Published: September 05, 2009 01:27 am      

Turnovers costly in Northwest loss

The Northwest Whitfield Bruins were tantalizingly close to the end zone — and a victory over the Hiram Hornets — for much of the game Friday night.

But four fumbles — including three lost in Hiram territory — and two interceptions played crucial parts in the Bruins’ 19-8 defeat.

Northwest Whitfield (1-1) controlled the first half but watched Hiram (2-0) rattle off three unanswered touchdowns en route to the win.

“A tough loss,” said Northwest’s Nermin Delic, a senior tight end/defensive end. “We were up at the half and played hard the whole game. The offense couldn’t convert for us when they had the chance. We fought all night and that was the best we could do.”

The Bruins had to feel confident after the first half. The Northwest defense stymied a Hiram offense that scored 54 points just seven days earlier, holding the Hornets to two first downs and 21 yards of total offense. The Bruins offense moved the ball methodically for 129 total yards. But missed opportunities plagued the home team. Northwest had two fumbles and a turnover on downs in Hiram territory.

As time was expiring in the first half, Northwest Whitfield quarterback Tyler Shepard lofted a 39-yard pass to receiver Tyler Painter. After the horn signaled the end of the first 24 minutes of play, the Hiram defender mistimed his jump and Painter caught the pass for the first score of a game. A two-point conversion sent the Bruins in to the locker room with a 8-0 lead.

But in the Hiram locker room, the tone wasn’t somber.

“Our middle linebacker came in and rallied us at halftime,” quarterback Jared McClain said. “He said, ‘We gotta come out, fight hard, dial up the intensity. We just gotta do it.’”

Late in the third quarter, a Hiram defender recovered a block punt at Northwest Whitfield’s 7-yard line. Two plays later, McClain dumped a short pass to running back Trey Wesley, who darted into the end zone. The two point conversion failed.

The Bruins answered with a strong drive to open the fourth quarter. A 30-yard pass from Shepard to Jordan Darnell and several smaller gains put the Bruins at the Hiram 5 yard line. But a fumble by running back Lance Andrews killed the home team’s momentum.

Six plays and 95 yards later, Hiram receiver Dylan Cook took a lateral eight yards in for a score and a 12-8 lead with 5:53 left in the game. Northwest’s second to last drive of the game ended in a Shepard interception, which Mario Rolland took back 52 yards for the score.

Northwest Whitfield head coach Mike Falleur was flabbergasted by the spate of fumbles, considering the Bruins didn’t have one the week before against Southeast.

“I’ll tell you what I’m proud of,” Falleur said. “They’ve got 10 times more speed than us and our kids played their tails off. The defense gave us a great chance to win. You know our offense, with the exception of turning the ball over, we were good on offense. We did the things we needed to do to give us a chance.”



Hornets 19, Bruins 8

SCORE BY QUARTERS

1 2 3 4 F

Hiram 0 0 6 13 19

Northwest 0 8 0 0 8

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

None

Second quarter

NOR - Tyler Painter 39 pass from Tyler Shepard (Tyler Arnold conversion good), 0

Third quarter

HIR - Wesley 7 pass from McClain (Conversion failed), 2:28

Fourth quarter

HIR - Cook 8 run (Conversion failed), (5:59)

HIR - Rolland 52 interception return (Mondragon kick good), 2:27

YARDSTICK

HIR NOR

First Downs 8 18

Rushes-Yard 27-157 47-172

Com-Att-Int 4-12-0 9-18-2

Passing yards 24 125

Fumbles-lost 0-0 4-4

Punts-Avg 3-30 2-16

Penalites-Yards 7-55 5-35

Turnovers 0 6

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Hiram: Sashington 7-68, Simon 7-34; Wesley 7-27; Lovings 1-15; Cook 1-8; Rolland 1-3; McClain 3-2.

Northwest: Chad Keeter 12-72; Jordan Darnell 8-44; Lance Andrews 14-37; Mike Martin 9-12; Zach Sloan 2-7; Tyler Shepard 2-0.

PASSING — Hiram: McClain 4-11-24-0; Rolland 0-1-0-0.

Northwest: Tyler Shepard 7-11-115-2; Chad Keeter 2-7-10-0.

RECEIVING

Hiram: Slate 1-9; Rolland 1-8; Wesley 1-7. Appleby 1-0.

Northwest: Tyler Painter 3-67; Jordan Darnell 4-42; Lance Andrews 1-8; Wesley Bell 1-8.