The Mustangs ended Millard South’s 16-game winning streak with Friday night’s 21-16 win before an estimated 7,000 at Buell Stadium.
“Once we caught up to their speed, I thought we played sound defensively,’’ Millard North coach Fred Petito said. “We tackled well.’’
Ben Jansen at linebacker and Iowa recruit Cole Fisher at free safety had big games and big hits for the No. 2 Mustangs (3-1). Fisher was part of a secondary that mixed up its coverages and kept Millard South senior quarterback Blake Headley from getting into his usual rhythm.
A 76-percent passer through three games, Headley was 14 of 39 for 212 yards, two interceptions and just one touchdown pass. In the second half, the Nebraska baseball recruit was just 8 of 25 with the interceptions made by Devin Bass and Josh Couch for the Mustangs.
Couch helped seal the victory, the first for the Mustangs over the Patriots since 2005.
He stripped the ball from Millard South receiver Brandon Clark on a fourth-and-7 pass from the Mustangs’ 24 with 3:14 left.
After the Patriots (3-1) got the ball back with 1:31 left at their 48 following a three-and-out by their defense, Couch sacked Headley on a second-down play from the Mustangs’ 41.
After a spike on third down, Headley and Clark weren’t on the same page and the quarterback threw well behind the receiver to start the Millard North celebration.
“This was huge,” Couch said. “We’ve been rebuilding for the past two years, and this means a lot to us.’’
Millard North trailed only once, at 16-14 after the Patriots scored the first nine points of the second half in less than four minutes.
Eddie Collins returned a punt 57 yards to cut Millard North’s lead to 14-13. A high snap led to kicker Joel Fickel missing his extra-point attempt.
After Jordan Wisdom recovered Millard North’s only fumble of the game, Fickel made a line-drive 41-yard field goal.
The Mustangs regained the lead early in the final quarter on back-to-back big plays.
Chris Bailey, who had popped for a 34-yard touchdown to open the scoring, picked up 18 yards before Isaac Aakre broke loose on an option play to his left for a 40-yard touchdown run with 10:06 left.
The sophomore again got everybody in the Mustangs’ backfield involved. Nick Bellus and Bailey, who led all rushers with 99 yards, had 13 carries apiece. Aakre had nine carries and Jacob Bergmeier, who scored Millard North’s other touchdown on a 25-yarder midway through the second quarter, had seven as Millard North ran for 246 yards.
Millard South hurt itself with a half-dozen errant snaps, high and low, and drops by its receivers.
“The snaps, that’s something we haven’t had trouble with all year,’’ Patriots coach Andy Means said. “We made a lot of mistakes, and that’s on me. We’ll get them corrected.’’
Including a snap on an early field-goal try that rolled for a 23-yard loss, the Patriots’ ground game ended with a net loss of 22 yards.
“It’s been our concern all year that we need to run the ball better,” Means said. “They played great defense. We just got to get better.’’
Millard North (3-1)..........................7 0 7 7—21
Millard South (3-1)........................7 0 9 0—16
MN: Chris Bailey 34 run (Andy Bayne kick)
MS: Brandon Clark 41 pass from Blake Headley (Joel Fickel kick)
MN: Jacob Bergmeier 25 run (Andy Bayne kick)
MS: Eddie Collins 57 punt return (kick failed)
MS: Joel Fickel 41 field goal
MN: Issac Aakre 40 run (Andy Bayne kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: MN, Nick Bellus 13-44, Aakre 9-36, Bailey 13-99, Bergmeier 7-66, Devin Bass 1-3, team 1-minus 2. MS, Tré Sacks 8-18, Quentin Urban 8-5, Collins 3-minus 4, Headley 4-minus 18, team 1-minus 23.
PASSING: MN, Aakre 1-4-0 13. MS, Headley 14-39-2 212.
RECEIVING: MN, Eric Christopherson 1-13. MS, Clark 2-52, Tony Gardner 4-43, Sacks 1-15, Elijah Tostenson 3-51, Collins 3-41, Urban 1-10.
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