Northwest prevails in battle of unbeatens with Garden City
Northwest’s offensive line, praised all season long for its dominance, got to Friday night’s undefeated showdown with Garden City based on a sound plan of attack.
Lots of zone and pass blocking. Lots of angles. Lots of slivers for talented offensive players Kevin Folsom, Jahlyl Rounds and Antonio Joyner to slip through.
But something changed. Something big and brutal and coming downhill.
“We’ve done a good job as a zone team,” Northwest coach Steve Martin said. “But tonight we turned into an iso team.”
Northwest went with an ultra-aggressive plan of attack against visiting Garden City and came out the other side with a 38-21 win behind 418 rushing yards to improve to 8-0 and 2-0 in Class 6A-District 8 headed into next Friday’s regular-season finale against Hutchinson at Northwest. Northwest has not clinched a playoff berth yet.
“It was hard out there, but that’s what football is,” Northwest offensive tackle Jacob Gilbertson said. “We just sucked it up to protect Kevin and help Jahlyl and (Alex) Bott get their yards and win us the game.”
Yards came fast and furious for Northwest, with three rushers over 100 yards in Rounds (155), Joyner (138) and Bott (117). Bott added five catches for 82 yards and scored four touchdowns, including a 72-yard touchdown run out of the wildcat formation that tied the score 7-7 on the first play of the second quarter.
“I think it was just focus, just making sure we execute plays,” Bott said. “Nothing fancy, I think it was just the line set us up like they always do.”
Bott went over the top of the pile to tie the score 14-14 at halftime on a 1-yard touchdown run. Northwest took a 21-14 lead in the third quarter on a bruising, 36-yard touchdown run by Rounds and capped the game off with back-to-back scores by Bott, including a 25-yard touchdown reception from Folsom.
Folsom, who showed his injured left knee is starting to heal with several runs, was 13-of-25 passing for 146 yards.
“Offensive line doesn’t get much credit,” Rounds said. “But I’d like to give them all the credit. We’re nothing without our line.”
Martin allowed for little celebration after the win over Garden City (7-1, 1-1), taking his team to task for their practice habits and bringing next week’s game against Hutchinson into immediate focus.
“They’re 16, 17 years old and they only know what’s going on right now, right in this moment,” Martin said. “I want them to see the bigger picture, that it’s a marathon and not a sprint.”
Garden City | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | — | 21 |
Northwest | 0 | 14 | 17 | 7 | — | 38 |
GC—Lapointe 60 pass from Nunez (Herrera kick)
NW—Bott 72 run (Deckinger kick)
GC—Koster 31 run (Herrera kick)
NW—Bott 1 run (Deckinger kick)
NW—Rounds 36 run (Deckinger kick)
NW—Deckinger 25 FG
GC—Clifford 30 pass from Nunez (Herrera kick)
NW—Bott 5 run (Deckinger kick)
NW—Bott 25 pass from Folsom (Deckinger kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing—Garden City, Nunez 13-43, Koster 11-34, Yardley 3-38, Hill 3-0. Northwest, Rounds 19-155, Joyner 27-138, Folsom 5-8, Bott 9-117.
Passing—Garden City, Nunez 9-17-135-1. Northwest, Folsom 13-26-146-0.
Receiving—Garden City, Lapointe 2-68, Yi 3-27, Koster 1-10, Clifford 1-30, Yardley 3-9. Northwest, Mullins 3-25, Reynolds 3-19, Bott 5-82.
This story was originally published October 23, 2015 at 10:54 PM with the headline "Northwest prevails in battle of unbeatens with Garden City."