CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Northwest put its unbeaten streak on the line Friday at home against Montgomery Central as the Vikings entered the contest 3-0 on the young season.
The final outcome of the game remained undecided until the last play of regulation. With 10 seconds left to play, Northwest quarterback John “J.D.” Redden lofted a pass that fell short of the end zone and ended up in the hands of Montgomery Central’s Timmy Campbell to seal the Indian victory.
Montgomery Central head coach Jeff Tomlinson said he was proud of his group for nailing down the door late.
“We’re just trying to win a football game,” Tomlinson said. “Whether Northwest gets their first loss or not isn’t important to me. I hope they have a lot of success and win a lot more football games this year, but for me it was more about rebounding from the loss last week and playing disciplined mistake-free football.”
Northwest head coach Neil Furnish loved the fight his team showed, despite coming up short on the final drive of the game.
“I saw four quarters of adversity,” Furnish said. “Like I told them at halftime, ‘this is why I took you all to camp’. That’s why I push them so hard and demand them to come to practice every day. We want to be in situations like this. This is the premium of high school football, getting to test yourself as a young man and see what you’re made of. They had a great running back and he leaned on us a little bit. All in all, I was very proud of our kids.”
Points were at a premium early on as both teams bottled up the running game for most of the first half.
In the opening quarter, the Indians worked the ball deep into Viking territory, but settled for a field-goal attempt on 4th and 2 from the Northwest 5-yard line which was then blocked, keeping the score tied at 0.
Tomlinson said he considered going for it on fourth down, but ultimately decided against it.
“There was a little bit of thought, but I wanted to get points on the board early on and take the lead,” Tomlinson said.
Montgomery Central fullback LaKendriez “Drez” Sanders returned to the Indian backfield Friday after missing last week’s contest against Portland.
As the first half wound down, Sanders finally broke free from 33-yards out, diving into the end zone to put the Indians on top 7-0.
Central’s leading rusher was slow to get up multiple times on the night after the whistle, but returned to the field after missing just a few plays.
Furnish went with a new man under center to start the second half and it appeared to be the spark the Viking offense needed.
The newly entered Redden hit Robert Baker down the right sideline for 28 yards, moving the ball into Indian territory.
After three penalties on Montgomery Central put the Vikings into the red zone, Redden connected with Baker again, this time on a slant pass for a 27-yard touchdown.
Furnish discussed why he waited until the second half to make a move at the quarterback position.
“Well J.D. had a little bit of a knee issue and we were trying early in the week to switch up things and get the ball into Robert Baker’s hands a little more,” Furnish said. “We’re not a passing offense. J.D. can throw the short game and do some things of that nature, but my thought was more to get the ball in Laqualin Nicholson and Robert Baker’s hands and let them be athletes against this group. We were one play away from making something big. It was a close game, but sometimes it doesn’t bounce your way.”
With eight minutes left to play, the Indians took advantage of quality field position. Sanders capped off the Central 53-yard scoring drive, plowing into the end zone from two-yards out for his second touchdown and the eventual game-winning score.
The Northwest defense failed to contain Central’s high-powered rushing attack for an entire four quarters, dropping their first game of the year.
Northwest (3-1) hosts Kenwood Friday, Sept. 20.
“I haven’t really gotten to see Kenwood yet,” Furnish said of next week’s matchup. “I know it’s our natural rival and it’s always been. It’s also our homecoming. Next week is a special week just as a high school person. We’ve got to focus on our preparation when it’s our time to prepare and when there’s school events, make sure we’re enjoying those as well. It all goes together, but we want to put a product on Friday night that people who come out to watch will be excited about it and I think we will.”
Montgomery Central (3-1) hosts Creek Wood Friday, Sept. 20.