Tigers attempt comeback; show true grit and heart in tough loss to Hills East
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Turning the ball over in football is a recipe for disaster. The only thing that can overcome turnovers is heart, determination and grit, all of which was on full display as the Tigers played on the road against the Hills East Thunderbirds this past Saturday, October 23.
The Thunderbirds made an interception on a tipped pass to open the game, which led to a touchdown and a very early Tiger deficit of 7-0. Back on offense, quarterback Owen Johansen hooked up with Drew Miller and Aidan Campbell for a Tiger drive that stalled out at the Hills 18-yard line. A field goal attempt was denied as the ball clanked off the upright with a swirling wind. Hills padded their lead with another touchdown to make it 13-0 at the end of the first quarter. A Tiger fumble on the ensuing drive led to another Hills touchdown and in the blink of an eye the Tigers were trailing 19-0.
The Tigers were down but not out.
A long methodical drive by the Tiger offense led to a 4-yard touchdown run by Jackson Campbell and the Tigers were starting to chip away. Owen Johansen came up with a big stop on a fourth down to get the ball back in Northport’s hands. However, another interception by Hills put an end to that drive.
The Tigers’ defensive unit stepped up big to force a punt by Hills deep in their own territory, but could not cash in on the play. After back-to-back stops, Hills had possession with time dwindling in the half. They would throw a long pass for a late touchdown and go up 25-7 at halftime.
The Thunderbirds had the ball to start the second half and the Tiger D stood its ground. But Northport’s offense came up empty again and its defense was right back on the field. When the Hills quarterback dropped back for a pass, cornerback Jack Helrigel read it perfectly, intercepting the ball and running it all the way back for a touchdown to trim the deficit to 25-14.
The Tiger defense came up with a stop on third down deep in their own territory on the next possession, and held Hills to a field goal to make it 28-14 early in the fourth. The offense was forced to punt on their next possession but again the defense picked them up and gave them another chance.
With three minutes left in the game, Johansen hit a cutting JJ Ahlstrand with a touchdown pass in the back of the end zone to pull the Tigers back to within seven. With time becoming a factor the Tiger kickoff team attempted an onside kick. The ball squirted past a Hills player, then pinballed off another before it was recovered by Thomas Butler – giving the Tigers life. The momentum of this game had changed. The offense was running the ball with authority and getting deeper into Hills’ territory; the Tigers were in position to tie this game up. They had chipped away at a large deficit the entire second half of this game. Unfortunately, momentum is only as good as the last play and another interception by Hills on their own 1-yard line gave them the ball back.
On the first play from scrimmage it seemed as if the Tigers came up with a safety but it was ruled down on the goal line. Hills star player Dakim Griffin was given the ball on the next play and ran it the length of the field for a 100-yard touchdown run. This iced the win for Hills and dropped the Tigers to 5-2.
The heart of this Tiger team did not go unnoticed by the fans on Saturday. They kept fighting to get back into the game, but just came up short – the 35-21 final score is not indicative of how they played.
The Tigers host Smithtown West in the regular season finale at 1:30pm this Saturday.
