September 17, 2011
Giants too much for Patriots
Andy AmeyThe Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE — The moral victories and the “nice try” quotes are getting pretty old for coach Chris Barrett and — he
hopes — for his Terre Haute North High School football team.
“Closer than the score would indicate” isn’t high on his list of favorite sayings right now either.
So even though the Patriots had some nice moments against fourth-ranked Ben Davis on Friday in Metropolitan
Interscholastic Conference play, including perhaps the longest scoring drive the Giants have allowed so far this season, the
final score of 46-7 still added up to a 39-point loss.
“We just don’t have complete confidence,” Barrett said after the game, although any the Patriots had should have been
erased in the game’s first three minutes.
After a three-and-out defensive series, the Giants scored on their first offensive play when Chris McGee took a pitchout
and rambled 46 yards behind a wall of blockers.
North’s next offensive series was one play shorter. A third-down pass was picked off by Marlon McDowell of Ben Davis
and returned 27 yards to the end zone. With 9:08 still to play in the first quarter, the visitors’ offense had been on the field
for one play. yet Ben Davis already led 14-0.
But this is where things got good for the Patriots.
A pair of runs by Brother Scank picked up North’s first first down of the game. A scramble by Brian Gehrich picked up
another. A third-down pass interference penalty against the Giants gave North a third straight first down, and the Patriots
were on their way to an 80-yard, 13-play scoring drive.
A red-zone penalty threatened to keep North from finishing its drive, a bugaboo a week earlier at Center Grove.
But on third-and-11, Gehrich lobbed a ball into the end zone and 6-foot-5 Calvin Blank plucked it above a smaller
defender. Ben Davis’s lead had been cut in half, and its coach was impressed.
“We jumped on [the Patriots] quick. We got a quick score on offense, and then the defense got one,” Mike Kirschner said.
“But instead of laying down and dying, they came down and scored.
“Their kids fought,” Kirschner added. “They had a good scheme, they ran it well … and they did a good job up front.”
After a lengthy Ben Davis drive, North also came up with a big defensive stop, Lee Davis and Blank combining to
smother a fourth-and-1 running play. But the Patriots couldn’t convert a third-down pass, and the visitors responded with a
65-yard, eight-play drive to restore a two-touchdown lead.
Nick Basile’s interception in North territory stopped the next Giants drive, but star linebacker Drew Craig of the Giants
got a pick of his own moments later. It only took the Giants two plays to score another touchdown before halftime; the
visitors got another touchdown after recovering North’s onside kickoff to start the second half; and they added two more
scores later in the game.
North had one other long drive midway through the third quarter, after Ben Davis had built a 40-7 lead, but a sack not only
halted the drive but took the Patriots out of field goal range.
“We spotted [the Giants] 14 points, then we realized we could play with them a little bit and we started playing some
ball,” Barrett said after the game. “I thought the line battled.
“But we’re not making plays that are there,” the coach added, mentioning some available pass routes but also referring to
some failed opportunities defensively. “We tackled terribly this evening,” he noted.
“[The Giants] have got more speed than we do, and they’re a better team,” Barrett concluded. “But we can play better.”
Ben Davis 46, Terre Haute North 7
Ben Davis
14
6 —
13 13
Terre Haute North
7
0
0 0
46
—
7
BD — Chris McGee 46 run (Jordan Holder kick), 10:48 1st
BD — Marlon McDowell 27 interception return (Holder kick), 9:08 1st
THN — Calvin Blank 12 pass from Brian Gehrich (Zach Potter kick), 3:08 1st
BD — McGee 7 pass from Matt Brock (Holder kick), 6:05 2nd
BD — McGee 5 run (kick failed), 1:05 2nd
BD — Isaiah Florence 1 run (kick failed), 10:10 3rd
BD — Donavan Scisney 8 run (Eric Sullivan kick), 6:46 3rd
BD — Christian Black 41 pass from Kyle Castner (kick blocked), 5:18 4th
BD
THN
First downs
18
15
Rushes-yards
29-200
Passing yards
176
Comp-Att-Int
10-21-1
Return yards
Punts-avg
69
2-32
Fumbles-lost
Penalties-yards
0
46-108
56
5-19-2
4
7-26.9
1-0
7-80
3-15
Individual statistics
Rushing: Ben Davis — McGee 4-64, Brock 8-59, Lamont Osborn 9-45, Lajuwon Gildon 1-15, Scisney 2-13, Malcolm
Fogle 3-4, Florence 1-1, Castner 1-minus 1. North — Brother Scank 21-55, Ricky Brookins 2-34, Kai Stratten 5-18,
Austin Massey 4-9, Cayleb Knox 2-7, Gehrich 11-5, team 1-minus 20.
Passing: Ben Davis — Brock 8-17-1, 130 yards; Castner 2-4-0, 46. North — Gehrich 5-15-2, 56 yards; Chris Barrett 0-30, 0; Massey 0-1-0, 0.
Receiving: Ben Davis — Caleb Cornett 3-44, Montay McDowell 2-41, McGee 2-16, Black 1-41, Terrance Winfrey 1-29,
Gildon 1-5. North — Blank 2-18, Brookins 1-18, Cole Seward 1-13, Scank 1-7.
Next — North (1-4, 0-3 Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference) plays next Friday at Warren Central. Ben Davis (4-1, 21) has a home game that night against Terre Haute South.