LINDEN – North Montgomery ran into a host of problems in a 38-0 Sagamore Conference loss to Tri-West.
The Bruins, who move to 6-1 overall and maintain first place in the conference at 5-0, were problems defensively for the Chargers, who fall to 4-3 on the season and 3-2 in the league.
Problems to the tune of North managing only 101 yards of offense and being forced into seven turnovers.
The visitors were also a problem offensively, as they had a nine-minute advantage in time of possession. They scored 17 points off the turnovers, ran 15 more plays and were plus 271 in yards.
“Tri-West is a very good team,” Chargers coach Josh Thompson said. “They were more physical than us at the line and we shot ourselves in the foot too many times with the turnovers. You can’t give good teams those kind of advantages.”
After a scoreless first quarter, highlighted by the Chargers forcing a red zone fumble and then picking off a pass by Gabe Shirar, it looked like the home team might be on the path to repeating the big Homecoming win over WeBo two weeks ago.
Things changed after that, as TW got a Cortland Williams field goal to get on the board early in the second quarter. The Chargers continued to struggle offensively, as punts three and four sandwiched the Bruins first TD.
It got worse, as the Chargers turned the ball over on their next six possessions, stretching from the second through the fourth quarters.
“We played well when we weren’t making mistakes,” Thompson noted of the three lost fumbles and three interceptions. “There is just no margin for mistakes, and our self-inflicted wounds were just too much.”
The Bruins used junior quarterback Malachi Walden to full advantage, as he threw a pair of TD passes and ran for three more. His rushing total was 182 yards and he passed for 140, solidifying his Top 10 standing in both conference categories.
Defensively, the Bruins made life awful for the Chargers from the line through the runners, passers and receivers. They sacked Chargers QB Ross Dyson three times, and in total registered 15 tackles for loss. Those losses resulted in North having 25 net rush yards for the game while Dyson was limited to 8-of-18 for 76 yards and the three picks. Austin Sulc was the leading rusher for North with 39 yards on six carries and also had a fumble recovery. Dakota Glasson had the other interception.
“Their D line was big, strong and active,” Thompson said. “Like I said, Tri-West was more physical at the line. We have to just get back to work and start to fix things and get ready for next week.”
Next week has Tri-West playing at home against Crawfordsville, as the Bruins finish the season with all three Montgomery County teams.
The Chargers travel to Frankfort to take on the Hot Dogs.
