But the numbers he wanted to see, 28-16 in favor of his Huskies, were already gone. The lights were out.
“They cleared that off pretty quick,” said Collins. But he understood. That’s rivalry football, and the scoreboard operator at his home stadium had cleared the scoreboard just as quickly after Hopewell beat Hough with a last-second field goal the week before. Until last Friday at North, however, Hough had not been the team wanting to leave the scoreboard lighted well into the night.
The Huskies (3-4 overall, 2-1 I-Meck) took a two-touchdown lead 5:14 into the game and never trailed in their first win over one of the programs for which many Huskies once played.
“We set the tempo today,” said Hough receiver Brandon Mobley, a former North Viking. “Usually, the defense does, but we did tonight.”
And unlike against Hopewell, when the Huskies led by nine points in the fourth quarter and
eventually lost, Hough did not let up even though North showed late signs of life.
“The motto all week was finish,” said Collins. “We had a number of different guys come in and
compete and knew it’d be a four-quarter game. I’m really proud of the kids.”
In its second season, the victory gave Hough its third win for the first time and put the Huskies in afour-way tie for second place in the I-Meck entering Thursday’s game at West Charlotte. The Lions are also 2-1 in the league, as are Hopewell and Mooresville, which also were to meet each other.
The loss was North’s fourth consecutive and third in the I-Meck. “They just jumped off to a good start,” said North coach Mike Bradley. “They made some good plays. ... I think they did tonight what they needed to do to win.”
The Vikings, 1-6 overall, are 0-3 against I-Meck foes and were to face league leader Mallard Creek Thursday.
Stilley back in black
Although he had a heavily padded cast on his left (non-throwing) wrist, Hough quarterback Josh
Stilley was back on the field Friday and back in the action immediately, after having missed four games and being replaced by Evan O’Connor.
Stilley completed an 11-yard pass to Nick Burrow on the first play from scrimmage, then
completed three more passes for 25 yards on the 11-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard Jackson Campbell touchdown run and gave Hough the lead.
“The most important thing was to put the offense on the field first, put Josh Stilley on the field and let him throw,” said Collins.
The Huskies’ aggressive play also paid off early. On North’s second offensive play, Seth Pope
sacked Viking quarterback Kelly Hall, and Michael Ramirez recovered the fumble for Hough. Two plays later, Dre Long ran into the end zone from 11 yards out to give Hough a 14-0 lead with 6:46 to play in the first quarter. Although Hall hit Bryll Moss for an 8-yard score on North’s next possession to cut the deficit to one score, a 53-yard kick return by Tylan Murrell set up a Stilley 4-yard touchdown pass to Burrow.
Though he gave North two points by throwing the ball away from his own end zone in the second quarter, Stilley finished the night 8-of-19 for 73 yards and the touchdown. He also had a 1-yard touchdown run to extend Hough’s lead to 28-9 in the third quarter.
There was some rust evident in Stiley’s return as he overthrew a few receivers on passes he
typically would have completed. “I wish my percentage was a little more up,” he said.
Moss sparks Vikings
Throughout the first half, Hall found Moss open downfield and threw his way. The two hooked up three times on North’s second drive, including on a 20-yard pass and then on the 8-yard scoring play. Hall hit Moss for a 28-yard completion in the second quarter, and Moss finished the night with six catches for 67 yards and the score.
Moss replaced Hall under center in the fourth quarter and completed back-to-back passes of 28 and 42 yards to Jaylin Harvell and Rashaan Brown. Moss ran for a 9-yard touchdown on the next play. He completed 7-of-10 passes for 95 yards and was intercepted once on a deflected pass.
“I thought Bryll did really well considering he was not getting a lot of reps,” said Bradley.
Bradley said Monday that Moss would start at quarterback at Mallard Creek.
PATs
Collins spoke during the week about the importance of containing North’s Terrence Clyburn, and the Huskies did. Clyburn had eight catches for 57 yards, but drew a lot of attention and did not get free. “We didn’t get the opportunity to big play them,” said Bradley. Clyburn has been playing with a fractured hand. ... Mobley and Connor Millikin had interceptions for Hough. ... Hough safety Ben Craig broke up a fourth down pass in the end zone in the second quarter and made a fourth down tackle for loss in the third. ... Hough benefitted from a roughing the kicker penalty on North early in the fourth quarter. There was no question the Vikings ran into punter Nathan Deering, but Deering’s punts usually don’t veer sharply toward the sideline without being deflected. The Huskies were due a favorable call, however, after at least one personal foul penalty against Hopewell was questionable at best. ... North was without lineman Jon Granger, and lost defensive back D.J. Williams to a deep thigh bruise in the third quarter. ... Campbell finished with 112 yards on 23 carries. Meanwhile, the Vikings totaled just 52 yards on 21 carries. “Our inability to run the football hurts us,” said Bradley.
