Halfway home. That's where Norman North is in its push to a perfect regular season after taking care of a scrappy Moore squad, 33-0, at Harve Collins Stadium Friday night.
Now 4-0 -- a likely fifth win was cut short when North and Muskogee were unable to finish a game the T-Wolves were leading early last month -- North so far has silenced the critics who wondered if they could bounce back from key losses to graduation from last year's playoff squad.
"We're kind of tired of hearing about how we've lost guys," senior linebacker Nick Canavan said. "We talk about earning respect every week."
The T-Wolves find themselves off to a strong start in a loaded District 6A-1. And they got a lift Friday as Southmoore and Mustang, two of the other unbeatens in the district, both suffered losses.
It looked early on like North would cruise. Jamar Harrison returned the game's opening kickoff for a touchdown, and less than two minutes later, Chris Riley intercepted Moore quarterback Vova Razryvyn and returned it for a score, making it 13-0 in a hurry.
But it wasn't always pretty for the T-Wolves. After the good start, North didn't manage its first offensive touchdown until midway in the third quarter, and nearly 150 yards in penalties reared their head as well.
"There was a lot of adversity tonight," Canavan admitted.
But the T-Wolves did plenty right also, making the Lions work for every one of their 148 yards of total offense. The North defense kept after it all night but did perhaps its best work in the first two and-a-half quarters while the Lions were still within striking distance.
That gave the North offense started to click, which it did midway in the third when quarterback Brad Valentino hit Daniel Davis on a deep ball for an 80-yard score to make it 20-0.
The defense stepped up with another big play, as a Jon Johnson sack of Razryvyn ended the Lions' next drive. North then put together a 62-yard drive of its own, mixing Valentino's passing and Richard Peoples' running before the quarterback hit tight end Hunter Madole for a 13-yard score and a 27-0 lead.
The Lions turned it over their next series, and Canavan's touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter gave North its final margin.
The only question after that was whether the T-Wolves would keep the shutout, which they did, keeping out Moore backup quarterback Brandon Eddins near the goal line in the closing seconds.
Peoples enjoyed a big offensive night, rushing for a game-high 169 yards and catching passes for 58 more.
"They were stacking the box which opened up the pass," Peoples said. "Then when we had the chance to run, I just followed my offensive line and they did what they had to do."
By game's end, the offense had gashed the Lions for 514 yards.
North is headed into the meat of its schedule, with the next three dates against Mustang, Del City and Southmoore.
Peoples said his team will use the same formula, one that so far has been simple but effective.
"It's just take it week by week," he said.
Christian Potts 366-3531 cpotts@normantranscript.com
Local Sports
October 3, 2009
Shutout
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