The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The Northwestern-La Harpe Thunder used a strong second half to overcome the Beardstown Tigers 38-13 in IHSA Class 2-A second round play-off action. The victory Saturday at La Harpe saw the Thunder bounce back from a 13-12 deficit in the 2nd quarter with a combination of strong defense and power running to advance to this weekends Class 2-A quarterfinals. That game will be played Saturday afternoon at Fuzz Berges' Field in Carthage and will be a rematch of the week #6 battle between the Thunder and the Blue boys. Kick-off is slated for 1:00 p.m.
The Thunder jumped ahead early against the visiting Tigers when Senior halfback Jordan Miller went 68 yards on a counter on NW-LH's second play from scrimmage. Miller got great blocking at the point of attack from playside end Isaac Rogers, tackle Drew Pence and guard Christopher Link. They caved down the defense and allowed pulling guard Lucas James and lead tackle Matt Zaehringer to take Miller to the opposite end zone. The conversion run failed giving the Thunder a 6-0 advantage.
The Thunder got on the board again later in the first period when its defense forced the Beardstown punter to pull the ball down and try to run. Big pressure up the middle by Senior linebacker Justin Sickels forced the punter to run and he was soon dropped by Pence for a big loss. That big play set up a short thunder drive that culminated with Junior QB Chase DeCounter's 1 yard lunge into the end zone. The lead stayed at 12-0 when the conversion failed.
Beardstown caught fire on their next two possessions and took advantage of Thunder miscues to take a 13-12 edge in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern-LaHarpe responded to the challenge however, by driving 87 yards to the go-ahead score midway through the period. The big play on the drive was a 38-yard option pitch to Sickles. A 14-yard counter by Junior halfback Stephen Butterfield then set the stage for a 15-yard TD toss from DeCounter to Miller in the right corner of the end zone. The Thunder led at intermission 18-13.
The 2nd half started slowly with both teams' defense asserting themselves. Finally the Thunder got it going on their 2nd possession of the half behind the power running of Senior fullback Kevin Hunt. Hunt slashed through the Tiger defense for several good gains to set the Thunder up for another 1-yard DeCounter touchdown dive. The hosts now led 24-13.
Momentum was now squarely on the side of the hosts and the NW-LH defense made sure it stayed there. they forced Beardstown to punt from deep in their own end and set the table for their offense to score again. This time the score would be a 9-yard option keep by DeCounter early in the 4th period. Hunt would add the conversion run for a 32-13 Thunder advantage.
The Thunder defense would get the ball right back when Senior LB A.J. Huston picked off an errant Tiger toss. Hunt would then dominate the drive by running around, over, and through Beardstown defenders on a series of punishing carries. The Senior fullback finished the drive with a 2-yard TD run of his own to set the final score at 38-13.
Beardstown's final drive was thwarted when DeCounter picked off a pass from his defensive safety position. The Thunder defense held Beardstown to only 43 yards of offense in the 2nd half and picked off 2 Tiger passes. Beardstown came into the game averaging nearly 400 yards and 35 points a game, but the Thunder defense found a way to take away the Tigers' big play capability.
The Thunder outgained the Tigers 447 yards to 214. NW-LH gained 432 yards on the ground, with 3 Thunder ballcarriers topping the century mark. Hunt gained 157 yards on 27 carries, Miller picked up 107 yards on 7 carries and Sickels ground out 100 yards on 10 attempts. DeCounter added 42 yards rushing, Butterfield picked up 18 yards and Alex Ruebush added 9 yards. Brittain Daudelin also played well out of the backfield with several good lead blocks on option plays.
The Thunder offensive line deserves much of the credit for the way the ground game rolled, especially in the 2nd half. Nate Todd (C), Lucas James (Rt.G.), Christopher Link (Lt. G.), Matt Zaehringer(Rt.T.), Drew Pence (Lt.T.), A.J. Huston (TE), and Isaac Rogers (TE) did an outstanding job of controlling the line of scrimmage. The addition of James who had been out with a neck injury since week #6 was a huge boost to the Thunder line. Hopefully the same unit will be ready to step up big this Saturday when the Thunder travel to Carthage for their quarterfinal showdown with the Blue Boys.