The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The Northwestern-La Harpe Thunder were knocked out of the 2002 I.H.S.A. Class 2-A football playoffs with a 30-8 quarterfinal loss to arch-rival Carthage last Saturday. The game, played at Carthage's Fuzz Bergess Field, was closer than the final score would indicate, but the host Blueboys made the big plays when they had to in order to advance to the semifinal round this weekend. The Thunder bow out with a 10-2 record and their 6th quarterfinal appearance or better in their 8-year play-off run.
Saturday's game was a lot like the Thunder-Blueboy meeting in week #6 of the regular season. It saw early mistakes by NW-LH set the table for a quick Blueboy lead, a brief Thunder rally to cut the deficit, and then time of possession eventually wear the visitors down. Carthage held a 29:10 to 18:50 edge in time of possession, which was nearly identical to their first pairing with the Thunder.
The lone bright spot for NW-LH was a six-play drive to score late in the 2nd period. The TD came on a 6-yard run by senior fullback Kevin Hunt. Junior QB Chase DeCounter added the conversion on a dive into the end zone. It was DeCounter's 42-yard run on an option keeper that set up the score that would cut Carthage's lead to 12-8 with 39 seconds left in the half.
Unfortunately for NW-LH, the Blueboys would need only 35 seconds to score a touch down that would snatch away all the momentum NW-LH had just gained. That late touchdown combined with a Blueboy goal line stand to start the 2nd half, spelled the beginning of the end for the Thunder hopes and their season.
The Thunder were outgained by 405 yards to only 244. For the Thunder cause, DeCounter picked up 88 yards on 14 attempts. Senior Justin Sickels concluded a strong season with 63 yards on 9 carries. Hunt added 43 yards on 12 attempts, while Jordan Miller (Senior halfback) picked up 21 yards on 3 carries. Miller (20 yards) and Sickels (10 yards) also caught passes from DeCounter, who finished 2 of 4 passing for 30 yards.
Defensively, the Thunder tackle chart was very full due to the Blueboys 60 rushing attempts. Sickels and junior linebacking partner Christopher Link had 16 and 14 tackles respectively. A.J. Huston concludes an outstanding senior season on the defensive side of the ball with an 11 tackle performance. Ty Huston, a junior tackle, finished with 20 tackle involvements, including one for a loss.
Also on the tackle chart were senior Drew Pence (9 tackles), Miller (8 tackles), DeCounter (7 tackles), senior Nate Todd (6 tackles), senior Matt Zaehringer (6 tackles), Junior Stephen Butterfield (5 tackles) and Hunt (3 tackles). Chipping in with one tackle each were Brian Covert, Ben Cox, Mike DeWitt, Dustin Moore and Alex Ruebush.
The Thunder have now reached the post-season 8 consecutive years. During that time they have compiled an 83-13 record, with 12 of those losses being to teams who reached the state semi-finals or better. Being so close to Carthage (and what they have accomplished at the state level), it is easy to lose perspective on how well the co-op has done during the past several years. This year's team did very well considering a lot of naysayers and so-called gridiron experts predicted a down year for Thunder football.