Northlake Christian School’s Wolverines traveled to Kentwood Friday night where they fought gamely, but still found themselves winless in district play as they suffered a 35-6 thumping at the hands of the Kangaroos. The loss dropped the Wolverine record to 0-3 in district play and 1-6 overall, while Kentwood remained undefeated in district play at 4-0. The Northlake defense, which has been vulnerable against the run throughout the season, played well at times but gave up several big plays that resulted in a lopsided score in what was a game that appeared to be much closer.

Kentwood was able to set the tone in its opening drive as it drove 44 yards from its own 33 yard line to the Wolverine 23 on a series of running plays highlighted by a 22 yard run by Kangaroo senior Tevin Goggins. Kentwood’s drive appeared to stall though as they found themselves facing a fourth-and-10, when quarterback Bobby Earl surprised the Wolverines with his first pass of the night, a 23 yard touchdown pass to Joshua Alexander that gave the Kangaroos a 7-0 lead.

The Wolverines were then unable to mount any offense on their first drive and punted to Kentwood, which took possession at their own 19-yard line with 5:23 remaining in the first quarter. On the second play from scrimmage on the ensuing drive, Earl took matters into his own hands and ripped off a 77-yard touchdown run to end the first quarter scoring with the Kangaroos leading 14-0. In the second quarter, both defenses played well, and the half ended without any further scoring.

alex reed

The third period started well for Northlake, which found itself with excellent field position at the Kentwood 25 after a series of personal fouls were assessed against the Kangaroos. This time the Wolverines were able to capitalize on their good fortune as the drive ended with a four-yard touchdown pass from Wolverine quarterback Tim Broussard to senior Will Werner. Northlake then tried a two-point conversion, which was unsuccessful, leaving Kentwood with a 13-6 lead with a little over eight minutes remaining in the third period.

The Kangaroos did not waste any time in responding to the Wolverine score, as Earl capped off an eight-play, 65-yard drive with a 35-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Eugene Buckner. The Kangaroos then attempted and completed a two-point conversion on a run by Buckner that brought the Kentwood lead to 22-6 by the end of the third quarter.

Kentwood tacked on another touchdown early in the fourth quarter on a drive that started late in the third period after the Kangaroos recovered a Northlake fumble at the Kentwood 34 yard line. The 66 yard touchdown drive that followed the fumble was finished off by Buckner, who ran the ball in from 10 yards out to give Kentwood a 28-6 lead after another two-point conversion attempt by the Kangaroos failed. The Wolverines then turned the ball over on downs at their own 48 yard line, and just two plays later Earl broke off another big run, this time for 45 yards and a touchdown that brought the game to its final score.

Interestingly, the Wolverines ran more plays than the Kangaroos, 60 to 52, but were simply unable to finish off drives that often looked promising. Also, the Northlake defense gave up 290 rushing yards to Kentwood, with Earl gaining 147 yards on just nine carries, Buckner tacked on another 92 yards on 13 carries, while Goggins gained 51 yards on five carries.

For Northlake, Broussard finished the night rushing with 52 yards on 15 carries, along with 74 yards passing, one touchdown and one interception as he completed 9-of-15 passes. Werner led the team in receptions with four catches for 30 yards and the touchdown, while Derek Williams added 24 yards on three catches.

After the game, senior defensive end Alex Reed, who played part of the game with a broken left little finger, admitted that mistakes and inconsistent play continue to be a problem for the Northlake defense. “I thought that overall, we played well but we simply gave up too many big plays.”

Next week, the Wolverines return home to William Pitcher Field in Covington as they continue district play against Desire Street Academy.