NCS rolls past Pine in District 8-2A play

A blocked punt, two interceptions, and two fumbles led to touchdowns by Northlake Christian School’s Wolverines in a 43-8 blowout over the Pine Raiders Thursday night on a rainy evening in Pine. Six turnovers by the Raiders erased any chance for Pine to make the contest competitive.

Pine (2-6, 0-3) was able to stop Northlake Christian (6-2, 2-1) on their first series after the Wolverines took the opening kickoff and drove down to the Pine 12-yard line.

Northlake quarterback Tim Broussard’s 25-yard run down the left side of the field to the Pine 20 was the big play of the nine-play drive. But Pine was able to stop the Wolverines on fourth-and-one, and took over at the 12.

Pine moved the ball out to the 21 before being forced to punt.

Northlake’s Mallery Mele charged right up the middle to block Andrew Brumfield’s punt and carry it into the end zone for a touchdown, and his kick for the extra point was good for a 7-0 lead.

On Pine’s next series from its 23, Brumfield’s pass was intercepted by Derek Williams and Northlake took over at the Pine 30. The Wolverines only needed six plays to score, ending with a one-yard run by Williams over the right side of the line for a touchdown. Williams had a 10-yard run earlier in the drive. Mele’s extra point kick was good. The Wolverines jumped out to a 14-0 lead with 2:10 left in the first quarter.

After a touchback, Pine’s Austin Thomas fumbled the ball at the 23 and Northlake’s Cody Jones recovered. Two costly Pine penalties for holding and grabbing the face mask after a 20 yard pass completion from Broussard to Jones quickly put the Wolverines in scoring position at the two. At the beginning of the second quarter, Broussard kept the ball up the middle for a touchdown from the one. The extra point kick increased the lead to 21-0 with 11:22 remaining in the 2nd quarter.

Chamychal Brown replaced Brumfield at quarterback on Pine’s first series of the second quarter. On the second play of the series he fumbled and P. J. Guidry recovered for the Wolverines at the Pine 20. Broussard kept the ball and ran 20 yards for a touchdown on the first play. Mele’s point after kick was good.

With 10:20 left in the half, the Wolverines were in charge with a 28-0 lead.

Mike Brumfield provided a spark with a 39-yard kickoff return from his seven giving the Raiders good field position at the 46.

However, Pine could not take advantage of the great return and punted back to the Wolverines.

Pine’s next possession ended when Chris Craighead intercepted Brown’s pass at the two, and the half ended soon after.

Brown was again intercepted on the first series of the second half by Dylan Paquette, who returned the ball 29 yards to the Raiders’ two. The Raiders showed that they weren’t giving up, and took over on downs at the 27 after a pair of costly Wolverine penalties.

The defensive effort by Pine failed to help because on the Raiders’ very next play Brown’s pitch to Mike Brumfield was picked up by Austin Cherry and returned 21 yards for a touchdown. Northlake’s two-point conversion on a run by Broussard was good, giving the Wolverines a 36-0 lead.

Northlake scored its final touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter on a 9-yard touchdown run by Cherry, and the extra point gave NCS a 43-0 lead.

On Pine’s final possession, Tu Nguyen capped a seven-play drive with a touchdown run. Thomas converted for two points, and the scoring was capped at 43-8.

NCS hosts St. Thomas Aquinas Friday in a key district match up.