Saturday, September 04, 2010
Vikings clamp down on Pulaski
Northside holds the Cougars to 52 yards of total offense and shows it also has some depth. | Northside 27, Pulaski County 7
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DUBLIN -- Northside used a dominant defensive effort to overcome a sloppy offensive performance to beat Pulaski County 27-7 on Friday.
The Vikings (2-0) allowed just two first downs and 52 yards of total offense to beat the Cougars on the road for the first time under head coach Burt Torrance.
Meanwhile, seven different Vikings carried the ball for a total of 209 yards.
"Our offense is not predicated on one guy," Torrance said.
The Vikings struggled to hold on to the football much of the night, losing three of five total fumbles.
It didn't bother the defending Group AA Division 3 state champions, who stifled a Cougar attack equally as sloppy.
"This defense is better than last year's. ... It's faster and we're as disciplined as we've ever been," Torrance said.
Northside took the lead midway through the first quarter when Jeremy Williams punched in a run up the middle from five yards away.
Wardel Pinn-Timity's 1-yard run on fourth and goal late in the second quarter put the Vikings ahead 14-0.
Showing off the depth in their backfield, Vikings' junior back Blair Johnson scored two touchdowns on the ground in the second half, as the Cougar defense grew tired.
The strong backfield play made it easy on junior quarterback Adam Hardister, who made just his second career start.
"We've got a lot of great playmakers; they all know what they are doing," Hardister said.
Pulaski County coach Todd Jones switched quarterbacks late in the second quarter, replacing Chase Cook with Chad Perry.
Perry had to operate out of the shotgun because of a broken left hand, and production didn't improve much once he entered the game.
"When you don't move the chains, you can't leave your defense on the field as long as we did and expect to beat a team with the caliber of Northside," Jones said.
Pulaski is off to a slow start this season. The Cougars have battled restricted practice time due to a VHSL probation punishment.
"We want to win ball games," Jones said. "Tonight is on me. ... We weren't ready tonight, and that is my fault."
Northside 7 7 13 0 -- 27
Pulaski County 0 0 0 7 -- 7
N -- Williams 5 run (Joyner kick)
N -- Penn-Timity 1 run (Joyner kick)
N -- Johnson 3 run (Joyner kick)
N -- Johnson 5 run (kick failed)
PC -- Long 5 run (Akers kick)
NO PC
First downs 14 2
Yards rushing 209 19
Passes C-A-I 5-11-1 6-16-1
Yards passing 58 33
Penalties-yards 3-25 6-47
Fumbles-lost 5-3 5-1
Punts-average 4-30 9-39
Individual statistics
RUSHING -- Northside -- Fisher 6-67, Johnson 14-42, Penn-Timity 8-41, Williams 3-19, Bowden 4-12, Hardister 3-19, Kelso 3-1. Pulaski -- Ra. Cobbs 10-36, Rigney 4-1, Perry 2-(minus-28).
PASSING -- Northside -- Hardister 5-11-1 58. Pulaski -- Perry 5-12-1 33, Cook 1-3-0 0, Long 0-1-0.
RECEIVING -- Northside -- Edmonds 2-13, Fisher 2-28, Jackson 1-17. Pulaski - Ri. Cobbs 5-33, Akers 1-0.
