Offense:
 
In week four of the Northmen's season, the Northmen wasted no time in putting points on the board. They found 21 points of production in the 1^st quarter, managing to get an early 21-7 lead.

Unfortunately, the Northmen struggles would haunt them for the rest of the game.

After a quick series, followed up by a fantom offsides call on a onside kick attempt by the Pirates that would have certainly put the Northmen in the endzone after '23 Karl Knaak picked up the one-hopper on the run and right past the Belton kick-off team, the Northmen just couldn't seem to recover their mojo.  Oak Park did find the endzone one more time on Friday night when '22 Ty Clemens connected once again with '22 Bubba Bogart on 25 yard completion.  That was the longest pass of the night, as this is the first week the Oak Park opponent (198) managed more passing yards than the Northmen (89). Oak Park did impress in the rushing game, finishing the night with 254 yards, '22 KeAndre Braxton was a human bowling ball on Friday night, lowering the boom on several Pirate defenders to gain the extra yardage.  Hats off to the guys in the trenches, they seemed to play with a little different attitude, and it made a noticeable difference.

Oak Park struggled on 3^rd downs going 0 for 7 throughout on the night, the Northmen will need to capitalize on their 3rd down opportunities moving forward.  On flip side, most of these opportunities were plagued by ill-timed penalties, or dropped footballs, both 100% fixable.
 
What was fun, were the fireworks... big plays were not uncommon for the Northmen on Friday night. '22 Jermaine Harris, typcially a defensive lineman, threw a touchdown pass from 36 yards out on a fake punt. '22 Marlon Gant also had an electric run of 72 yards, sprung by a well timed block by '22 Bryce Warner, which was Oak Park's third touchdown of the 1^st quarter.  The ball was spread around a lot in week 4 as 8 different Northmen touched the ball during the course of the game. 28 points isn't a bad night for any offense, but certainly wasn't enough to keep up with Belton who sailed out of town with a 47 point win.

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Defense:
 
            The defense had its struggles trying to stop the explosive Belton offense. Belton converted on 50% of their 3^rd down attempts and went 2 for 2 on 4^th downs. With the injury plagued defense, a new leading tackler has emerged, as '23 Karl Knaak had 7 tackles and 2 tackles for loss. '22 Evan Cook finished the night with 4 tackles and an interception, seniors '22 Jermaine Harris and '22 Adriano Garcia who made their impact felt with 4 plus tackles each. There were 6 tackles for loss by the Northmen one being from '23 Vince Corbin and '22 Cooper Witmer.

We are starting to see some new faces making plays for this Oak Park defense, this can only strengthen this side of the ball as the Northmen welcome back some big-time names on defense.

Obviously giving up 47 points doesn't come without it's struggles, the big one being the number of rush yards the Northmen have given up throughout the season.  Five of the seven touchdowns that were given up by Oak Park on Friday night were rushing touchdowns. You simply can not win football games if you can not stop the run.  Oak Park will need an identity check moving forward if they want this to change.

"We are probably leading the city in defense in the 1st quarter, then something changes and we stop doing the little things that were making us successful.  Being physical and (wrapping up) tackling would fix 90% of our big play issues, that's my challenge to the defense this week."- Defensive Coord. Jake Danneman

 

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What's Next?
 
Next week Oak Park takes on Park Hill South at the Park Hill District Complex, it's Homecoming for the Panthers who look to be one of the top teams in the city this year.

You know these Northmen have never backed away from a challenge

The game will be at 7 on Friday the 17^th.

Come out and support as the Northmen look to spoil a Homecoming for the Panthers of Park Hill South.

LET'S GO NORTHMEN!