Published: September 20, 2008 12:22 am      

FOOTBALL: Kats seize control of NCC race

Kokomo defense dominates in second half

HUNTINGTON — The Kokomo defense took control in the second half of Friday’s showdown here with Huntington North, and as a result the Wildkats seized control of the North Central Conference title chase.

Tied 14-all at half, the Kats limited the Vikings to just 4 yards of offense and one first down in the third quarter, setting the stage for Kokomo’s game-winning march that found paydirt midway through the final stanza for a 22-14 win.

Now the NCC’s only unbeaten team at 3-0, Kokomo (4-1) stands poised to springboard from this victory — as it did in 2007 — to its second league championship in as many years under coach Brett Colby.

“We’ve got the upper hand but we have to come ready to play every week,” said Colby, whose Wildkats haven’t lost a conference game under his direction. “We’re going to prepare as hard for [next week’s opponent] New Castle as we did Huntington North and get our kids focused. That was a big win for us.”

Senior Jacob Schick spearheaded the defense that allowed North only one more yard of offense in the fourth quarter for a total of just 5 yards in the second half and 113 for the ballgame. Schick had a team-high nine tackles, including a school-record 4 1/2 sacks for minus-19 yards.

“It was a team effort, all the way, through and through,” Schick said. “We knew we had to come out and play hard — play together as a team.

“I knew [Huntington North] would come back hard [after last year’s 41-6 win at Kokomo]. We all knew that and we prepared all week for a hard-fought game, and that’s exactly what they gave us.”

In addition to Schick, senior linebacker Curt Hutchins had a total of eight tackles, 1 1/2 sacks and a tackle for a loss. As a team, Kokomo recorded 14 tackles for losses totaling 60 yards. The Kats sacked Vikings QB Clinton Myers eight times and intercepted him once.

“We had some obvious missed assignments when [the Kokomo defenders] were coming untouched, and that’s on me as a coach,” said HN mentor Rief Gilg. “But a lot of it is they are very athletic and a very good defensive football team. There’s no secret about that.”

After Schick’s final sack forced a North punt with 1:34 left in the third period, Kokomo took over on its 11 and marched 89 yards in 17 back-breaking plays.

Braxton Shelton punched the ball in the end zone from 10 yards out with 6:00 left, and T.J. Weir’s conversion pass to Casey Shipley gave the Wildkats their final cushion.

Weir made the biggest play of the drive that featured nine carries by Shelton. On fourth-and 1 from the Kats’ 48-yard line, Weir had the presence of mind to pick up a premature snap from center and scramble 6 yards for the drive-extending first down.

Later in the series, Weir took a 5-yard pass from Shipley to the Viking 23 to set up another fourth-and-1, which Shipley converted with a 4-yard run. Shelton did the rest on two carries.

After the ballgame, Gilg was jokingly left wondering where Colby had drawn up the bad-snap-turned-good.

“Our center just got excited and snapped the ball,” Colby admitted. “Everybody was just standing around, waiting on the whistle to blow, and T.J. just made a great, heads-up play. Luckily we were able to overcome that — we overcame a lot of adversity [Friday] night.

“That was our base stuff mainly [on the winning drive]. We did have a quarterback throw, but we didn’t hold back much. Give them credit; they had a great game plan against us and we’re going to go back and study the tape because I’m sure teams are going to try and mimic that and we’ll know how to beat that the next time.”

Shelton had the game’s first score, an 8-yard run in the first quarter. He had 134 hard-earned yards rushing on 27 attempts.

Both teams ran back kickoffs for touchdowns, first North’s Rob Sands from 92 yards out, and later Kokomo’s Bruce Johnson from 98 yards.

Shipley carried the ball 11 times for the Kats for a career-high 94 yards. He attempted three passes, one fewer than Weir, completing two.

The Vikings’ Heath Frame scored their only offensive touchdown on a 26-yard run and had 100 yards before intermission. He gained just 14 more in the second half.

“Our defense in the last 10 quarters has given up one touchdown and that was that [second-quarter] drive,” Colby said. “Other than that our defense has just played lights out.”

Huntington North is 3-2 overall, 2-1 in the NCC.