Northside rallies to earn win over Hidden Valley

On a night when one team remained unbeaten and the other remained winless, there wasn't a tremendous amount of separation between Northside and Hidden Valley on Friday.

Maybe the statistics were a little one-sided, but Northside trailed at the half and didn't exactly coast to a 27-17 victory at Bogle Stadium.

The Vikings (3-0) took a 24-17 lead on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Dominic Dunnaville to Harold Buckner with 8:35 remaining, then dashed Hidden Valley's best hope with an Austin Fisher interception after the Titans had driven to the Northside 23.

"When we won the state championship in 2009, the score was only 20-18, so it was going to be a good football game," Northside coach Burt Torrence said. "It wasn't like we came in here expecting some big blowout."

Hidden Valley (0-3) jumped to a 10-0 lead and the Vikings didn't get on the board until Dunnaville scored on a 1-yard run with 33.2 seconds left in the half.

Things got worse for the Vikings before they got better. After Northside was forced to punt on its first series of the second half, an errant snap soared over the punter's head and Hidden Valley took over at the Northside 1-yard line.

Mason Dermott scored two plays later to extend the Titans' lead to 17-7 with 6:53 remaining in the third quarter.

"We have a Division I snapper," said Torrence, referring to senior Dylan Moran. "I mean, in point-nine seconds it's back there. He's absolutely great. He's the best snapper I've ever been around in 17 years of high school coaching.

"He got underneath one a little bit. And, it put us in a bad spot. He also rallied the defense and, from that point forward, I thought they played lights-out football."

The turning point may have come on the next series, when, facing a third-and-6 from the Titans' 47, Dunnaville spotted Fisher behind the secondary.

The ball was underthrown and Hidden Valley defenders Billy Howe and Logan Brand were both in position at least to knock the ball down. However, both misjudged it and Fisher had the presence to break back, come up behind them, catch the ball and score.

"We knew we could get 'em deep," Torrence said. "The first play of the ballgame, we had a kid running wide-open down the seam and the kid just stopped running on the play."

Both quarterbacks, Dunnaville and the Titans' Jake Smiley, were plagued by dropped balls, which is why it was hard not to notice first-year Vikings wide receiver Nathan Arnold, a senior who had three receptions on Northside's drive before the half.

"We played very well but made three or four mistakes that cost us 17 points," said Hidden Valley coach Scott Weaver, whose Titans were outgained 292-160.

Northside 0 7 10 10-27
Hidden Valley 0 10 7 0-17

HV - L. Dermott 26 FG

HV - M. Dermott 3 run (L. Dermott kick)

N - Dunnaville 1 run (Large kick)

HV - M. Dermott 3 run (L. Dermott kick)

N - Fisher 47 pass from Dunnaville (Large kick)

N - Large 20 FG

N - Buckner 35 pass from Dunnaville (Large kick)

N - Large 25 FG

NO HV

First downs 13 11

Yards rushing 93 86

Passes C-A-I 12-21-0 5-16-2

Yards passing 199 74

Penalties-yards 6-60 3-16

Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-0

Punts-average 2-28.5 5-30.0

Individual statistics

RUSHING - Northside, Dunnaville 13-47, Krizner 8-36, Cunningham 3-26, Jackson 3-9, Roberts 1-4, Waddey 1-4, Hill 2-0, Team 2-(minus 33). Hidden Valley, Brand 16-64, M. Dermott 15-42, Rice 1-4, Atkins 1-0, Team 1-(minus 3), Smiley 4-(minus 21).

PASSING - Northside, Dunnaville 12-21-0-199. Hidden Valley, Smiley 5-16-2-74.

RECEIVING - Northside, Buckner 3-89, Arnold 3-31, Jackson 3-23, Krizner 2-9, Fisher 1-47. Hidden Valley, Rice 3-18, Sayers 1-44, Howe 1-12, M. Dermott 1-9.

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