Northwest wraps up City League football title (+video)

With the City League football championship on the line against South, Northwest coach Steve Martin made the decision to hold out quarterback Kevin Folsom, who suffered a leg injury during the game Thursday before lightning suspended it to Saturday afternoon.

Martin figured Northwest is more than Folsom, the dual-threat quarterback who had the offense humming this season, and needs to learn how to adapt and survive if a state title run is indeed in the works for the Grizzlies.

“If we can’t win this game without Kevin, we don’t deserve to be No. 1 in the state of Kansas,” Martin told his team before Saturday’s action.

Northwest’s offense kept humming on Saturday with junior Jacob Devereaux at the helm, while the defense delivered five turnovers in a 47-34 victory over South to improve to 6-0 and win its first City League championship since 2005.

Devereaux completed 8 of 10 passes for 145 yards with three touchdowns, all going to Alex Bott. He was crucial in maintaining a healthy balance with Northwest’s dynamic duo of Antonio Joyner (156 rushing yards) and Jahlyl Rounds (74) in the backfield.

“When one guy goes down, everybody else rallied around each other and we believed in the next man in,” Martin said. “Jake did a tremendous job today. Pretty good for a guy getting thrown into the mix with one day for game planning.”

When the day started, Northwest led South 7-6 with the ball on South’s 3-yard line.

It was an ideal situation to transition Devereaux into the game and he capitalized, connecting with Bott for a touchdown pass two plays in.

On the following South drive, Northwest cornerback Tyreec Washington came up with an interception and returned it 38 yards for a score. Five plays in and less than two minutes in, Northwest had built a 19-6 lead.

“It was definitely a big confidence boost for me,” Devereaux said. “We did a great job today.”

South proved it could move the ball on Northwest’s defense, but it never did prove it could take care of it near the goal line. Quarterback Allen Bishop finished with 348 total yards, including 211 rushing, but threw four interceptions.

Northwest turned four of South’s five turnovers into touchdowns, as it built a 40-12 lead early in the fourth quarter with cornerback Justin Onwugbufor coming away with three interceptions. The Titans (4-2) also turned the ball over five times in last week’s loss to Hays.

“We’ve got to stop with the turnovers,” said South assistant Bob Ray, who was filling in for Kevin Steiner, who was serving his one-game suspension after being ejected in the Hays loss. “We made a bunch of mistakes offensively and defensively. In big games against good teams, you can’t do that. That’s a learning process for us because we’re still growing up. We’ll get there.”

After the win, Devereaux said he would prepare this week like he would start Friday at undefeated Dodge City in district play. Martin said he is currently treating Folsom, who had a bandage and a noticeable limp on the sidelines on Saturday, as day-to-day.

But with the stakes raised and the Grizzlies’ title hopes on the line, Martin hinted that Folsom is likely going to try to play.

“Knowing Kevin Folsom, I would probably have to lock him in a cage and chain him down for him not to play in that game on Friday,” Martin said.

This story was originally published October 10, 2015 at 7:03 PM with the headline "Northwest wraps up City League football title (+video)."