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Colerain Defeats Northmont 35-6 Game Stats
Englewood Independent
September 1, 2010
by Norm Lewis
The Northmont Thunderbolt football team started the 2010 campaign on a disappointing note last Saturday night as Cincinnati Colerain High School notched a commanding 35-6 victory over the T-Bolts in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown at UC’s Nippert Stadium.
The Northmont schedule this year finds it opening against three Cincinnati schools, all traditional powers in Southwest Ohio, as Princeton and Moeller visit Good Samaritan Stadium over the next two weeks. Both scored victories over GWOC rivals Beavercreek and Wayne, respectively, this past weekend.
Head Coach Lance Schneider has tried to elevate Northmont’s capacity to keep pace with the football powers in Ohio over the last decade, and his philosophy has been that in order to be able to compete with top programs, you’ve got to play them.
“We’ve got to measure ourselves against teams like Colerain. It shows you where you need to improve as a team and a program,” commented Schneider after the game.
The T-Bolts managed to stay with Colerain for much of the first half, trailing only 14-6 as the teams went to their locker rooms at halftime. But the second half saw Colerain dominate, totaling three more scores while the Northmont offense was unable to move the ball with any consistency.
Overall, the potent Colerain option offense rushed for 386 yards of its total 435 yards as quarterback Tyler Williams and his backfield mates were able to consistently find running lanes through the Northmont defense. Williams ended the night with 165 yards rushing on 20 attempts and two TDs.
“That QB was fast. You can practice against a certain offense but until you see him in person it’s not truly realistic,” said Schneider.
Meanwhile, the Northmont offense, with sophomore Cameron Belton making his first start at quarterback, could only muster 133 yards of total offense, most of it in the first half.
Belton, though pressured much of the night by the Colerain defense, played with a poise that belied his youth and inexperience. He completed 12 of 25 passes for 87 yards and one interception. Most of the completions and yardage came in the first half at he was able to hit some quick passes to receivers before Colerain adjusted its coverage and pass rush.
The game started with both squads moving the ball well as each team tested the other for strengths and weaknesses.
After a 15-play Colerain drive culminated with a 6-yard Williams TD run, with the extra point good, the score was 7-0 with 2:54 left in the first quarter.
It stayed that way until the middle of the second quarter as the Northmont defense held Colerain for two series, including an impressive stop on 4th and 1 at the Colerain 46-yard line.
At that point, the Thunderbolt offense had its most impressive drive of the night. Belton hit senior wide receiver Jordan Taylor for gains of 6 yards and 16 yards and the T-Bolt running attack did the rest to lead a 54-yard drive to the end zone. Jeremy Campbell pushed the ball over from the one-yard line with 3:43 left until halftime. Unfortunately, the extra point was not good so the score was 7-6 in favor of Colerain.
Colerain wasted no time in responding. Two plays after the ensuing kickoff, Williams took off on a 50-yard scamper to the end zone. After the successful extra point, the T-Bolts were now behind 14-6 at the half.
The third and fourth quarters were all Colerain. As the Northmont offense was not able to move the ball, generating only 40 yards of offense for the whole half, the defense constantly found itself on the field and began to get fatigued.
“The offense couldn’t make first downs. Our defense couldn’t get off the field and just wore down,” explained Schneider.
This put the game in the control of Williams and company who began to exploit the tired Northmont defense for yardage. Running back Trayion Durham began to gobble up yards and chunks of the clock as the Cardinals rolled for three more touchdowns to make the final score 35-6.
Junior linebacker Kaleb Ringer led the Northmont defense with 12 tackles. Junior safety Justin Woods and senior linebacker Willie Myers were also active with ten tackles each. Woods also had an interception from his safety position that most likely prevented another Colerain touchdown.
The Thunderbolts hope to improve their record this Friday night against Princeton at Good Samaritan Stadium. It is Hall of Fame Night which will see four new members of the Football Hall of Fame inducted at 6:45 PM in front of the home stands.
SCORE BY QUARTERS 1 2 3 4 OT TOTAL
Northmont 0 6 0 0 0 6
Colerain 7 7 14 7 0 35
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