Huskies Woof it Up With Fourth Quarter Comeback!

Aurora – North Marion came from behind with a huge, 20 point fourth quarter, as the Huskies sent the upset minded Tigers packing.

1^st. qtr.

Taft and NM went back and forth before Tiger QB john Wilkinson hit his wideout on an out and up of nearly 50 yards or so to take a 6-0 lead with 3:40 left in the first quarter. With the kick, Tigers lead 7-0.

Huskies' Pippert loses the ball on the ensuing kickoff and Taft takes over at the NM 40. Wilkinson who also appears to be the running threat for the Tigers, ran the ball on three consecutive plays and the last, a 1 yard Qb keeper for a two TD lead with 1:05 left in the first. Add the kick and Tigers are up early, 14-0.

The Huskies finally decide to try and make this a game as Jordan McCain took the kickoff out to the Huskie 41 yard line. Mcain goes for 2 yards on first and ten and then Mcguire hits Wideout Kelly Christensen on a slant for a nice 24 yard gain to the Taft 33 yard line as the first quarter ended.

2^nd. qtr.

The second quarter opened with the Huskies gaining confidence and momentum. McCain ran for 4 yards on first down. Maguire keeps and goes around the right end for a nice 14 yard gain. Backup Tailback Julian Frolov then loses the ball but the Huskies fall on it at the Taft 15 yard line. McCain gets only 3 yards on the combined next two carries as Maguire barely misses Kip Pearson in the deep flat to bring up a 4th and 7. Huskies go for it and Maguire throws a pretty ball deep in the left corner that Christensen slipped on but would have been a tough catch to get to anyways.

Taft takes over as the Taft back is stopped for no gain. The next play however, Wilkensen broke a QB sweep off for 63 yards down to the NM 22 yard line with 6:06 left in the half. On this run it is easy to tell, the fastest kids on the field are Wilkinson and NM's McCain. The two compared speed a few times in one on one matchups throughout this game as McCain caught him from behind to save a Tiger TD. The Tiger QB keeps the ball on another big run down to the Huskie 6 yard line and dared the Huskies to stop the run with a first and goal from the 6 with 5:11 to go in the half. The Huskies did just that stuffing three consecutive runs while only giving the Tigers the 3 yard line. on Fourth and goal from the 3, the Tigers attempt a FG which goes wide left with 4:45 left in the first half.

After an incomplete pass on first down, Maguire hooked up with Clint Pippert and he raced down to the Tiger 17 before being brought down. Maguire then threw an incomplete pass but came up big on second and 10 by hitting Christensen on a crossing route down to the Tiger 3. Add on a roughing the QB call and half the distance, Huskies have the ball at the Tiger 1. McCain sweeps around end for the First Huskie score of the night. Add the PAT, and Tafts lead is cut to 14-7 with 3:23 left in the half.

Short kick and short return find the Tigers starting first and 10 at their own 38 yard line. Wilkinson hits his receiver off a tipped pass all the way down to the Huskie 30 yard line and the clock moving. The Tigers run for a gain of 8 yards then break another run only to fumble but recover on the Huskie 11 yard line with 53.5 seconds to go in the half.

The Tigers get a 5 yard run in the series to bring up 4th and 5 with the clock rolling. Tiger kicker hits a short FG at the 17.3 mark to take the Tigers into the half up 17-7.

3^rd. qtr.

The Huskies began the quarter with the ball on an Illegal Procedure call and the ball at the NM 44 yard line. McCain goes 4 yards on the carry, 2 yards on the next, incomplete shovel pass to bring the Huskies to a fourth and 4 yards to go. Mcain who is also the teams punter, took the direct snap and ran around end for a first down at the Tiger 45 yard line.

McCain then takes the handoff but the Tiger defense gives him nothing on two consecutive plays and on third and 10, Maguire can't hookup on a pass to bring it to fourth and 10. Once again, the Huskies try the fake punt run and McCain can only get 5 yards as the Huskies turn the ball over at near the 8:00 mark.

The Huskie defense stuffed two runs and a completed pass in the right flat that only garnered 3 yards to bring up fourth down and 7 in their own territory. Tigers punter hits a nice one that squibs to the NM 25 with no return and 6:25 left in the third. McCain busts a run out to the NM 49 and on the next play, zigs, zags lays a nice stiff arm and 49 quick yards later, the Huskies are in the end zone. PAT is no good and at the 4:34 mark, Huskies are down 17-13.

The Tigers take a squib short kick and cover it to begin this drive at their own 45 yard line. The Huskie defense allows only two yards in three plays forcing Taft to punt it back to Mcguire who returned it for 7 yards to the Huskie 30 yard line.

McCain takes the ball up the middle on first down for a 7 yard gain. Then Maguire hits Christensen all the way down to the Tiger 40 yard line. McCain takes the handoff and goes for 6 yards and then Maguire found Chase Sterret out in the flat on a nice catch and run down to the Tiger 15 yard line with 1:10 left in the quarter. McCain runs for a 3 yard gain and then McGuire hits Pippert down to the Huskie 10 yard line as the third quarter expired. Taft 17 NM 13

4^th. qtr.

The Huskies opened the Fourth Quarter at the Tiger 10 yard line on a third and 3. Maguire gives the ball to McCain and he is stuffed for a two yard loss to bring up Fourth and 5 to go for a first down. Hats off to Crumley as this was a nice call. Chose to go for it and Sterret ran that same little flat pass and Maguire hit him right where he need to on the run and Sterret took it up and into the end zone for the first Huskie lead of the night with 11:09 left in the game. PAT good, NM 20 Taft 17.

NM kicks off and the Tigers bring it out to their 32 yard line. The Huskies then stuff the Tigers on a three and out forcing a fourth and 12 and another Tiger Punt. The punt is a good one with no return and Huskie ball on their own 30 yard line. McCain ripped off a 4 yard run plus tack on another 15 for a Tiger Personal Foul out to the Tiger 41 yard line. Very next play, Maguire drops and rolls a bit, sets up and hits a streaking Christensen down the right sideline. Very pretty timing pass and nice catch and pattern as well to put the Huskies up after the kick 27-17 with 8:21 left to go.

NM kicks off and then first play from scrimmage, Wilkinson keeps the ball and gets out on his horse. This kid can fly but we have a flyer as well. McCain was the only guy who could match Wilkinsons Speed and he did by running him down from behind but not before the Tiger QB got to the Huskie 7 yard line. Wilkinson would have his chance to catch McCain later in this ball game to pay back the favor and let me tell ya, it was one heck of a race.

The Huskie defense led by Sterret and Torres, held the Tigers on another three and out to force a short FG attempt. The Huskies blocked the kick and recovered the ball on the NM 25 yard line.

On the very next play, Wilkinson asked for that rematch with McCain to see who was faster. McCain took the handoff from Maguire, made a couple interior cuts and it was on. The Taft speedster Wilkinson came accross to get on McCains tail as he started to motor in the open field. Near the Tiger 40, it was very apparent who had the top end as McCain took it 75 yards for the score plus another Taft personal foul. In the open field, this kid(McCain)is as fast if not faster than anyone in the Capital Conference. To pull away from the very fast Wilkinson, was no easy feat. PAT no good NM 33 Taft 17 with 5:24 left. The game was pretty much over after that, with just ball control to end it.