HICO – While coaches and philosophies may change over the years, one fact remains constant – control the line of scrimmage and you control the football game.
On a Friday night where old school football was on display, the veteran offensive line of Class AA No. 8 (tie) Nicholas County was the difference in a 47-22 win over Class A rival Midland Trail.
“I thought offensively we did a really good job up front blocking. I felt like we ran the ball very effectively and was able to throw the ball when we wanted to and pick up some yardage to keep them honest,” Nicholas County head coach Gene Morris said.
Of the 49 plays that the Grizzlies ran on the night, 44 of them came on the ground for a total of 297 yards.
“We are not used to being handled like that, but hats off to them,” Midland Trail head coach Frank Isaacs said. “We didn’t play as well as I would have liked, and you could tell we hadn’t played for a couple of weeks. Nicholas County has gotten better each week and they put it to us. They are bigger and stronger than us.”
After forcing a punt on the Patriots’ first drive, Nicholas County gave fans an early look at what the night would be like for Trail.
Marching 70 yards in 11 plays, the Grizzlies took a 6-0 lead on a 17-yard reverse from Alex Pritt. The score was setup by heavy doses of power running from Kaleb Clark. The misdirection would burn the Patriots several times on the night.
“Alex Pritt runs the ball really well and so does our quarterback, (Brycen Morriston). Having that ability to catch them leaning a little bit or flying to something else helps,” Morris said. “They were selling out to stop Kaleb on some the off-tackle plays, so a little misdirection really helps. It starts up there with that front five. When they are doing their job, teams have to make a bigger commitment to stop you. That leaves the counter game and the backside a little bit more open.”
Trail answered quickly after a long kick return set the Patriots up at the Nicholas County 29-yard line. Trail evened the game on the second play from scrimmage. A pass from Joshua Dickerson went through his intended receiver’s hands into the waiting arms of Cody Harrell who ran it in for a 27-yard score.
Nicholas County never flinched and went right back to their thoroughbred and Clark delivered. Two touchdowns by the junior standout made it a 20-6 game at halftime.
Clark carried the ball 17 times in the first half for 156 yards to set the tone for the Grizzlies.
Dodging an onside kick attempt to start the second half, Nicholas County went 55 yards in six plays to take a 26-6 lead. The key play of the drive was a 39-yard keeper by Morriston.
Pressed into full-time duty with Dawson Brown out with an injury, Morriston made the most of his chance Friday. The junior signal-caller ran for 67 yards on six carries and hurt the Patriots with some big keepers up the gut.
“He handled the team really well and I am really proud of how he handled that last drive. He did the right things,” Morris said. “He is very knowledgeable about the game.”
The frustrations of the night for Trail were exemplified on the ensuing kick-off when a squib kick struck a Trail up-back, bouncing back to the Grizzlies who recovered the loose ball.
Nicholas County then took a commanding 33-6 lead on a 12-yard screen pass from Morriston to Clark.
The Patriots refused to go away and kept the heat on the visitors with two scoring drives. Dickerson found Harrell again for a 31-yard score before he hit Ayden Simms on a 15-yard touchdown.
What slowed the Trail comeback, happened between the two scores.
For the third week in a row, Wes Hill returned a kickoff for a touchdown, this time it was from 75 yards out.
“Wes does a great job, but I am one of those guys that feels that the other 10 guys have to block somebody. They do a good job of getting on people and opening up a seam,” Morris said. “Of course, with his ability to see the field, when Wes sees that crack, he hits it. He has good ability to break some tackles, which he did and with his speed he just outran them to the end zone.”
Clark would wrap up the scoring on a one-yard plunge before the game was officially stopped with 5:45 to play when a set off lights went out.
Nicholas County (4-1) travels to Braxton County next Friday. It gets no easier for Midland Trail who will welcome AA No. 4 Independence in the Patriot Bowl Friday.
“We travel to a tough Braxton County team next week and it’s always a challenge for us to go over there and come away with a victory,” Morris said. “We have our work cut out for us this week. They are a good solid football team.”
NC: 14 6 20 7
MT: 6 0 8 8
First quarter
NC: Alex Pritt 17 run (rush failed)
MT: Cody Harrell 27 pass from Josh Dickerson (pass failed)
NC: Kaleb Clark 15 run (Clark rush)
Second quarter
NC: Clark 6 run (rush failed)
Third quarter
NC: Pritt 5 run (pass failed)
NC: Clark 12 pass from Morriston (Brayden Short kick).
MT: Cody Harrell 31 pass from Dickerson (Harrell from Dickerson pass)
NC: Wes Hill 75 kick return (Short kick)
Fourth quarter
MT: Ayden Simms 15 pass from Dickerson (Simms from Dickerson)
NC: Clark 1 run (Short kick)
Team stats
Rushing: (NC) Clark 26-180-2, Morriston 6-62, Pritt 6-29-2, Hill 4-21; (MT) Robert Ruffner 15-112, Aden Isaacs 7-24, Harrell 4-20, Griffen Boggs 2-6.
Passing: (NC) Morriston 2-5-18-1; (MT) Dickerson 8-15-105-3
Receiving: (NC) Clark 1-12-1, Hill 1-6; (MT) Simms 4-33-1, Harrell 2-58-2, Isaacs 1-10, Zach Baird 1-4.