Millard North's Chris Bailey looks over his shoulder at Centrals Camron Payne on the first play from scrimmage at Buell Stadium Friday night. The third-ranked Mustangs responded, scoring three touchdowns after intermission and pulling away for a 22-7 victory over the ninth-ranked Eagles. The win boosted Millard North to 2-1 and dropped Central to 0-3.
“I told our guys that we had to quit shooting ourselves in the foot,'' Petito said. “The mistakes were killing us in the first half, and we did a much better job in the second half.''
The first shot into the Mustangs' foot came on the third play of the game, played in front of an estimated 3,000 fans at Buell Stadium.
A 36-yard run by junior fullback Chris Bailey on the first play from scrimmage and a 33-yard scamper by sophomore quarterback Isaac Aakre put the Mustangs in business at the Eagles' 1-yard line. But Aakre mishandled the next snap and strong safety Dennis Barfield pounced on the fumble for the Eagles.
Millard North still managed to take the lead four plays later when Central quarterback Will Burgess was whistled for intentional grounding in his own end zone, giving the Mustangs a safety. The score remained 2-0 until the Eagles scored their lone touchdown late in the first half.
Starting at their own 32, Burgess hit flanker Darian Barrientos Jackson on a crossing pattern for 26 yards. A 12-yard run by tailback Jackie Davis was followed by a 30-yard touchdown pass from Burgess to speedy flanker Teddy Lampkin, who made a nice over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone.
The Mustangs ground out 196 rushing yards in the first half but were stymied by a tough Central defense. Senior end Eddie Vinson helped lead the defensive charge as the Eagles took their 7-2 lead into the third quarter.
Millard North quickly grabbed the lead in the second half, scoring on its first possession. But it took a little gambling on the part of Petito to put his team back on top.
The Mustangs marched from their own 28 to the Central 17, where the drive stalled. But Millard North went for it on fourth down-and-1, and senior Jacob Bergmeier popped a 17-yard run all the way to the end zone.
After the Eagles were forced to punt on their next possession, Millard North went back to work. An eight-play, 76-yard drive was capped by a 31-yard touchdown pass over the middle from Aakre to Bergmeier.
The Mustangs had run that same pattern six plays earlier, but an open Bergmeier had dropped the ball. This time, he hung on and Millard North extended its lead to 15-7.
Bailey, the workhorse fullback, put the game away with 4:14 left when he broke up the middle for a 5-yard TD run. The touchdown was set up by an interception by senior defensive back Cole Fisher, who picked off a Burgess pass at midfield and returned it to the Central 18.
Bailey led the Millard North ground game, rushing 32 times for 193 yards. Aakre rushed 24 times for 158 yards as the Mustangs finished with 399 yards on the ground, compared with 35 for the Eagles.
“Coach said at halftime that we needed to come together,'' Bailey said. “The offense wasn't clicking, but we got it going in the second half.''
Central tried to rally in the second half behind the arm of Burgess, but the Eagles came up short. The quarterback completed 10 of 40 passes in the game for 171 yards and was intercepted five times — twice by Iowa recruit Fisher and twice by senior defensive back Devin Bass.
“It wasn't pretty, but we'll take it,'' Petito said. “Central played hard, but we were able to keep our poise and got the win.''
Om. Central (0-3).......................0 7 0 0— 7
Millard North (2-1).............................2 0 13 7—22
MN: Safety (Central penalized for intentional grounding in the end zone)
OC: Teddy Lampkin 30 pass from Will Burgess (Mykal Ramsey kick)
MN: Jacob Bergmeier 17 run (run failed)
MN: Bergmeier 31 pass from Isaac Aakre (Andy Bayne kick)
MN: Chris Bailey 5 run (Bayne kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: OC, Jackie Davis 5-30, Teddy Lampkin 3-8, Paulino Gomez 1-1, Will Burgess 1- (minus 4); MN, Chris Bailey 32-193, Isaac Aakre 24-158, Kyle Erickson 2-28, Jacob Bergmeier 1-17, Nick Bellus 2-3.
PASSING: OC, Will Burgess 10-40-5 171; MN, Isaac Aakre 1-4-0 31.
RECEIVING: OC, Teddy Lampkin 5-59, Darian Barrientos Jackson 3-71, Trae Hollins 1-23, Calvin McCoy 1-18; MN, Jacob Bergmeier 1-31.
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