By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – The phase of the game that gets overlooked the most, that’s taken for granted until a glaring disaster strikes, cost Bedford North Lawrence a huge price in points. When special teams are not special, or even solid, the result is devastating.
Bloomington North blocked two punts, forced a fumble on a third and returned two interceptions for scores. The Cougars accounted for only one offensive touchdown before the running clock was triggered, but dominated the other segments while beating down the Stars once again.
North forced five turnovers while cruising to a 45-0 win over BNL on Friday night. Junior linebacker Ross Ogden had a dream game with a blocked punt, a pick-six (among his two thefts in the secondary) and a scoop-and-score off a botched punt as the Cougars (1-1) continued their mastery of the series, winning for the 16th time in the last 17 meetings.
BNL (0-2) was its own worst enemy. In addition to the punt misery, North pocketed four interceptions, and even its first-half offensive touchdown – a 50-yard dash by quarterback Dash King – was the result of a missed tackle. BNL coach Derrick Barker was quick to shoulder the blame for the breakdowns.
“When you’re giving away points, it’s hard,” he said. “We didn’t do anything really well. It starts with coaching, it starts with me. We didn’t coach well, didn’t play well. It’s frustrating. That’s two weeks in a row where we couldn’t get anything rolling.”
Nothing is quite as demoralizing as a touchdown on a change of possession. North’s first touchdown came when Luke Freel flew in to block a punt, and Will Breedlove collected the loose ball to score from 10 yards at 5:16 in the first quarter.
Ogden blocked the next punt to set up the Cougars at the BNL 20, but BNL’s Luke Morris stripped the ball from running back Noah Ferree on the next play to seemingly avert another calamity. Not so. On the first pass after that fumble recovery, Ogden picked off a tipped pass and jaunted home from 10 yards for a 14-0 lead.
King’s explosive run gave North a 21-0 lead with 6:30 left in the half, and Ogden’s second pick led to a Joe Luther field goal from 39 yards with two seconds left in the half.
North scored twice in an 85-second span to start the running clock. A bad punt snap that bounced was then fumbled, and Ogden swooped in to gather the ball and trot in for a 31-0 advantage. Three plays later, Dayson Kirby’s pressured pass was intercepted by North’s Drew Zurbuch, who raced to the end zone from 42 yards for a 38-0 lead with 3:54 left in the third quarter.
“We talk all the time about special teams being a third of the game,” Barker said. “It’s hard to make kids believe that a lot of times. But in a game like this, you definitely see how fast one bad snap, or a missed block on a punt, and it’s seven points the other way. You can’t look at it as a play off. You have to understand it wins and loses games. It’s just deflating when we’re giving points away.”
North added a late score when Shaun Cooper’s 53-yard burst set up his own 1-yard touchdown.
The Cougars did not accumulate sparkling offensive stats, but didn’t need them. King finished with 85 rushing yards and Ferree added 77. Their best weapon was their special teams.
“We brought some pressure and made some nice blocks,” North first-year coach Anthony Lindsey said. “Scoop and score, that’s what you teach. I’m glad special teams picked up. That’s the second-most important thing to me as a coach. That’s a big part of our game.
“The No.1 thing for me is defense. We’re going to lean on them to get us the ball back, or go score themselves. Offensively we struggled a little bit, but the defense stepped up and picked up our team.”
Kirby completed 18 of 33 passes for 173 yards. Gavin Pedersen caught 5 for 81 yards (before leaving with a knee injury), while Dax Short and Jaden Gilbert each snagged four receptions.
The Stars will seek to rebound when they go on the road for their Hoosier Hills Conference opener, visiting Jeffersonville in Week 3. The Red Devils (1-1) rallied from a 12-0 deficit to clip Seymour 14-12 (capping a 99-yard drive with the game-winning TD with 25 seconds left) in their league debut.
Bl. North 14 10 14 7 – 45
Bedford NL 0 0 0 0 – 0
First quarter
BN – Will Breedlove, 10 return of blocked punt (Joe Luther kick) 5:16; BN – Ross Ogden, 10 interception return (Luther kick); 3:35
Second quarter
BN – Dash King, 50 run (Luther kick), 6:30; BN – Luther, 39 field goal, 0:02
Third quarter
BN – Ogden, 10 fumble return (Luther kick), 5:19; BN – Drew Zurbach, 42 interception return (Luther kick), 3:34
Fourth quarter
BN – Shaun Cooper, 1 run (Luther kick), 3:45
Team statistics
North – First downs 10 (8 by run, 1 by pass, 1 by penalty); Rushing 32-227; Passing 6-7-0-36; Total yards 263; Fumbles 2 (lost 2); Penalties 7-40
BNL – First downs 7 (3 by run, 4 by pass); Rushing 24-41; Passing 18-33-4-173; Total yards 214; Fumbles 1 (lost 1); Penalties 3-30
Individual statistics
Rushing – (North) King 12-85, Ferree 15-77, Cooper 5-65; (BNL) Kirby 3-(-8), Horton 13-22, Byers 1-(-1), J. Gilbert 1-(-2), Beeson 1-(-12), Engleking 3-23, Lanham 1-21, Hildum 1-0
Passing – (North) King 6-7-0-36; (BNL) Kirby 18-33-4-173
Receiving – (North) Brooks 2-11, Chitwood 2-13, Ferree 1-0, Williams 1-12; (BNL) Kern 2-33, Short 4-22, Pedersen 5-81, J. Gilbert 4-22, Horton 2-7, Axsom 1-5, Crane 1-3
