Huskies victorious over Bulldogs

In his first game against his former team, Head Coach Tanner Roof coached his North Huskies to an impressive 25-17 victory against the Memorial Bulldogs in the Husky’s second Edlam game in as many weeks. North jumped out to an early lead against their crosstown rivals when they took their first offensive play of the game to the house. Huskie’s quarterback Ben MacNaughton tossed a backwards pass to backup sophomore Colby Entwistle, and Entwistle found Logan Young streaking down the sideline on the double pass. Entwistle, listed as a quarterback, was lined up at the receiver position. The 50-yard touchdown pass put North up early 7-0. Tanner Roof, head coach of Edmond North, said the trick play was planned from the start. “We wanted to come out and get an advantage, get some momentum,” Roof said, “and we did.” Memorial struggled to regain traction after North’s trickery, but the Bulldog’s Parker Reneau added three points for the maroon when he converted a 27-yard field goal. Reneau’s field goal was answered quickly by the Huskies when they marched 7 plays and 66 yards to add another touchdown to the board. MacNaughton and company were forced into a 4th and goal from the 3 yard line, but the senior quarterback rolled right and found Jack Cheap at the pylon for the score. North failed to convert the extra point, and left the score at 13-3. Memorial fired back with their own methodical drive; however, when they capped off an 11-play, 67-yard onslaught that was capped off by a Nate William’s 2-yard touchdown dash that was set up by a 22 yard reception from Navy commit Brendan Mitchell that came the play before. Memorial’s drive was extended multiple times on Husky penalties, including a crucial roughing the passer call that came after North stopped them on 3rd down. The touchdown brought the score within 3 points going into the half. The Huskies received out of the halftime break and took their ensuing possession 95 yards to the end zone. After a mishap on the kick return left North starting from their own 5 yard line, the Huskies faced two 4th downs, converting them both, with the latter coming from North’s Tyler Merkley. Merkley took a hand-off on 4th and 3, converted, and then took the ball an extra 7 yards for a touchdown. Memorial fought back in the fourth, when they found Mitchell twice in three attempts. The first, an incompletion was broken up by North’s cornerback on third down. Memorial ran the same play, a fly-route down the left sideline, and Mitchell came up with the ball for a 42 yard gain. The Bulldogs threw it to Mitchell again, this time from 2 yards out of the end zone, and completed the pass for a touchdown, bringing Memorial within 5. A couple North mishaps later, Memorial took the ball, down 5 points and sitting at their own 5 yard line with 4:02 left in the game. North stopped the Bulldog offense on downs, and the Huskies would kick a field goal after they took the ball away on the Memorial 12 yard line. Memorial was unable to answer, as North claimed the contest 25-17. Roof praised his kids after the win. “We didn’t get the result we wanted,” Roof told reporters of last week’s loss to Edmond Santa Fe, “but they came out determined all week long.” One of those determined North Huskies was running back Tyler Merkley. Merkley only had 1 rushing yard in the first half, but he came out determined in the second when he racked up 126 yards and a touchdown. “We know that when he is back there he’s going to find the hole and get through it,” Roof said of Merkley. Merkley, who was standing beside reporters during the interview, gave all the credit to his offensive line. The win is the first victory in Tanner Roof’s young coaching career. Roof, ironically, was the offensive coordinator of the Memorial Bulldogs last season before he moved over to command the ship of the North Huskies. “It’s a night I’ll never forget,” Roof said of his first win, “but it should be all about these kids.” North’s first victory over the Bulldogs improves them to 1-1 on the season while simultaneously dropping their cross-town rivals to 1-2.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Edmond Memorial High School Athletics

HUSKIES VICTORIOUS OVER BULLDOGS

AARON ALBERTSON

The Edmond Sun | 9/8/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Drew Harmon