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Patriots drop district opener By BARRY BURLESON
Editor  | Photos by Barry Burleson
Quarterback sack
MA’s Chad Mitchell (18) sacks North Delta quarterback Bryan Nickle. |
The momentum shifted late in the first half Friday night in Batesville and the visitors never got it back. Marshall
Academy squandered an opportunity to go up by 11 in the big District
1-AA clash. Instead, North Delta scored on the last play of the half,
led by two at the intermission and went on to win 26-10. The
Patriots lost their district opener and dropped to 4-2 overall. The
Green Wave moved into the district driver’s seat at 2-0 and improved to
4-1 overall. The Pats, leading 10-6, took over at
its 13-yard line after Aaron McAlexander’s second interception of the
night with 3:19 to go in the second quarter. Hank Owens ran 18 yards
for a first and then threw to John Tomlinson, who broke three tackles
and raced down the sideline for 54 yards to the North Delta 15. MA
reached the 9 before going backwards. On third and five, Owens was
sacked and the Patriots were also saddled with a 15-yard penalty. The
Patriots lined up to try a 45-yard field goal but MA was whistled for
delay of game. The field-goal try changed to 50 yards. Instead, MA
faked it and the Green Wave foiled the trick play - taking over at
their own 40 with 1:09 to go in the first half. “We
didn’t score after John (Tomlinson) broke that long run (following the
catch)” coach Keith Wicker said. “We might should have tried to power
it in. We screwed it up; I screwed it up. To win a game like that, you
can’t mess up. We messed up. North Delta is a good football team, and
we made plenty of mistakes.” With 22 seconds to
go in the first half, the Green Wave converted a fourth and five on
Bryan Nickle’s keeper to the Marshall 33. Nickle then threw to Jim Tom
Copeland for 25 yards to the 8 for a first and goal. The
home team got off four plays in 11 seconds - the first a spike by
Nickle, the second a running play for a 1-yard loss, the third an
incomplete pass and the fourth a 9-yard toss to Copeland for a score.
The try-for-two was denied by the Pats. “The clock management there was questionable,” Wicker said. “How do you run three plays in nine seconds?” Midway
through the third, MA took over at its own 10, trailing 12-10. The Pats
were flagged for three penalties in the possession and went in reverse
to their 3. That’s when North Delta’s Sy Pritchard picked off a pass
and returned it a short distance to the Patriot 5. Tres Brasell scored
on a first-down run with 4:08 to go in the third. Kyle Devazier’s
extra-point kick put the Green Wave up 19-10. A
blocking-below-the waist penalty forced MA to punt on its next
possession. Midway through the fourth, Marshall’s Zack Pritchett hit
Nickle for a 7-yard loss on a fourth and eight. The Patriots, starting from their own 17, could not get the offense going. They couldn’t convert a fourth and 6. North
Delta, after being flagged for a false start, unsportsmanlike conduct
and holding, faced a first and goal from the 30. Brasell scored from 2
yards out on fourth and goal to ice the win. Devazier also hit the kick. The Patriots were flagged 11 times in the game for 100 yards, while the Green Wave was penalized 10 times for 85 yards. MA ran the ball 28 times for 101 yards and was 12 of 20 passing for 144 yards. North Delta rushed for 243 yards on 39 carries and was eight of 15 passing for 75 yards.  | Hit for a loss
Marshall’s Chase Ferrell (36) tackles Tres Brasell for a loss. |
Leading
tacklers for the Pats were Tomlinson and Chase Ferrell with seven each
and Chad Mitchell and Taylor Maurey with six each. “It
was a disappointing loss,” Wicker said. “We practice hard for it all
week. The hustle was there; we just didn’t execute at times. We had our
chances right before halftime. We did not do well in crunch-time on the
goal-line.” MA took an early lead in the game
when Chase Carpenter drilled a 34-yard field goal with 5:25 on the
clock. A Mitchell sack and a McAlexander interception helped put the
Pats’ offense in business. North Delta grabbed a
6-3 advantage on Brasell’s 6-yard touchdown run with 3:15 to go in the
opening quarter. Tomlinson blocked the point-after try. North
Delta, after a successful onside kick, went for a first down on fourth
and three from the Patriot 39 but Maurey, Ferrell and Mitchell hit
Brasell for a 4-yard loss. On second and 18,
Owens and Ferrell connected on a pass play over the middle for 30 yards
to the North Delta 35. Eight plays later Kevin Fitzpatrick scored on a
1-yard run. Carpenter’s kick put MA up 10-6 at the 7:54 mark of the
second period. The Patriots do not play this
week. The homecoming game is Friday, Oct. 8, versus district rival Kirk
Academy. The next week, Oct. 15, district foe Indianola visits MA. “We have to bow up and get it done and get into the playoffs,” Wicker said. |
