Northlake Christian continues to struggle, falls to Desire Street

The Northlake Christian School Wolverines continued their struggles in district play Friday night at William Pitcher Field in Covington as they were defeated by the Desire Street Christian Academy Lions, 34-10.

As they have throughout most of the season, the Wolverines once again were not able to contain a talented running back, in this case Desire Street’s David Odds, who rushed for 179 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns. Lion quarterback Greg Williams finished the night 10-for-10 passing, with 150 yards and three touchdowns.

The first quarter of the game was dominated by the Lions, who drove 70 yards in 10 plays on a drive that spanned almost six minutes and culminated with Williams’ first touchdown pass for 33 yards to senior wide receiver Raymond Plain. After receiving the ensuing kickoff, the Wolverines were forced to go three and out, allowing Desire Street to take over at its own 25-yard line. The Lions then retained possession of the ball though the end of the first period, driving down to NCS’ 7-yard line as the period expired.

The initial quarter ended with the Wolverines having gained only 3 yards on offense on four plays, while the Lions finished the period with 138 yards of total offense and an 8-0 lead.

The Lions started the second quarter by finishing out the long drive it had begun the previous period with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Williams to junior wide receiver Johnell Perry that left the Lions up 14-0 after the two point conversion failed.

The Wolverines were then able to respond with a short drive down to the Lion 30-yard line, but a 16-yard loss on a sack of Wolverine quarterback Tim Broussard was followed by Broussard’s only interception of the night, killing the drive and returning possession of the ball to the Lions.

Before the end of the half, however, the Wolverines were able to get on the board with a 37-yard field goal by kicker Kevin Pence with only 38 seconds left in the second period. The field goal left the score at 14-3 at halftime.

Northlake Christian received the kickoff to begin the second half, but was once again forced to punt without achieving even one first down. The Lions returned Pence’s punt to NCS’ 44-yard line. On the third play from scrimmage, Williams threw his second touchdown pass of the night, this one a 32-yard strike to Perry that gave Desire Street a 20-3 lead.

The Wolverines were able to quickly strike back this time as they went 66 yards for a score that closed the gap to 20-10.

The Wolverine scoring drive was spearheaded by a 26-yard completion from Broussard to senior Alex Reed and was capped off by a 10-yard touchdown run by Broussard. Pence, who remains perfect on all extra point attempts and field goals for the season, made the point after.

The score did not remain 20-10 for long as Odds broke off a 55-yard touchdown run on the second play of the fourth quarter. The Lions then successfully completed their second two-point conversion of the night, bringing the score to 28-10. The Lions then scored once again late in the fourth quarter with another touchdown run by Odds, this one from just a yard out.

One bright spot for the Wolverines was the play of senior Reed, who has been used only sparingly on offense much of this season but who finished the night against the Lions with three receptions for 65 yards. Reed also had a touchdown called back on a penalty. Otherwise, on offense, the Wolverines finished the night with just 51 yards rushing and 62 yards passing, with Broussard getting sacked three times for losses of 26 yards. Broussard finished the night with 31 yards on nine carries and the one touchdown to lead the team in rushing.

Northlake Christian will play against Varnado next week for homecoming, again without the services of starting running back Derek Williams, who had hand surgery last week after sustaining a hand fracture in last week’s game against Kentwood.

In addition to the loss of Williams, the Wolverines also lost starting cornerback and tailback Kyle Mitchell, who sustained a season ending jaw fracture in the third period of the Desire Street game.

The loss leaves NCS winless in district play and 1-7 overall.