North vs Auburn
Story by Paul T. Zeien, Jr.
Sorry due to the weather no pictures for this game.
Sophomore Thunder Stomps Auburn…
North Sophomores Stomp Auburn
Here we go again with the weather. It was a gloomy, wet, and cold night for football. For the fans it sucks but for the players I remember it is kind of fun tackling and such in the mud.
Well this game did not come without its excitement and it started right after the initial Thunder drive of the game. #38, Dustin Dussault, and #6, Jake McIntyre were back to receive the opening kick-off. The Thunder returns the ball to their own 37 yard line. Fourteen plays and 63 yard later the Thunder put the ball in the end zone. #1, Miguel Andrade, was good with the PAT and the score was Thunder 7, Knights 0.
Now, around the 4:44 minute mark there was a little excitement thanks to the Auburn Kinghts Head Coach. Getting all caught up in the game the coach walked out on the field and began complaining to the referee. The referee threw a flag. He persisted and bitched some more. The referee threw another flag and proceeded to remove the coach from the game. So the Knights were burdened with not having their head coach for almost the entire game. This would easily be reflected in the play of his team. On their possession following the score the Thunder would get the ball on the Auburn 22 yard line when the Knights were unable to get it together.
The second quarter would begin with the Thunder threatening to score again. They did on the second possession of the quarter with a 69 yard TD run by #11, Ryan Gamble, Andrade was no good with the PAT and the score was Thunder 13, Knights 0. It was #38, Dustin Dussault’s turn to hit the end zone. At 5:45 left in the first half Dussault takes the ball 2 yards right up the muddy middle and scores. The Thunder attempts a 2-point conversion to make up the lost PAT but was unsuccessful. The score was now 19-0 Thunder.
Gamble had a great game Friday night with 123 yards in two scores. As the clock dwindled to a little over 2 minutes Gamble sprints 54 yards for the score. This time Andrade was good with the PAT and the score going into half time was Thunder 26, Knights 0.
The third quarter was uneventful as far as scoring and such. Both teams exchanged short drives and were forced to punt it away. The drama in the third came with just 20.7 seconds left. Auburn was on the Thunder 1 yard line and had four plays to get it in the end zone. 1, stopped, 2, stopped, 3, stopped, 4, fumble and recovered by the Thunder defense. Great defensive play by the Thunder defense.
Now midway through the fourth quarter Gamble adds another 35 yards in touchdown runs to his total. Andrade is short on the PAT but the Thunder goes farther ahead 32-0. #29, Ryker Rodakowski would recover an Auburn fumble with a little over minutes left which would set up another drive that Dussault would score on. 1:89 left in the game and Dussault hits the end zone. Gamble tries the 2-point but was unsuccessful. The final score of the game was Thunder 40, Knights 0.
It was a great way to finish the season for this team. They began the season with a slow start but showed that hard work and determination can prevail. Congratulations to the sophomores and begin work for next season guys we look forward to watching you play.
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Thunder Varsity End Regular Season with Win.
All Thunder fans were pretty confident that at the end of the game the Thunder would have a 5-4 season record. They were not disappointed. The sophomore game did a fantastic job of making the already sloppy field even worse for the varsity. Towards the end of the game I would not have wanted to be a statistician for the game.
Anyway the Thunder was to kick-off to the Auburn Knights and defend the south goal. Auburn starts their initial drive on their own 36 yard line. The Knights did not bring their long spikes to the game because they were unable to move the ball anywhere. The Thunder defense however completely shut them down.
It was the Thunder’s chance to drive the ball and was unable to advance the ball. Both teams were forced to make some adjustments and running dead center of the field was not a good option. The first quarter would not be without two exciting scores that occurred in the last 29 seconds.
The first score was from #13, Alex Tripp from 13 yards out. This was an exciting run Tripp started right and was shut off. Simply overpowering the Auburn defenders Tripp broke loose and headed left. He rammed his way into the end zone on those 13 yards. The Thunder was just shy of the PAT but the score was Thunder 6, Knights 0.
#30, Alex Maavich for the Thunder was set to kick off the ball following the score. Whether it was intentional or not this reporter does not know but the kick appeared to be an onside kick. It dribbled the 10 yards as Maavich sprinted right after the ball. Maavich dives and lands on the ball to give the Thunder midfield possession of the ball. This sets up a drive that has less than 10 seconds to materialize, and it did. With 9 seconds left #17, Tony Tindle, hits #22, Dylan Roberts who sprints 50 yards for the touchdown. The Thunder was successful with the 2-point conversion and the score was Thunder 14, Knights 0.
Auburn was unable to execute during the second quarter which opened the door for the Thunder to move the ball into the end zone two more times before the half time buzzer. At 9:12 Tripp does it again with a 10 yard run. The Thunder misses the PAT and the score goes to 20-0. At 3:57 Tindle hits Roberts again this time for a 56 yard score. The 2-point conversion is no good but going into half time the score was Thunder 26, Knights 0.
The third quarter brought no excitement as the teams readjust to the weather. The Thunder threatens a few times but is actually turned away by the Auburn defense.
At the 10 minute mark the Auburn Knights make their first score of the evening. I have to give them credit along with a bit of help from the officials they finally made the score. They were unsuccessful with the 2-point conversion and the score was 26-6, Thunder.
The Thunder #50, Allen Humphrey recovers an Auburn fumble with 5:52 left on the clock. 2 plays later Auburn forces a Thunder fumble and get the ball back. At 3:05 left in the game Auburn gets to within 4 yards of the goal line. They fumble the ball and the Thunder recovers the ball back on their own 12 yard line. Then the officials call 4 consecutive false start penalties on the Thunder and back them up to within inches of their own goal line. Auburn with the break that the officials helped with was able to get a safety off of the Thunder. This would make the final score of the game 26-8.
The Thunder did advance to 5-4 and should have a play off birth. Good luck in the playoffs guys. Well done on the season.
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Thanks Paul
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