Ken Roberts
For The New Era
In a game marred by untimely penalties and turnovers, Sweet Home used two second quarter touchdowns to defeat Taft 14-0.
Like the week before, it was a case of Travis Smith running loose with the help of his fullbacks and offensive line. Smith picked up 222 yards on just 13 carries and also caught 3 passes for another 45 yards. In the second half, he ran for over 20 yards on four consecutive carries. Unfortunately, on three of those occasions in between his attempts, other Husky runners fumbled the ball away as the Huskies worked their way near or inside Taft’s 20 yard line.
Sweet Home established a stifling defense, starting early in the game. They allowed only one first down in the first quarter and then forced the Tigers into three turnovers in the second quarter. Smith initiated the turnover trend by forcing a fumble and then recovering the loose ball. The first two interceptions of the night came from both of the outside linebackers, Charlie Fitzsimons and Brian Lindsay, who was seeing his first action at that position this year. Lindsay was moved to linebacker from defensive back to protect his knee from the constant cuts of pass defending.
“It’s pretty easy,” said Lindsay about the position change. “You have one job and that’s to keep them from getting outside. I can come up and make hits and not worry about my knee somuch.”
Unlike the game at Central, Sweet Home was able to keep Taft contained all night. Lindsay did have to come off the field for awhile after twisting the knee but should be ready for North Marion on Thursday.
Lindsay was also fundamental in the first Husky touchdown of the night. After being held on their first two drives, once on an interception in the red zone, Sweet Home struck on the first play of their third possession when Lindsay, who first saw Matt Morneault open in the flat, chose to loft a 54 yard pass to Tim Faulconer out of a fake reverse. Faulconer attacked the safety as if it were a block on a sweep and then released up field.
“Brian really launched that thing,” explained Faulconer, who caught a similar pass on a halfback option against Central for the opening score that night as well. “We run it in practice a lot and all I have to do is catch the ball.”
Later in the same quarter, the Huskies highlighted their big play capability again when Smith blew by the Taft defense enroute to an 80 yard touchdown run.
“The receivers, after the first contact of the play, are getting downfield and making blocks,” said Smith, explaining the reason for his success on the long gainers. “There are only one or two guys in the way, so that gives me a way to make a cut.”
The Huskies never mounted any long drives. In the third quarter, poor field position and a bizarre sequence of penalties kept them from moving the ball. In the fourth quarter, they kept threatening to put the game out of reach but fumbled on three consecutive possessions to allow Taft to remain close.
However, Taft never could get their offense untracked. Only once, on their final drive, did they ever penetrate inside the Husky 30 yard line. Smith ended that threat with the Huskies’ third interception of the night. Brandon Martin led the Huskies in tackles for the second straight game since his return from an injury with 10. Smith and Ryan Elliott contributed seven each.
Despite his and the team’s effort, Martin was not satisfied yet with his own performance.
“I feel like I’m playing really slow,” stated Martin, who feels his injured shoulder is okay but is still on his mind. “I think I should be at my highest playing level at all times. It frustrates me at times when I can’t be.”
Martin and Elliott, the inside linebackers, felt they were waiting for the ball to come to them instead of making the quick read and getting to the ball carrier. Still coach Rob Younger felt the Huskies’ defense was in control at all times.
“Our defense swarmed the ball and took away their running game,” said Younger. “I didn’t feel like at any time Taft established anything.”
Taft managed only 170 yards of total offense. Younger was excited about the play of the secondary who held Tiger quarterback to just 8 completions out of 25 attempts. Several of those catches had to be spectacular because of the tight coverage and punishing hits following the catch.
“We were always in position and that’s something we’ve been working very hard at,” noted Younger.
Offensively, the Huskies racked up 401 yards, 121 of those through the air as quarterback Kyle Pettit effectively mixed in the pass especially in the first half to give Sweet Home a balanced offense. Faulconer, the top Husky receiver this year, led all receivers with three catches for 71 yards.
The Huskies, now 2-2, stay at home as the Capital Conference schedule begins this Thursday against North Marion, who has an 0-4 record, including a 28-25 loss to Taft in their opening game.
“Even though we got beaten in the first two games, it was beneficial to us because it showed the kids the level of competition we need to get to,” said Younger. “The kids have done a good job of taking that and making themselves a better football team.”