When North Point arrived to play Chopticon Friday, the only thing that was on their mind was to play their own game.
“The coaching staff preached all week for the players to execute their job and the win would follow. “That it certainly did as North Point (6-1) defeated Chopticon(6-1) 49-35 today.
North Point scored on their opening drive on a touchdown run by senior Christian Houston. North Point then scored again after a Chopticon punt on a 5 yard pass from senior quarterback Brandon Battle to senior wideout Andrew Henderson to put the Eagles up 14-0.
Chopticon got off the mat in the second quarter with a 35 yard strike from senior Donovyn Jordan to wide receiver Nick Gray pulled the Braves to within 7. North Point added to their lead on their next possession with a 38 yard touchdown run by Christian Houston, his second score of the game.
Chopticon answered with a drive capped off by a ten yardv touchdown pass from Jordan to senior Brady Snyder. The teams traded possessions until a mishandled snap was scooped up by the Braves and returned for a touchdown. Ben Varga’s extra point was good, and the score was tied at 21
North Point took possession at their own 32 with just over 2 minutes remaining in the half, and marched straight down the field, capping off the drive and ending the half with a 10 yard touchdown run from QB Brandon Battle to put the Eagles ahead 28-21.
During halftime, the stadium was engulfed in darkness when the power shut off. The power outage extended halftime by 23 minutes while crews worked to restore electricity.
After the extended break, Chopticon scored a touchdown on the opening possession of the second half when senior wide receiver Tyler Mills grabbed a pass from Donovyn Jordan and streaked 43 yards for the score. The extra point was blocked, and the score was 28-27.
To end the third quarter, Chopticon threw an interception inside the 10 yard line. After the interception, North Point’s offense drove the length of the field, and scored a touchdown on a read option 31 yard keeper by Brandon Battle to put the Eagles up 35-27. Soon after, Chopticon threw their second interception of the quarter, and North Point made them pay, scoring a touchdown on a screen pass from Brandon Battle to Christian Houston, his 3rd touchdown of the game.
On the ensuing possession, the Braves threw their 3rd interception in 5 minutes, and once again North Point used the turnover to score. A 20 yard rush from senior tailback Ricco Jones made the score 49-27 with about 4 minutes to go in the game.
Chopticon did not quit, and the night’s scoring was ended with a 35 yard rush by Braves QB Donovyn Jordan. Then, Jordan completed a two point conversion to Nick Gray to make the final score 49-35.
After the game, Chopticon’s head coach Anthony Lisante said,” It was a hard fought game. This game was like a war, that unfortunately we were on the wrong side of. The tipping point was possessions in the red zone that ended in turnovers. We need to capitalize those opportunities.”
