Todd Golden
The Tribune-Star
PARADISE —
Terre Haute North’s demise could have come when Castle scored the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 4th-and-7 20-yard pass play.
And for a while, it appeared that’s exactly what would happen as one North drive fizzled.
However, North quarterback Chad Holler wasn’t going to let the Patriots go that quietly.
“I was scared for a second when they scored. I talked to the offense and I said, ‘This is our game right here.’ We had to get motivated to get that score,” Holler said.
North got the ball back again with four minutes to go, but it appeared its fate would be the same. The Patriots faced 4th-and-4 from the Castle 26-yard line with just over two minutes to go.
But Holler found Charles Dillahunt for a drive-saving 11-yard pass, and from there, the Patriots wouldn’t be denied. Holler drove North for the game-winning score as Calvin Blank hauled in a 13-yard touchdown pass with 1:16 left to give the Patriots a dramatic 35-31 victory at Castle.
“I was pleased with the way we kept our composure and faced adversity. We beat a team that going to win a lot of ballgames. I’m proud of our guys,” North coach Chris Barrett said.
Holler, making his first start since 2008, was impressive for North. He threw three touchdown passes and completed 13 of 26 pass attempts for 162 yards. He also rushed for 62 yards.
“All we ask him to do is manage the game. He plays to his strengths and doesn’t try to do too much, but tonight, you might argue that because he was making plays,” Barrett said.
After Holler’s game-saving pass to Dillahunt, he found Aaron Lewis for a 12-yard gain, and after a near interception by Castle, ran for 26 yards to put the ball in Castle territory. A late hit by the Knights was a gift for the Patriots, who got the ball at the Castle 13.
On third down, Holler threw a fade to Blank. The ball bounced off Blank’s chest as he tried to haul in it, but he cradled it in for the decisive catch.
“Calvin is taller than the other DBs and he’s got massive hands. I wasn’t worried [he’d drop it], I trust him to catch the ball I threw,” Holler said.
North’s defense was not effective in stopping Castle throughout the game and the Knights drove to the North 25 in the final seconds of the game. North’s victory was secured when Lee Davis intercepted Schuyler Cooper’s pass with one second left.
Once the scoring began in the first half, it rarely stopped as both teams’ offenses cut a swath through the other’s defense. The Patriots and Knights combined for 466 yards of total offense and 26 first downs in the first half alone.
North set the tone on its first drive, moving 71 yards in just four plays. Gabbard’s 32-yard scamper set up a 25-yard touchdown run by Brother Scank to make it 7-0.
The Patriots waited exactly 10 seconds before they scored again. Cam Grim squibbed the kickoff and it knuckleballed down field before it laid to rest at the Castle 25. The Knights were too late to the loose ball as North’s Dillon Hare recovered.
Holler escaped Castle pressure on the first play from scrimmage, rolling to his right before he threw against his body to find Lewis in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown pass. Less than five minutes of game time elapsed and North had a 14-0 advantage.
Alas, it didn’t last. Castle, using a no-huddle offense when possible, plowed North’s defense on its next two drives. Logan Hayford scored a 2-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal to cap a 49-yard drive to get the Knights on the board. After North’s only failed drive of the first half, Castle parlayed a screen pass to Jon Marc Anderson into a 38-yard touchdown to tie the game.
Both teams drove in a more meticulous fashion in the second quarter, but drive they did, as both teams scored each time they had the ball. A 5-yard touchdown by North’s Gabbard and a 1-yard run by Castle’s Schuyler Cooper made it 21-21 midway through the second.
North’s final touchdown of the half was its most spectacular ... and its most important. The Patriots made quick work of the Castle defense, driving inside the 10 to set up a 3rd-and-goal play from the 6-yard line.
Holler dropped back to pass, but was immediately under pressure by Castle linebacker Jon Beckner, who put a direct hit on Holler. Unfazed, Holler spun away, scrambled backwards 20 yards, but avoided Castle defenders as he made his way back to the scrimmage line. Just shy of it, he lofted a pass into the back of the end zone for Dillahunt, who kept a toe in the end zone and his hands on the ball for a dramatic 6-yard touchdown pass with 2:18 left in the half to put North in front 28-21.
Castle drove to the North 6 just before halftime, but settled for a field goal as North led 28-24 at the half.
Castle converted three third downs to set itself up in North territory for its go-ahead touchdown. The Patriots held the Knights to 4th-and-7 at the North 21, but Cooper found Joe Redburn wide open over the middle for what was a demoralizing go-ahead score until North pulled it out on its final drive.
The teams combined for 788 yards of total offense.
North (1-0) plays Terre Haute South at Memorial Stadium next Friday.
