Published: October 31, 2009 01:12 am      

PREP FOOTBALL: NW’s ground game gets busy in 2nd half

Northwestern’s Michael Schulte must really enjoy playing against Taylor. Schulte gained a career-high 139 yards on 12 carries and scored two touchdowns in the Sept. 18 regular-season meeting between the Tigers and Titans.

Friday night at Northwestern, despite 35 mph winds and driving rain, Schulte put his team on his back and led the Tigers into the Class 2A Sectional 28 finals with a 25-0 win over Taylor. The senior scatback gained a whopping 237 yards on just 13 rushes en route to scoring three touchdowns. Just for good measure he recovered a late fumble to preserve Northwestern’s sixth shutout of the season.

The Tigers, who reached nine wins in a season for the first time since 1999, face perennial powerhouse Lewis Cass at home on Friday. The No. 9-ranked Kings (8-3), who defeated Tipton 15-0 Friday night, handed Northwestern one of its two losses on the season, 26-7, on Sept. 4.

The weather was a huge factor in this Tiger-Titan tilt. Neither team was able to throw the ball effectively, so the ground game became all-important. Leading just 7-0 at intermission on Derek Mumaw’s 3-yard TD run in the first period, Northwestern turned to Schulte in the second half. Schulte responded with 141 yards on just six carries, including touchdown runs of 52, 16, and 12 yards.

“We’re excited,” said Schulte after the game. “We came out [Friday] night and we wanted to continue playing well, continue working on our fundamentals. We’re just excited to be in the [sectional] championship.”

When it came to individual accolades, however, Schulte deflected them to his offensive line, which helped the Tigers gain 351 yards on 41 carries on the super sloppy track.

“Honestly, when you have the offensive line that we have, things just go well for you,” said Schulte. “The blocks are there, the holes just open, and it’s just great.”

Northwestern coach John Hendryx agreed but still had plenty of praise for Schulte.

“I thought our offensive line stepped up in the second half,” he said. “[Michael’s] just a tremendous athlete, and he’s a relentless worker in the weight room, in the classroom, and on the field.”

For a half, however, the Tigers had all they could handle from the Titans. After driving 56 yards in eight plays with the wind at its back, NW got on the board first with Mumaw’s TD run. Matt Marrah’s extra point kick made it 7-0 at 1:16 of the opening stanza.

The Tigers had two more chances to score in the first half, but Taylor’s Korey Sexton picked off a pass in the end zone to foil one Northwestern threat, and the Titans recovered a fumble at their 15 to dodge another bullet late in the half.

But Taylor (3-8) couldn’t get anything going offensively, gaining just 80 yards in the first half and 137 for the game.

Meanwhile, Schulte got going. On NW’s second possession of the second half, Schulte bounced off tackle to the outside, shed a tackler or two, and outraced the Taylor defenders down the sideline for a 52-yard score to make it 13-0.

A short Titan punt gave the Tigers the ball at midfield. Schulte immediately skirted left end again for 34 yards. One play later he broke off left tackle for the TD and a 19-0 lead. The senior closed the scoring with a 12-yard scamper on the second play of the fourth quarter for the 25-0 margin.

“I thought in the first half we did a good job of stopping the running game,” Taylor coach Josh Ousley said. “But in the second half, [NW] made a nice adjustment with that motion, and we were never able to stop it. There were just a couple of plays they were running, and we couldn’t figure out how to stop them. So it was frustrating for us.”

Schulte and the Tigers are looking forward to the rematch with Cass.

“It’s going to be a great game,” he said. “We’ll come ready. We’re going to work hard next week in practice, and it’ll be a good test.”