OHIO-INDIANA BORDER BATTLE … Joey Burt stiff arms a Fremont defender on a first quarter run. Burt totaled 127 yards rushing on 18 totes for North Central. (PHOTO BY RICH HARDING / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
By: Joe Blystone
PIONEER (September 1, 2023) – In the days that sports are dominated by analytics, sometimes football can still be made as simple as who can dominate up front.
North Central did just that, holding Fremont to just 39 yards total offense including -12 yards on the ground while amassing 200 by way of land themselves, as the Eagles rolled to a 30-3 win.
“We had some injuries that hit us here during the game,” North Central coach Scott Thompson explained.”
“We have been working on getting some other kids ready in case we had this situation come up. It’s a long season and we always try to win the line of scrimmage, that’s a big part of our game to control the line of scrimmage and keep our mistakes to a minimum and keep the clock running.”
After being stopped on a lengthy drive that ended near the red zone in Fremont territory, and losing a fumble on their next possession, North Central cashed in thanks to a break on special teams.
Fremont’s Jaret Laughlin tried to punt out of a short formation and mishit a kick into the mass up front that North Central recovered on the Fremont 44.
Two Cam Laney runs for 29 yards set up Joey Burt’s blast up the middle from 15 yards out, and with the following two-point conversion, North Central grabbed an 8-0 lead with 10:26 to go in the half.
That lead doubled halfway through the third when Burt hit paydirt again from two yards out to finish a seven play 49-yard march, all on the ground to give the Eagles a 16-0 lead.
Then the Eagle pass rush provided the play that helped break the game open. A North Central defender hit Gage Cope as he delivered a pass and the ball popped into the arms of Laney to give the Eagles possession at the Fremont 30.
A holding penalty backed up the Eagles but on 2nd-and-15 Laney took a pitch on the left and threw the option pass toward Ethan Beard downfield.
The pass was underthrown, but Beard outmuscled a Fremont defensive back for the ball then outfought a tackler to get into the endzone to expand the lead to 22-0 at the 4:21 point of the third.
“We have been running that play for five years now,” Thompson said of Beard’s touchdown catch, the only pass the Eagles completed on the night.
“We run it out of different formations and try to disguise it as much as we can and keep people honest in the secondary.”
Cayden Hufnagle got Fremont on the board with a 42-yard field goal in the fourth before Burt finished a big night on the ground with his third score from 18 yards away with just over four minutes left.
Besides his three scores, Burt chewed up 127 yards on 18 carries to chalk up over half of the Eagles total.
UP NEXT: September 8 – North Central (2-1) at Hilltop (0-3) 7pm
FREMONT 0 0 0 3 – 3
N. CENTRAL 0 8 14 8 – 30
NC – Burt 24-yard run (Laney run)
NC – Burt 1-yard run (Burt run)
NC – Beard 35-yard pass from Laney (conversion failed)
F – Hufnagle 42 – yard FG
NC – Burt 20-yard run (Burt run)
Joe can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com