By Brad Greer
North Delta¹s Hunter Baker could not picked a better time to record the first interception of his high school career Friday night against Kirk Academy.
With the score tied 21-21 with 2:09 remaining in the third quarter, the freshman linebacker stepped in front of a Gunner Hudspeth pass and returned it 10 yards to the Raider 45-yard line.
Six plays later, quarterback Skyler Lawson scored on the first play of the fourth quarter from one yard out to give North Delta a 28-21 lead. From there the Green Wave would tack on another score to take a 35-21 victory over Kirk Friday night in a District 1-AA contest. "We were playing a straight up man defense and I just read the play,” said Baker of his interception. "We came out a little flat and they tied it up at halftime. We pretty much shut down their running game so they started throwing the ball. In the second half we did a better job putting pressure on their quarterback and kept them out of the end zone," said Baker, who along with teammate Parker Jones led the Green Wave defense with five tackles each.
Senior tailback Taylor Morris torched the Kirk defense for 195 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns as the Green Wave rushed for 322 yards. Morris' 82-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game staked North Delta to a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.
Kirk answered back on the following series as Tyler Kirk picked off a deflected pass from Lawson on the Green Wave 29 yard line. Four plays later, Hudspeth connected with Payton Box on an 11-yard scoring pass to even the game at seven following Travis Taylor¹s PAT with 6:42 left in the first quarter.
North Delta (3-2 & 1-0) retook the lead on the first play of the second quarter as Austin Hagstrom spun away from two would-be tacklers for a 22-yard touchdown run. William Dean booted his second of five successful PAT¹s to complete the six-play, 49-yard drive.
The Raiders however would strike again later in the quarter by marching 82 yards on 10 plays to close the margin to 14-13 as Hudspeth hit Kirk on a 17-yard scoring pass with 4:35 remaining before halftime as Taylor missed the point after.
The Raiders finished with 169 yards of offense, all through the air, as Hudspeth finished the night 16-of-31 passing with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Kirk was held on zero yards rushing by the North Delta defense. "
We knew Kirk would come out throwing the ball. We felt like we were better than them up front. I was surprised they did not run the ball more but they were having success throwing the ball in the first half. The second half we did a much better job putting pressure on their quarterback. I think we had four or five sacks, but our defensive backfield did an outstanding job in their coverages that gave our guys up front time to put pressure on them," said North Delta head coach Brandon Ciaramitaro.
The Green Wave opened up the second half with a little trickery as Chase Coker recovered a pooch kickoff on the Raider 38 yard-line. The gamble paid off as three plays later Lawson called his own number and raced 20 yards into the endzone to extend North Delta¹s lead to 21-13.
Lawson completed only one pass on the night for 18 yards, but rushed for 47 yards on 15 carries.
"I am proud of Skyler for the way he has come in and managed the game without asking him to do a whole lot. We just asked him to go out there and play smart and so far he has done a fine job of running the offense," said Ciarmitaro.
Kirk rallied yet again as Cole Crenshaw reeled in a 19-yard pass from Hudspeth with 5:07 left in the third quarter. Hudspeth hooked up with Dalton Turner for the two point conversion to tie the game at 21.
That would as close the Raiders would get as Morris iced the game for North Delta on an 18-yard run with 2:43 remaining in the game. Hagstrom followed Morris in rushing with 71 yards on 14 carries while Baker added two carries for nine yards. Morris caught the pass from Lawson for 18 yards.
Hunter Pitcher added four tackles and two quarterback sacks for the Green Wave defense while Will Magee added three stops and intercepted a pass. Morris also registered three tackles and forced a fumble. Tyler Beard contributed with three tackles while Justin added a fumble recovery.
North Delta was penalized nine times for 95 yards while Kirk was not flagged during the game.
Box led the Raiders in receiving with six catches for 64 yards while Kirk followed with five receptions for 67 yards. Turner and Crenshaw chipped in with two catches and Cole Mabry had one catch for 11 yards.
North Delta wraps up a three game homestand with a homecoming tilt against Tunica while Kirk travels to Strider Academy.
