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Published Sunday, October 05, 2008 in Sports

Vikings 'right in the hunt' after stellar defensive performance

By Tommy Camp

The Times-Herald

The old football axiom that defense wins games was proven again Friday night in Northgate's 7-3 win over Starr's Mill.

The Viking offense never came close to driving on the Starr's Mill goal line, yet the Vikings won because of a tenacious defense that bent but never broke and ultimately made the game-turning play that set up the winning touchdown.

"Our defense made big plays all night long," said head coach Bill Luckie.

And indeed it did with the biggest coming in the fourth quarter when the Vikings blocked a Starr's Mill punt and recovered the loose ball at the Panthers' two.

Despite suffering an illegal motion penalty on first down, the Vikings punched the ball in on one play when Jake Copeland threw to Cody Gatewood from seven yards out.

It was Gatewood's third touchdown in the last two weeks. He scored on two short runs against Hiram last week.

"What this does for us," Luckie said of the win, "is put us right in the hunt. It was a great win for our kids and our program."

Northgate's defense saved the day, or night, several times over, before and after that critical turn of events early in the final period.

In the first quarter, the Vikings lost a fumble on their first possession and had their first punt attempt of the night blocked on their second possession, both deep in Northgate territory, yet Starr's Mill came away with only three points.

It could very easily have been 14-0 in the first six minutes of play were it not for the solid play of the defense.

In the second quarter the home team drove to a first down at the Viking 32, but Copeland stopped the drive with an interception.

Then later in the period the Panthers had driven 35 yards to a first and 10 at the Viking 12, but lost the ball on a fumble.

In the third quarter, the home team had yet another opportunity when it took the opening kickoff and drove all the way to the Northgate 24, taking just over seven minutes to do it, before the Vikings stiffened with the help of two penalties and forced a punt into the end zone.

Finally, in the fourth quarter, after the Vikings had taken the lead, the Northgate defenders had to turn away two Starr's Mill shots at taking the lead, the first with an interception in the end zone and the second when Northgate stopped the Panthers on fourth and seven at the visitors' 36.

That final fourth down play, with just over a minute and a half left in the game, was played out twice because offsetting penalties nullified a Starr's Mill completed pass and apparent first down at the 22.

When it was replayed, Starr's Mill quarterback Myles Jaye overshot his receiver near the 20 and the Vikings had only to run out the clock.

That's when Northgate was able to drive into Starr's Mill territory for the first time, punching out a first down at the Panthers' 45 and another at the 33 before time expired.

Prior to that, however, the Vikings' deepest penetration was to their own 45 in the first quarter.

Friday's game marked the first time this year that the Vikings have held an opponent scoreless in the fourth quarter and the win ended a five-game road losing skid and a 10-game region/sub-region losing streak.

The seven points the Vikings mustered Friday were the fewest the team has scored in a win since Northgate beat Villa Rica, 7-0, in 2005.

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