Northwest keeps rolling along with win at Garden City
Northwest made a giant step toward a Class 6A-District 8 championship on Friday night with a 35-14 victory at Garden City.
The victory enabled the Grizzlies to wrap up a playoff spot. They can claim the district title next Friday when they travel to Hutchinson. Hutchinson is also 2-0 after a 48-28 triumph at Dodge City.
The victory improved the Grizzlies season record to 7-1 overall and avenged a season-ending 40-36 first-round playoff loss to the Buffaloes in 2013.
All in all, a good way for the long road trip west to be wrapped up.
“They (Garden) had a good game plan and shortened the game by trying to establish the run,” Northwest coach Steve Martin said. “We told the kids we needed to score 30 points to win the game, and we got 35.”
And while the offense didn’t reach its season average of 42, the defense more than made up for it, holding Garden City scoreless in the second half after clinging to a 21-14 lead at intermission.
“I told the kids I thought we lost our focus for a little while out there, but credit Garden, that’s not the same team we saw on film from last week (a 62-14 loss at Hutch),” Martin said. “Their defense did a great job of taking some lanes away from us, but I’m especially proud of what our defense did.”
If 449 yards and 35 points is an off night, then perhaps Martin and his Grizzlies will consider the trip out west a success.
“We came out and did what we needed and I couldn’t be more proud of the way the kids responded,” Martin said. “Especially our defense. I thought we took away their big play guys and that made a lot of difference.”
It looked like Northwest would make it a rout early on, as the Grizzlies scored on their first two possessions to jump out to a 14-0 lead.
K’Veion Richard hooked up with Karol Williams on a 45-yard TD pass with 8:32 left to cap their first possession, and KeShaun McGaugh scored from 6 yards out on the first period’s final play.
Garden City had a 7-play, 77-yard drive with quarterback Jesse Nunez racing 31 yards to the end zone to make it 14-6 with 8:41 left in the half.
Northwest responded with a 67-yard, 8-play march, with Jahlyl Rounds getting the TD on a 27-yard scamper at the 6:37 mark. Adam Travis’ third PAT kick made it 21-6.
Once again, the Buffs responded, this time when Nunez scooted 37 yards that ended a 5-play, 73-yard drive that took just over two minutes. Garden went for two, with Nunez finding Peyton Hill over the middle making it 21-14 with 4:23 left before the half.
The third quarter was a scoreless battle as defenses took control, as each team had three possessions and were unable to score.
Northwest got two scores in the fourth to put the game out of reach. Williams scored on a 2-yard run with 7:58 remaining and Rounds raced 35 yards with 52 seconds showing for the final 21-point victory.
The Grizzlies rolled up 285 rushing yards with McGaugh leading the way with 110 yards on 26 carries while Rounds added 98 yards on nine attempts. Richard completed 10 of 22 passes for 164 yards.
Garden managed 176 rushing yards and 110 yards through the air, but leading rusher Jared Koster was limited to 36 yards on 10 carries. Nunez finished with 118 yards on 23 carries for the Buffs (3-5).
Northwest | 14 | 7 | 0 | 14 | — | 35 |
Garden City | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 |
NW—Karol Williams 45 pass from K’Veion Richard (Adam Travis kick), 8:32.
NW—KeShaun McGaugh 6 run (Travis kick), :00.
GC—Jesse Nunez 31 run (kick failed), 8:41.
NW—Jahlyl Rounds 27 run (Travis kick), 6:37.
GC—Nunez 37 run (Peyton Hill pass from Nunez), 4:23.
NW—Williams 2 run (Travis kick), 7:58.
NW—Pounds 35 run (Travis kick), 0:52.
Individual Statistics
RUSHING—Northwest: McGaugh 26-110, Rounds 9-98, Richard 10-58, Williams 4-26, Team 2-(-2). Garden City: Nunez 23-118, Koster 10-36, P. Hill 5-22.
PASSING—Northwest: Richard 10-22-1—164. Garden City: Nunez 9-20-1—110, P. Hill 0-2-0—0.
RECEIVING—Northwest: Williams 4-74, Bott2-38, Mullins 2-43. Garden City: P. Hill 1-3, Koster 2-19, LaPointe 1-15, Tramp 3-44, Espinosa 2-29.
This story was originally published October 25, 2014 at 1:05 AM with the headline "Northwest keeps rolling along with win at Garden City."