North Delta¹s Hunter Baker could not picked a better time to record the first interception of his high school career Friday night against Kirk Academy.
With the score tied 21-21 with 2:09 remaining in the third quarter, the freshman linebacker stepped in front of a Gunner Hudspeth pass and returned it 10 yards to the Raider 45-yard line.
Six plays later, quarterback Skyler Lawson scored on the first play of the fourth quarter from one yard out to give North Delta a 28-21 lead. From there the Green Wave would tack on another score to take a 35-21 victory over Kirk Friday night in a District 1-AA contest. "We were playing a straight up man defense and I just read the play,” said Baker of his interception. "We came out a little flat and they tied it up at halftime. We pretty much shut down their running game so they started throwing the ball. In the second half we did a better job putting pressure on their quarterback and kept them out of the end zone," said Baker, who along with teammate Parker Jones led the Green Wave defense with five tackles each.
Senior tailback Taylor Morris torched the Kirk defense for 195 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns as the Green Wave rushed for 322 yards. Morris' 82-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game staked North Delta to a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.
Kirk answered back on the following series as Tyler Kirk picked off a deflected pass from Lawson on the Green Wave 29 yard line. Four plays later, Hudspeth connected with Payton Box on an 11-yard scoring pass to even the game at seven following Travis Taylor¹s PAT with 6:42 left in the first quarter.
North Delta (3-2 & 1-0) retook the lead on the first play of the second quarter as Austin Hagstrom spun away from two would-be tacklers for a 22-yard touchdown run. William Dean booted his second of five successful PAT¹s to complete the six-play, 49-yard drive.
The Raiders however would strike again later in the quarter by marching 82 yards on 10 plays to close the margin to 14-13 as Hudspeth hit Kirk on a 17-yard scoring pass with 4:35 remaining before halftime as Taylor missed the point after.
The Raiders finished with 169 yards of offense, all through the air, as Hudspeth finished the night 16-of-31 passing with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Kirk was held on zero yards rushing by the North Delta defense. "
We knew Kirk would come out throwing the ball. We felt like we were better than them up front. I was surprised they did not run the ball more but they were having success throwing the ball in the first half. The second half we did a much better job putting pressure on their quarterback. I think we had four or five sacks, but our defensive backfield did an outstanding job in their coverages that gave our guys up front time to put pressure on them," said North Delta head coach Brandon Ciaramitaro.
The Green Wave opened up the second half with a little trickery as Chase Coker recovered a pooch kickoff on the Raider 38 yard-line. The gamble paid off as three plays later Lawson called his own number and raced 20 yards into the endzone to extend North Delta¹s lead to 21-13.
Lawson completed only one pass on the night for 18 yards, but rushed for 47 yards on 15 carries.
"I am proud of Skyler for the way he has come in and managed the game without asking him to do a whole lot. We just asked him to go out there and play smart and so far he has done a fine job of running the offense," said Ciarmitaro.
Kirk rallied yet again as Cole Crenshaw reeled in a 19-yard pass from Hudspeth with 5:07 left in the third quarter. Hudspeth hooked up with Dalton Turner for the two point conversion to tie the game at 21.
That would as close the Raiders would get as Morris iced the game for North Delta on an 18-yard run with 2:43 remaining in the game. Hagstrom followed Morris in rushing with 71 yards on 14 carries while Baker added two carries for nine yards. Morris caught the pass from Lawson for 18 yards.
Hunter Pitcher added four tackles and two quarterback sacks for the Green Wave defense while Will Magee added three stops and intercepted a pass. Morris also registered three tackles and forced a fumble. Tyler Beard contributed with three tackles while Justin added a fumble recovery.
North Delta was penalized nine times for 95 yards while Kirk was not flagged during the game.
Box led the Raiders in receiving with six catches for 64 yards while Kirk followed with five receptions for 67 yards. Turner and Crenshaw chipped in with two catches and Cole Mabry had one catch for 11 yards.
North Delta wraps up a three game homestand with a homecoming tilt against Tunica while Kirk travels to Strider Academy.
