The Northlake Christian School Wolverines avoided the stormy Friday night weather by moving their first regular game of the season to Saturday morning at William Pitcher Field in Covington.

The change in date did not help the Wolverines avoid another type of storm, however, as the Crescent City Pioneers, led by the slashing runs of Keith Villafranco, blew past Northlake, 14-3. Villifranco was a one man wrecking crew, as he continually pounded the Wolverine defense with 31 carries, 184 rushing yards, and two touchdowns. Villafranco’s offensive output almost doubled Northlake’s 98 yards in total offense as the Wolverine’s were simply never able to figure out a way to consistently shut Villafranco down.

The Pioneers were able to set the tone of the game early as they drove 85 yards on their opening possession for a touchdown. During that drive, that ended with an 11 yard touchdown run by Villafranco, Crescent City’s offense chewed almost eight minutes off of the clock. On the ensuing kickoff, Northlake’s Derek Williams returned the ball to the 35 yard line, setting the Wolverine’s up with decent field position for a drive to answer the Pioneer’s early score. Three plays into that drive, however, a Williams run for a first down was nullified by a holding call, and two plays later, Norhtlake’s quarterback Tim Broussard was sacked for a 13 yard loss, forcing the Wolverine’s to punt the ball away. Northlake would not see the ball again for the rest of the first quarter as they finished that quarter with just three net yards in total offense on just seven plays.

NCS quarterback Tim Broussard releases a pass in Saturday'€™s game against Crescent City. (Photo by Gwen Ladner)

The second quarter started with the Crescent City offense in possession of the ball at their own 50 yard line. On the third play of that drive, Villafranco broke off a 40 yard touchdown run that was called back because of a blocking penalty against the Pioneers, that reduced Villafranco’s gain to just 16 yards. From that point, the Wolverine defense stiffened and the Pioneers were forced to punt from the Northlake 48 yard line.

Unfortunately, Northlake’s punt returner, Will Werner, fumbled the return on the punt, leaving Crescent City in possession of the ball at the Wolverine 24 yard line. The Pioneers then had two apparent touchdowns nullifid by penalties, and finally turned the ball over to Northlake on downs, with just 2:27 remaining in the second quarter. This time the Wolverine’s only possession of the quarter netted five yards before Northlake had to punt the ball away, and the score was left with Crescent City up 7-3 at the half.

The third quarter saw the Wolverine’s kicking game, shine, as kicker/ punter Kevin Pence nailed a 50 yard punt early in the quarter that pinned the Pioneers back to their 30 yard line. Four plays into the Crescent City drive, Wolverine Zack Malloy, recovered a Pioneer fumble that gave the Wolverine’s possession of the ball at the Crescent City 37 yard line. Northlake then put together a seven play drive, its longest of the day, that set Pence up for a 38 yard field goal, and narrowed the score to 7-3, at the end of the quarter.

As the fourth quarter progressed, Northlake’s frustration on offense mounted, as the Wolverine’s attempted 13 passing plays during the quarter that resulted in two interceptions and no further scoring by the Wolverine’s despite one very nice 27 yard reception by Northlake’s Cory Weaver.

Once the ball was turned however Villafranco continued to wear down Northlake and capped of his day with a 38 yard touchdown run with 4:14 remaining in the game to seal the 14-3 victory for Crescent City.

By game’s end, the Wolverine’s had mustered 28 yards in rushing and 63 yards in total passing on offense. Broussard finished the day passing with eight completions on eighteen attempts but with the two interceptions. The leading rusher for Northlake was Derek Williams with four carries for twenty one yards.

On defense, Northlake was led once again by senior defensive end Alex Reed, who had five solo tackles and one blocked pass. Will Sigl and Cody Jones each also had three tackles for the Wolverine’s, and Northlake’s Shawn Burst added two sacks. Time of possession told the story of the game however, as the Pioneers held the ball for 34:06, compared to the Wolverine’s 13:94.

After the game Northlake Coach Rowland Skinner stated that was disappointed with his team’s penalties and mistakes, but gave credit to Crescent City and its workhorse, Villafranco, for outplaying the Wolverine’s.

The Wolverine’s continue non district play next Friday as they take on Ridgewood in Metairie.