad Clark said he was happy to see his squad kept fighting until the end.
“We did not give up,” Clark said. “North did a good job of shutting down our interior runs, but we had success in the air. Our guys kept fighting and felt they were never out of the game.”
Needing to keep the ball out of the hands of the Crawfordsville passing game, North Montgomery went on an 11-play drive that took 7:57 off the clock. After junior fullback scored on a six-yard rush the Chargers led 34-20 with 2:55 left in the game.
The never-say-die Athenians responded with a rushing touchdown by sophomore AJ Semsprott scored from the three yard line.
After an unsuccessful onside kick, the Chargers used the running game to gain a crucial first down which enabled North to run the last play in victory formation.
Eller completed 8-of-10 passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns. He also scored one rushing score.
Athenian quarterback Schlote was 12-for-21 for 180 yards and one scoring strike.
Crawfordsville (2-5, 0-5 MAC) will play host to MAC foe Greencastle (2-5, 2-3 MAC) on Friday.
The Chargers (2-5, 1-4 MAC) will be home Friday playing MAC foe Frankfort (0-7, 0-5 MAC).
