Hawks take out Warriors; North Harford victory puts football team in fourth place in its division in the state

BY RANDY MCROBERTS

Posted 10/28/09

On a wet and windy Friday night that saw North Harford fans celebrate 40 years of football at the Pylesville school, the latest installment of the Hawks delivered a 27-14 UCBAC Chesapeake Division victory over the Havre de Grace Warriors.

The win left both teams with 4-1 Chesapeake records, while North Harford stands at 6-2 overall and Havre de Grace sits at 5-3.

Friday’s results leave both teams in a regional playoff spot as week-nine games approach this week.

North Harford sits fourth in Class 3A north, while Havre de Grace, though falling back a spot, sits third in 1A east.

Both teams sit a game back of Joppatowne in the Chesapeake standings and both have key games again this week.

North Harford will stay home and host C. Milton Wright, while Havre de Grace will have the daunting task of taking on Joppatowne on its own turf. Both league games begin at 7 p.m. Friday night.

In Friday’s match-up, the game went scoreless into the second quarter before the Hawks went on top.

North Harford appeared ready to score on its first possession, but a fumble inside the Warriors’ 10-yard line ended the threat.

The Hawks had moved from their own 32 to the Warriors seven in just five running plays.

The eighth play, however, resulted in a fumble, recovered by Warrior Zach Tabor. The Hawks fumbled the ball five times, losing four.

Neither team could find much offense with a steady blowing rain pelting the field.

The Hawks were finally able to break through midway through the second quarter.

Following a downed punt at the Havre de Grace 42, North Harford needed seven plays to find the end zone.

Nate Belak did the honors, busting through for a two-yard score with 5:13 left on the clock. Tyler Ruark’s lone extra point of the game gave the Hawks a 7-0 lead.

North Harford halted a Warrior drive when Maik Ferrante recovered a fumble.

The Hawks, however, watched another potential scoring drive slip away with another fumble lost inside the Warriors 10-yard line.

Despite that, it was North Harford which had the other scoring opportunity of the half, but Ruark’s 42-yard field goal attempt fell well short.

The game’s only scoring in the third quarter came after Belak recovered a Warrior fumble at the Havre de Grace 14.

The Hawks scored in three plays with Steven Shinsky scoring on a three-yard run.

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Havre de Grace was able to get on the scoreboard.

A blocked punt deep in the Hawks end of the field, set the Warriors up at the Hawks 13-yard line after Nathan Stewart fell on the loose ball.

In two plays, Havre de Grace found the end zone when quarterback Maurice Clemons hit Dayshawn Bolling for a six-yard score.

A defensive stop by the Warriors on the ensuing North Harford possession led to a punt, but it was a beauty as Luke Kahler’s kick rolled dead at the Havre de Grace one.

The next play, North Harford’s Cody Turner picked off a Clemons pass intended for Bolling and returned it untouched 16 yards for a score. The conversion failed, leaving the Hawks ahead, 19-6.

Havre de Grace, though, would not go away.

On a fourth-and-11 call from inside their own 20, Clemons hit Anthony Johnson with a quick pass and Johnson shook off one tackle, found the near sideline and raced to the end zone for a 84-yard score. Johnson also caught a conversion pass, pulling the Warriors to within five, 19-14.

Havre de Grace did have another possession after stopping the Hawks again, but a turnover on downs at its own 20 gave the Hawks possession.

In two plays, Brandon Bayer found the end zone from 15 yards out and the Hawks added the two-point conversion to finalize the score at 27-14.

Bayer finished with 134 yards on 28 carries. Shinsky (65), Belak (38) and Turner (30) added to the Hawks 277 yards on the ground.

Devonte Taylor had 18 yards on 10 carries for Havre de Grace. Clemons completed six of 18 passes for 143 yards and two scores. Clemons also threw two interceptions.

Ryan Burghauser (two sacks) had eight tackles to lead the Hawks, while Belak had seven and Shinsky (one sack) had six. Shinsky also had an interception and Ferrante added two sacks.

Tabor had 19 tackles to pace Havre de Grace, while Monty Werts had seven tackles and Johnson had six.

Nick Gartside, Robert Rodriguez and Alex Newhart each had fumble recoveries.

Dave Lomonico
MDHigh.com Publisher

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21 points in second gives North Harford a 42-12 victory; Big quarter for Hawks lifts team over Cougars

BY DEWEY FOX

Posted 10/14/09

The North Harford Hawks football squad tacked up 21 points in the second quarter of their Friday-night, home-field match-up with Fallston on their way to a 42-12 victory.

