Brazil —
Terre Haute North and Northview both had their shining moments in the first half, but both teams also turned the ball over an uncharacteristic three times apiece, leading to a 14-14 deadlock at intermission.
But the second half was a completely different story.
North totally dominated the second half, running off 26 unanswered points — scoring on its first four possessions — to record a convincing 40-14 victory in a high school football game at Carl S. Riddle Stadium on Friday.
At one point in the second half, the host Patriots held a staggering 31-5 advantage in offensive plays from scrimmage.
Daniel Gabbard paced North’s offense, rolling up 214 yards on 22 carries and scoring three touchdowns. Quarterback Chad Holler passed for 177 yards and three TD’s, then scored a fourth TD on a one-yard sneak.
“I thought we played well in both halves, but we had some mistakes in the first half that cost us,” North coach Chris Barrett said. “Three turnovers. But we played hard, we moved the ball, we did a lot of good things.
“We played good defensively against the best quarterback we’re going to see all year. Got a lot of respect for that kid. He’s a heck of a football player. Scared us to death coming in here. We game-planned hard to stop him and Niehaus, he’s a heck of a receiver.”
Barrett was referring to Northview’s potent senior passing combination of quarterback Trent Lancaster and wide receiver Zac Niehaus.
Lancaster threw for 223 yards and three touchdowns, but he also was intercepted three times and lost a fumble. Niehaus was limited to two receptions for 43 yards.
“Our [defensive] front came out and played well, got pressure on Lancaster,” Barrett noted. “We did a good job of stopping their run for the most part.”
“We started out really slow … we made some critical mistakes in the first quarter and got behind,” Northview coach George Gettle lamented. “Then the kids rebounded really well and got us all the momentum going into halftime. We felt OK.
“Then in the second half, the better team won. It was no secret they were going to run Gabbard, we’ve known that all along. Known that for a couple of years. Just couldn’t stop Gabbard.”
Northview (2-1) actually pinned North back at their 9-yard line on the second half kickoff. But on a third-and-8 situation at the 11, Holler ran 21 yards for a first down, then Holler’s 39-yard pass to Sidney Moore preceded Gabbard’s 12-yard TD run on a rollout for a 21-14 lead.
The Knights quickly went three-and-out, the drive starting inauspiciously with a high snap over Lancaster’s head resulting in a 18-yard loss.
After the punt, Gabbard dashed up the middle for 43 yards to put the Patriots at the Northview 17. Seven plays later, Holler sneaked in from the one for a 28-14 lead.
The backbreaking play, as far as the Knights’ were concerned, occurred on the ensuing kickoff. North’s Cam Grim pooched the kickoff and Gabbard recovered the free ball at the Northview 39.
Four plays later, Holler found a wide-open Moore for a 23-yard touchdown and a 33-14 lead.
Two plays later, North’s Austin Lewis intercepted Lancaster at the Patriots’ 32. North drove 68 yards in 10 plays, nine of those running plays with Gabbard getting the final seven yards for an insurance touchdown.
Asked if North’s gameplan in the second half was to simply run the football — North rushed on 30 of its 34 offensive plays from scrimmage — Barrett hesitated before he answered.
“We’re just always playing down and distance,” Barrett explained. “If we’re getting four or five yards a shot, and it also enables to get a couple good passes by getting [Northview’s defense] to come up. That’s what we were doing. Just trying to see what they were giving us and go from there.”
North (3-0) grabbed a 14-0 first quarter lead on TD drives of 64 yards and 69 yards. Holler threw scoring passes to Gabbard and Charles Dillahunt.
The roles were reversed in the second quarter, Lancaster tossed TD passes to Jordon Girton and Damon Hyatt for a 14-14 tie. Hyatt’s TD was the big play of the quarter, a 51-yard scamper on a screen pass.
Meanwhile, North lost its early momentum, their three drives resulting in a lost fumble — Gabbard fumbled near the one-yard line, Northview recovered in the end zone — and a pair of punts.
“We’ll be fine,” Gettle said after talking to his team. “This isn’t the end of our season. Obviously, we wanted to play better. We don’t like getting beat like this. But we’ll learn from it and go forward.”
TH North 40, Northview 14
Northview 0 14 0 0 — 14
TH North 14 0 13 13 — 40
THN — Daniel Gabbard 7 pass from Chad Holler (Cam Grim kick), 7:40 1Q
THN — Charles Dillahunt 17 pass from Holler (Grim kick), 2:15 1Q
Nv — Jordan Girton 5 pass from Trent Lancaster (Trey Boor kick), 5:42 2Q
Nv — Damon Hyatt 51 pass from Lancaster (Boor kick), 1:02 2Q
THN — Gabbard 12 run (Grim kick), 8:08 3Q
THN — Holler 1 run (kick failed), 1:27 3Q
THN — Sidney Moore 23 pass from Holler (kick failed), 11:54 4Q
THN — Gabbard 7 run (Grim kick), 5:20 4Q
Nv THN
First downs 13 21
Rushes-yards 25-32 44-333
Passing yards 223 177
Com-Att-Int 13-29-3 10-17-1
Return yards 3 36
Punts-avg. 2-32.0 3-21.3
Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-2
Penalties-yards 4-25 8-59
Individual statistics
Rushing — Northview, Lancaster 17-31, Hyatt 7-19, team 1-minus 18. Terre Haute North, Holler 13-83, Brother Scank 4-14, Gabbard 22-214, Lee Davis 2-14, Cayleb Knox 3-8.
Passing — Northview, Lancaster 13-29-3 223. Terre Haute North, Holler 10-17-1 177.
Receiving — Northview, Hyatt 4-96, Andrew Butts 4-56, Zac Niehaus 2-43, Girton 1-5, Cole Dickison 1-7, Larry Shaffer 1-16. Terre Haute North, Moore 5-124, Gabbard 1-7, Dillahunt 2-20, Dillon Hare 1-10, Davis 1-16.
Next — Terre Haute North (3-0) will host Center Grove in their Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference opener on Friday. Northview (2-1) hosts Sullivan in a Western Indiana Conference game the same night.
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