'The defense stepped it up': Defense leads the way in Northwestern's win over Black River
WEST SALEM – It’s not a secret Northwestern’s offense can light up the scoreboard.
The Huskies relied on their offense last week against Keystone and much of last season to win games.
It was the defense’s turn to step up and carry the load in a 29-6 win over Black River Friday at Northwestern High School.
Northwestern (2-0) limited the Pirates offense to 157 yards on 46 plays and just six first downs.
“The defense stepped it up tonight,” Huskies quarterback Ethan Siders said. “If it wasn’t for them, I think it would be a different scoreboard. They did a heck of a job today.”
Unofficially, Nolan Hartsel led NW with 18 tackles. Anthony Huber made 13 tackles and Collin Good eight.
Black River (0-2) lost its top two offensive players, wide receiver Tyler Mrakuzic and running back Charlie Wells, to injuries on the same first-quarter drive. Neither returned to the game.
Losing those two for the game made things difficult for the Pirates, who were making things up on the fly in response to not having them on the field.
“Those injuries are huge,” Black River coach Kyle Clark said. “They are two two-way starters who are seniors. They are phenomenal players. A lot of what we do on offense is because we have them. (Losing them) hurts.
“We were kind of just drawing stuff up in the dirt to keep the ball moving.”
On Northwestern’s first drive of the game, Siders hit Cade St. Clair for a 64-yard gain to set up first-and-goal from the Pirates 4. Siders rushed in from that distance two plays later to make it 6-0 Huskies.
Later in the first quarter, Black River’s punter had a snap sail over his head on fourth down. Northwestern recovered the ball at the Pirates 25, and Good scored two plays later on a 9-yard run.
Kicker Alex Albright booted a 28-yard field goal with 23 seconds left until halftime to make it 15-0 Huskies.
Siders hooked up with St. Clair for a 9-yard scoring strike late in the third quarter, pushing Northwestern ahead 22-0. Black River finally got on the board early in the fourth quarter on a 2-yard touchdown run by Blake Hopkins, but Siders put the game out of reach with a 6-yard scoring run midway through the fourth.
Siders finished 13-of-24 passing for 149 yards while rushing for 26 yards. Good paced the ground attack with 80 yards on 13 carries and caught three balls for 17 yards. St. Clair led all receivers with three catches for 84 yards.
“It was a pretty sloppy team performance,” Siders said. “Our last week's team performance was way better. Our offense needs to pick it up. When we play better teams, we’re going to get swept off our feet. We have to play better and have better practices.”
Hopkins led the Pirates on the ground with 30 yards on 10 carries. He also caught two balls for 17 yards.
Quarterback Eric Groesser completed 6 of 13 passes for 94 yards, while Nathan Urbas caught two balls for a team-high 63 yards.
“These kids fought so stinking hard tonight,” Clark said. “They never died. They kept fighting and fighting. We were yelling new plays as we were lining up, and they kept responding.
“This team is going to go somewhere. We’re just going through a really tough time right now.”
Northwestern is off to its first 2-0 start since 2016, when it began the season with seven consecutive wins.
What’s been the key to the solid start?
“Our senior leadership,” Huskies first-year coach Joe Cardinal said. “We have quite a few seniors, and those guys are a family. They really do care about each other, and they pick each other up.”
Reach Chris at csnow@times-gazette.com
On Twitter: CSnow_TG
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Northwestern rides its defense to win over Black River