With the victory, the Hawks improved to 3-0 against Chesapeake (upper) Division teams, which ties them with Havre de Grace and Joppatowne for the division’s top spot. Overall on the year, the Hawks are now 5-1, with their only loss coming in their week-one game with Hereford.

Fallston dropped to 1-2 in the upper division and 3-3 for the season. The Cougars began the year by winning their first two games by a combined score of 84-12, while in their last two games they have been outscored 84-19.

In Friday night’s victory, the Hawks, who picked up all but 49 of their 389 offensive yards on the ground, scored one touchdown in the first, third and final quarters, while they found the Fallston end zone three times in the second frame.

The Hawks’ biggest offensive contributor was running back Steven Shinsky, who scored a pair of touchdowns, and gained 60 yards on five carries. Nate Belak had a season-best 144 rushing yards on eight carries and scored one touchdown, while teammate Brandon Bayer ran the ball 10 times, picking up 94 yards and notching a single touchdown. North Harford Cody Turner was handed the ball five times, and he scored one touchdown while scratching out 30 yards.

North Harford quarterback Cody Turner completed just one pass on the game, but it happened to be a 49-yard touchdown throw to receiver Jeremy Skryzpiec.

Tyler Ruark, North Harford’s place kicker, was a perfect 6-for-6 on extra point attempts.

The Hawks’ Josh Barben returned one punt for 30 yards, while teammate Jalen Shaw had one 26-yard punt return.

Defensively, the winning side was paced by Nate Brockmeyer’s 15-tackle showing, while Shinsky was right behind with 14 tackles. Belak and Turner each had 12 tackles, while Ryan Burghauser posted 10 tackles and had one sack.

The Cougars’ first touchdown came when Mike Montgomery connected with Ben Barile on a 44-yard scoring pass. Later in the game, Montgomery caught quarterback Grant Kelly’s 24-yard touchdown throw.

Tomorrow night (Thursday) at 7 p.m., the Hawks will have their toughest test of the season thus far, as they will travel to play the undefeated Joppatowne Mariners.

Hawks win big against Bel Air; Hapless Bobcats drop to 1-4 on the season

BY RANDY MCROBERTS

Posted 10/07/09

North Harford overcame a slow start Friday night in a big way in its UCBAC Chesapeake Division battle with visiting Bel Air.

The Hawks were shut down near midfield on a fourth-and-1 on the game’s opening possession and then quickly found themselves behind, only to recover quite quickly.

Bel Air scored the first seven points, but North Harford scored the rest in a 42-7 win.

Bel Air came out and held the Hawks to nine yards on the first series, with a big stop on fourth down.

The Bobcats then, aided by a facemask penalty, struck on their fourth play. Quarterback Jay Butler hit receiver Dezmond Hall behind the Hawks defense for a 45-yard touchdown strike. Mike Wells added the kick for a 7-0 lead with 8:12 to play in the quarter.

Before that 8:12 ticked off the clock, North Harford scored three times for a 21-7 lead.

North Harford responded immediately as running back Nate Belak took the handoff, broke through the line and raced untouched to the end zone on a 59-yard run.

Tyler Ruark’s first of six successful kicks tied the score at 7-7.

Just a little more than three minutes later the Hawks went ahead and for good.

A Belak fumble recovery set the Hawks up at the Bel Air 26-yard line. Five plays later, quarterback Josh Barben scored on a four-yard run.

A few minutes later it was Belak again on an almost identical touchdown run. Belak broke through the line, headed for the right sideline, shook off one tackler and raced 58 yards to paydirt.

The Hawks did not score in the second quarter as a holding call negated a Barben 14-yard touchdown run.

Bel Air’s best scoring chance in the quarter ended with a Marc Anderson sack on fourth-and-10 from inside the Hawks 30.

The Hawks did score in the third quarter, with running back Brandon Bayer going into the end zone from three yards out.

It was Bayer who also scored both North Harford touchdowns in the final quarter. Bayer scored on a six-yard run with 8:01 to play, capping a short drive which was set up by Nathan Brockmeyer’s interception.

Brockmeyer had another interception earlier in the half, but it did not lead to any points.

The Hawks and Bayer added the game’s final points with 5:57 to play when Bayer broke loose up the middle and ran 59 yards for the score.

Bayer finished with 171 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries. Belak added 169 yards and two scores on 13 carries.

The win improved the Hawks to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in division play, while the Bobcats slipped to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in division play.

North Harford will host Fallston (3-2/1-1) for homecoming this week, while Bel Air will play Joppatowne (5-0/2-0) in Joppatowne. Both games begin at 7 p.m.