Leonardo
By RYAN SWENAR
- THE REVIEW TIMES
NORTH BALTIMORE -- Plagued by injuries going into Friday night's game against Lakota, North Baltimore had to do without starting quarterback Clinton Ebright and standout linebacker C.J. Boggs. However, the Tigers, led by backup quarterback Jordan Watson, ground out a gutsy 18-7 win over the winless Raiders in a Midland Athletic League contest at War Memorial Field.
North Baltimore improved to 3-6 overall and 1-5 in the league, while Lakota fell to 0-9 and 0-6.
"It was a long time coming," Tigers coach Chip Hollenback, whose club had lost six straight games, said. "It's so hard when you've been losing for so long. You can find ways to lose. Well, tonight, we found ways to win."
Despite his team's positive performance and obvious improvement from Week 1, Lakota coach Jim Kelly is still looking for some consistency.
"We have to put four quarters together; it's what we keep talking about," Kelly said. "Our team's becoming more experienced, but we just have to do the little things better."
Case in point: The Raiders allowed the Tigers to score on an 80-yard run during its first possession. After two incomplete passes, North Baltimore faced third down and 10 from its own 20. Watson handed off to running back Michael South, who darted out to the left sideline. With the Raiders secondary closing down the space, South cut back to the middle and followed his blockers all the way to the end zone. The two-point conversion pass fell incomplete.
Later, after a 45-yard run by Jonathan Long, the Tigers were on Lakota's 35 yard line. Two runs apiece by Long and Dalton Ishmael put the ball on the 1 yard line, and Ishmael pounded through the middle for a third time for a score. Ishmael's two-point run came up short, but the Tigers held a 12-0 advantage with 11:10 remaining in the second quarter.
Less than a minute later, a Lakota fumble gifted North Baltimore with possession on the Raiders' 15. It was an opportunity the Tigers weren't going to waste. On the very first play of the drive, Watson threw to the back left of the end zone and found Parker Emahiser on a fade pattern for to give North Baltimore an 18-0 lead. The two-point conversion run was again short of the goal line.
Lakota responded 2½ minutes before halftime. Raiders quarterback Chris Robbins found Brain Vamos with a 30-yard pass to put Lakota into Tigers territory. Three plays later, Lakota was on North Baltimore's 22. Raiders running back Logan Greiner caught a Robbins pass at the 15. He then juked one defender and, with three more closing in for the tackle, dove over the goal line. Ed Racheter's kick cut the lead to 18-7.
Robbins completed 16 of 26 passes for 251 yards a touchdown and an interception on the night and rushed 14 times for 67 yards. Greiner made nine catches for 97 yards and a score.
"We're growing up," Kelly said "Chris is growing up as a quarterback and Logan is growing up just as an all-around player."
Lakota put on the pressure in the fourth quarter, only to be denied by a stubborn Tigers defense. A Robbins pass was picked off by North Baltimore's Mitchell Gerdeman with 4:06 left in the game. Later, Then, Jordan Harris was pushed out of bounds at the 2 yard line after catching a five-yard pass from Robbins as time expired.
That catch left Harris with four receptions and 73 yards on the night.
"The kids came up big when they had to," Hollenback said. "We got the points in the first half and we just tried to hang on in the second half."