Published: September 06, 2008 01:17 am         

Cass’ defense stifles Northwestern

Kings start MIC campaign off with dominant performance

KOKOMO — The Lewis Cass football team finished first or second in the Mid-Indiana Conference in the 2003-07 seasons, compiling an outstanding 33-2 record in league play.

It appears the Kings are ready for another run at the top.

Class 2A No. 10-ranked Cass beat Northwestern 24-6 in the teams’ conference opener Friday night at Tiger Field.

“It’s a huge win,” Cass defensive tackle Kitt O’Brien said. “We came off that loss last week [27-20 to West Lafayette], which was a heartbreaker to us. We just had to get back on the right track and try to start off 1-0 in the MIC. It’s going to be a big game next week.”

Cass visits Hamilton Heights next week for their annual Week 4 showdown. The Cass-Heights winner went on to win the MIC championship from 2003-07.

Cass relied on a strong defensive effort to turn back Northwestern. The Kings led 7-0 at halftime, 14-0 at halftime and 21-0 after three quarters on the way to their ninth straight win in the teams’ series.

The Kings held the Tigers to negative-20 yards on the ground, a total weighed down by sacks. Still, the Tigers’ running backs managed just 28 yards on 14 attempts.

“It’s very hard to deal with those guys up front,” Northwestern coach John Hendryx said of O’Brien and other Cass linemen.

Defensive end Brady Tolle spearheaded the Kings with five solo tackles and three sacks. Linebacker Colton Zeck also had five solo tackles and cornerback Derrick Worden and linebacker Brody Edgerly had interceptions.

“Our linebackers were awesome in the first half. They started cramping up in the second half and that’s the reason [the Tigers] were starting to get some pass catches. But we got really good pressure from the line and got a lot of good sacks. Brady Tolle had a huge game,” O’Brien said.

The Kings received the opening kickoff and quickly marched down for a touchdown. Kyle Moore capped the seven-play, 59-yard drive with a seven-yard run off a counter.

The Tigers moved the ball well on their first drive too. They picked up four first downs on the 12-play drive, but they stalled at the Kings’ 19 and turned the ball over on downs.

Northwestern picked up just one more first down in the first half as Cass’ defense asserted control.

Cass added a touchdown in the second quarter and took a 14-0 lead into halftime. Northwestern had a chance to climb back into the game when it took the opening drive of the second half into the red zone. Quarterback Trevor Gibson threw a TD pass to Mitch Daily, but a penalty wiped out the play. Four plays later, the Tigers had to punt.

Cass followed with a nine-play, 87-yard scoring drive to take a three-score lead. Foreman punctuated the drive with a 45-yard TD pass to Moore on a nice rollout play with 2:21 left in the third quarter.

“That was a dagger,” Hendryx said.

After Edgerly picked off a pass that deflected off the back of a Northwestern player late in the third quarter, Richardson connected on a 20-yard field goal at 9:30 of the fourth quarter for a 24-0 lead.

The Tigers followed with a 10-play scoring drive to avoid a shutout. Gibson connected on 6 of 9 pass attempts on the drive which he capped with a 10-yard TD pass to Luke Miller.

The Tigers had two more possessions in the fourth quarter, but the Kings slammed the door with fourth-down sacks by Moore and Tolle to secure the 24-6 win.

“Overall, it’s a good solid win for us,” Cass coach Scott Mannering said. “This was the kind of win we needed. I think our kids weren’t really sure how good Northwestern was, but they know they’re a pretty good team right now.”

Foreman completed 10 of 17 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns to lead the winners. Moore and Zeck combined for 107 yards receiving. Worden chipped in a game-high 48 rushing yards.

One negative for the Kings — 11 penalties totaling 115 yards.

“I learned a few new calls [Friday],” Mannering said with a smile. “It’s a frustrating part of the game, but you have to deal with it and you have to adjust your game to the officials.”