Kyle's 225 yards, four TDs power North past Delano, 41-27
Sep. 2—On a night of big plays, North High took things to a new level against visiting Delano on Thursday night.
Junior running back Dillon Kyle rushed for a game-high 225 yards and four touchdowns, sparking his team to 27 straight points during one stretch, and the host Stars pulled away for a 41-27 non-league victory.
"We knew coming in that they were a super, tough, physical, explosive team," North coach Richie Bolin said. "We really had to harp on our defense, 'hey, they're going to get some yards, they're going to get some plays. This is a boxing match. They're going to punch you, don't blink. Punch back and keep on going.' And that's what our guys did."
Kyle scored on runs of 11, 54, 87 and 17 yards, the final of which in a wildcat formation gave North a 35-21 lead with 6:40 left in the third quarter. He had 198 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries in the first half, leaving the game after suffering a leg cramp on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Senior Brody Napier finished things off with 56 yards on nine carries to essentially run out the clock in the final 12 minutes of play.
"Coming out in the third, we were going to see what kind of character we had," Bolin said. "Neck-to-neck with a very talented squad, we rose to the occasion. So that's stuff we can build on."
The Tigers (2-1) countered with several big plays of their own, highlighted by the play of sophomore running back Roberto Garcia and senior George Inguito.
Garcia, simply called RG by his teammates and coaches, opened the scoring with a 73-yard touchdown run on the third play of the game. He finished with 181 yards on 19 carries, but his brief absence after being shaken up in the third quarter cost his team much-needed momentum.
Trailing 35-21 late in the third quarter, Delano moved the ball to the North 15, driving 50 yards on seven plays. But Garcia missed three plays after limping off the field with an apparent leg injury. He returned for a fourth-and-three play from the 8, but came up a yard short of the first-down marker to give up the ball on downs.
North (2-1) ate up most of the fourth quarter with two long drives, capped by an 8-yard scoring run on fourth down by quarterback Carson Bennett, his second of the night, to make it 41-21 with 44 seconds to play. Bennett gave his team the lead for good with a 57-yard touchdown run on the third play of the second half. He finished with 78 yards on seven carries.
"Our O-line ... I can't thank them enough," Bolin said. "They did an incredible job."
A see-saw battle in the first half, North capitalized on great field position and tied the game at 7-7 on an 11-yard run by Kyle. Jimmy Amador sacked Delano quarterback Eddie Silva on his own 2-yard line — a 14-yard loss — and the Stars took over possession just 19 yards from the end zone following a 14-yard punt return by Tyrone Cooper.
"We have to clean it up," Delano coach Frank Gonzales Jr. said. "We're going to look at film and see where we went wrong and correct it for next week."
Inguito returned the ensuing kick-off 90 yards for a touchdown to give Delano a 14-7 lead, but Kyle tied it again with a 54-yard TD run with 4:16 left in the first half. Later in the game, Inguito capped the scoring with an 89-yard kick-off return with 27 seconds left.
"Last year we came in and changed the culture," Gonzales said. "This year we don't have to change the culture so much, now we just gotta keep stepping forward and get these kids believing in the process and learn how to prepare properly so that we can come out in games like this. And games like this show us things we have to fix."
Delano responded with another score, keyed by a 40-yard run by Garcia, and led 21-14 when Silva avoided pressure and lofted a 21-yard scoring pass to Victor Arroyo with 1:30 left in the second quarter.
"But I'm pleased with where we're at from last year to this year," Gonzales said. "Our kids are one more year mature and also I attribute it to the weight room. We have to compete and I was proud of our guys."
As it did all night, North had an answer to Arroyo's touchdown.
After being pushed back to its own 13 with a holding call on the kick-off, Kyle busted another gain, sprinting through the line 87 yards to tie the game again at 21 just before halftime.
"It's good," said Bolin of his team's performance. "We're playing good teams, and our big point is we don't want to be our best at the end of August or early September. We want to keep climbing and play our best football at the end of October and early November. So this lets our guys know that we can play with some good teams ... and we have a big test over at San Luis (Obispo) over at the coast (next week)."
