Starr’s Mill defense continues to struggle, Panthers fall to Northgate 34-17
Junior Cole Gilley hits the ground after being tackled by a Northgate Viking linebacker. Gilley had 124 yards on 22 carries against the Vikings.
September 8, 2016
The Panthers looked to have a hopeful season after a win in their preseason scrimmage, but a tough schedule combined with a struggling run defense has them sitting with an 0-2 record. One cause of the Panthers’ problem was Northgate senior Kyle Cater. He had 168 of the Vikings 350 total rushing yards along with two of his own touchdowns as the Vikings beat the Panthers 34-17 Friday night.
“They were more physical tonight,” junior Cole Gilley said. “They’ve been more physical these past two years.”
The Panthers put up 183 yards on the ground but only posted two touchdowns. Gilley accounted for most of the team’s ground game with 22 carries for 124 yards. The Panthers tried to pass against a tough Viking defense, but only completed two of four attempts for 39 yards and a score.
Junior linebacker Eric Donevant looks to make a block during a kickoff. Sitting with an 0-2 record, the Panthers will seek their first victory of the season against Chapel Hill this Friday at 7:30 p.m.
“[There were a lot of] missed blocks and missed tackles, we have a lot to work on,” junior quarterback Joey DeLuca said. “They just worked harder than us.”
The Panthers started with the ball, and the opening drive began well with Gilley gaining 42 yards on his first two touches. However, the Panthers would only be able to manage a field goal as they took an early 3-0 lead. On the Vikings’ first drive, they showed they could run the ball too, and scored in nine plays. A missed extra point left the score at 6-3.
“They just beat us to the point of attack,” defensive coordinator Jeff Schmidlkofer said. “We tried to do some things to slow them down but it just didn’t seem to work.”
The Vikings scored again when Cater punched in a touchdown from a yard out, and after the first quarter they had outgained the Panthers on the ground 77 to 45. The Vikings held a 13-3 lead to begin the second quarter.
The Vikings racked up 111 more yards on the ground and limited the Panthers to 36. Then, Northgate capped off a dominant first half with a 68 yard run from junior Trandon Torres-Niles. The Vikings dominated the first half, totaling 188 rushing yards to the Panthers’ 81.
“They outplayed us,” DeLuca said. “They have good players and we just didn’t block them.”
Junior running back and kick returner Nick Brown runs down the sideline during a kickoff return. The Vikings gained 350 rushing yards while holding the Panthers to 183 yards on the ground.
To start the second half, the Panthers defense finally forced Northgate to punt, and then took that opportunity to try and cut the deficit. A seven-play drive resulted in a 26-yard pass from DeLuca to junior Mitch Prowant, and the Panthers narrowed the score to 20-10.
Northgate responded quickly when Cater broke off a 46 yard run, and junior Viking Levi Robinson ran for a 27-yard touchdown to finish the short, five-play drive. With 4:27 left in the third, the Panthers found themselves in a similar situation to a week ago, down multiple scores with time running out.
“Hopefully there is some kind of sense of urgency to this team,” Schmidlkofer said. “We have a lot of problems we need to fix on the field.”
Northgate had possession to start the fourth quarter and they took less than two minutes to go 25 yards and score again. This time it was senior Turner Hughes crossing the goal line, and stretching the lead to 34-10. On the following drive, the Panthers went 74 yards in 15 plays with DeLuca scoring on a 22-yard scramble. However, the Panthers took seven minutes to score, and they only had 4:18 left and trailed 34-17.
“I think what we’re going through right now will help us,” Gilley said. “It will help us when the games start to count.”
The Panthers watched as Northgate ran the clock out and secured their win. Starr’s Mill gained 222 total yards, but Torres-Niles and Cater combined for 291 of their own yards for Northgate.
Next for Starr’s Mill is a road trip to Douglasville to play the Panthers of Chapel Hill. They are 1-0-1 so far this year, after tying with Fayette County High School and beating Lithia Springs. The Panthers look to add their first win to their record on Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m.
