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Published Friday, November 14, 2008 in Sports

No. 3 Marist too much for Vikings

By Tony Jones

The Times-Herald

ATLANTA -- Northgate's winning season came to a close here on Friday night as the Vikings fell to Marist 42-0 in the opening round of the Class AAAA state playoffs.

Northgate ends its season with a 6-5 record, a dramatic improvement over the 1-9 season of just a year ago.

"We had a great season. We beat some good football teams and we made the state playoffs," said Northgate head coach Bill Luckie. "We lost to a team that will likely make a deep run in the postseason. Our kids and coaches should feel very good about what we accomplished."

Marist, Class AAAAA's No. 3-ranked team, improved to 10-1 on the year and will host Cedar Shoals next week in the second round of the playoffs.

Northgate, encouraged by a supportive crowd that made the trip to metro Atlanta, was still in the contest at the break, trailing 14-0. But when Northgate needed to manufacture a drive at the start of the third quarter, the good guys turned the ball over on downs.

The Vikings started their opening possession of the second half at their own 36 and after three runs, faced fourth and one. Cody Gatewood forged ahead and appeared to have enough for a fresh set of downs, but after a curious spot, Gatewood was a couple of inches short of the necessary yardage.

The turnover on downs was the beginning of the end for the Vikings. It took Marist only three snaps to score as Sam McNearney raced 37 yards for his second touchdown, giving his team a 21-0 lead with 8:17 left in the quarter.

Northgate misplayed the subsequent kickoff and started its next drive at their own one. Senior quarterback Jake Copeland, who played with a broken throwing hand, launched a third down pass that would have easily been enough for first down yardage, but it was dropped.

Copeland was to have a cast placed back on his wrist during on the ride home.

"It's been painful but I have been getting by on adrenaline," he said. "I feel good about our season and those of us who are graduating have left the program headed in the right direction."

Brad Swinney gave Northgate a good punt, but following the return, Marist was set up at the Viking 30. The War Eagles would score seven plays later against the tiring Viking defense. Kyle Farmer's seven-yard run increased the lead to 28-0 with 3:24 left in the third.

Farmer made it to 35-0 one possession later as he scored from four yards out on the option with 10:45 left in the contest.

The final War Eagle score came from the defense with 6:45 left in the contest as Phillip Wood scopped up a fumble and returned it 15 yards for a score.

Copeland completed six passes for 65 yards. He hit five different targets. Northgate's leading receiver was Nic Dickens. The Viking senior caught two passes for 25 yards, including an 18-yard gain on Northgate's initial snap from scrimmage.

Copeland also connected with Tyler Marvin, Payton Usher, Freshad Riles, and Malcolm Poindexter.

Northgate's deepest penetration of the contest came in the first quarter, on their second series. The Vikings reached the Marist 38 but were forced to punt on fourth and nine.

The Vikings held the ball for 11 plays on its next drive, moving from the 20 to midfield. But Marist took over with 5:06 left in the second following Copeland's fourth down incompletion.

Northgate advanced into War Eagle territory one more time in the second quarter as Copeland connected with Usher for a gain of 15 to the War Eagle 47 with just under two mnutes left in the half.

The two first half Marist scores came on runs of 66 and four yards. Patrick Sullivan opened the scoring with his 66-yard dash in the first quarter aided by strong blocking and a quality cut.

McNearney made it 14-0, scoring from four yards out on the power, with 11:19 left in the second quarter.

Luckie praised his senior class.

"We'll miss them," he said. "They were a good group and it's hard to replace the leadership they provided."

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