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By Andy States
Content Manager, SMAC
All week long, North Point coach Ken Lane and his staff had one simple message for the Eagles football team as it prepared to host the still unbeaten Huntingtown Hurricanes.
"Our big thing all week was we have to play four quarters," Lane said. "We can't play a half. We have to play the whole game."
The Eagles, in just their second season competing on the varsity level, endured their share of hard times in their inaugural varsity campaign last year. In Week 1 this season, North Point had a chance to take one from defending SMAC champion Patuxent, but faltered down the stretch. But on Friday night, the Eagles finally broke through with a landmark win against a top opponent.
Arlando Scott rushed for 179 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair in the fourth quarter, to lead the Eagles to a 20-14 win over the Hurricanes. North Point's win knocks Huntingtown from the ranks of the unbeaten, and also produces the first three-game winning streak in the Eagles' brief history. North Point did not achieve its third win until the season's ninth week a year ago, and lost to Huntingtown by a 41-6 count in last season's Week 4 matchup.
North Point (3-1, 3-0) took the early 7-0 lead on Scott's first touchdown run, an eight-yard jaunt, on the last play of the first quarter. Huntingtown (3-1, 2-1) quickly answered on a nine-play, 71-yard drive that culminated with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Peter Athens to D.J. Hooper. Hooper then put the Hurricanes in front on the following series, as he scooped up a fumble and scampered 72 yards for the go-ahead score.
But, staring at a 14-7 deficit after three quarters, the Eagles provided evidence that they may be ready to turn the corner. Scott pounded his way across the goal line on the second play of the fourth quarter to tie the score. North Point then drove 48 yards to pay dirt on its next possession, with Scott rushing in from four yards out for the eventual game-winning score just over halfway through the final period. That proved to be enough, as by and large North Point's defense held Huntingtown's prolific offense in check throughout the game.
"They played a good ball game," Huntingtown coach Jerry Franks said. "Our kids played hard. Our kids left it on the field and I can't ask for any more than that from them.
"Tonight North Point played an outstanding ball game."
For a team that has been looking to turn the corner from being just another competitive team into something greater, Friday night's win stood as possibly the biggest moment thus far in the program's history.
"It surely is, especially last year they beat us by 40," Scott said of the win's magnitude. "We've just been working hard. We came out here and won."
"It's a big win for us," added quarterback Ja'Ron Neal, who rushed for 79 yards. "It boosts our confidence up as a team. We came in with determination to upset a good football team. I'm just proud to get the 'W'."
Confidence was something the team was short on in its first foray into varsity competition last year. But the confidence gained by knocking off Huntingtown, which was a 3A South playoff qualifier a year ago, may be the greatest reward reaped, according to Lane.
"I think that's the biggest thing that maybe we gain out of this," he said. "The kids do have some more confidence after coming off last year, first year playing varsity with a lot of young kids trying to adjust to the speed of the game. Sometimes we didn't do a very good job. Coming in this year and all of a sudden you start to get in a little bit of a ryhthm. I just think it's huge for the kids' confidence."
"It's a brand-new football team," Neal said. "We're not the same football team as last year."
North Point 20, Huntingtown 14
H 0 14 0 0
N 7 0 0 13
First quarter
N - Scott 8 run (Griffin kick)
Second quarter
H - Hooper 8 pass from Athens (Peterson kick)
H - Hooper 72 fumble return (Peterson kick)
Fourth quarter
N - Scott 1 run (Griffin kick)
N - Scott 4 run (kick failed)
Top individual performers
Rushing
Huntingtown: Goodwin 14-51, Karbowsky 1-20, Athens 4-16
North Point: Scott 26-179, Neal 11-79
Passing
Huntingtown: Athens 9-22-0 112
North Point: Dempsey 2-3-0 16, Neal 1-2-0 1
Receiving
Huntingtown: Stueckler 4-46, Goodwin 2-1, Stanley 1-48
North Point: Hester 1-11