Chris Jackett
September 23, 2011
Reprinted with permission of the Novi News
Novi dominates Salem 42-0
Since switching senior Derek Ince to the starting quarterback role and tweaking the offensive routes, Novi's football team has been dominant.
The Wildcats (2-2, 2-0 KLAA Central) defeated Plymouth Salem (1-3, 0-2 Central) last Friday and have now outscored opponents 91-13 during the past two games since making the changes.
“I think they're having fun with it and that's one of the things we wanted to do with it,” Novi coach Todd Pennycuff said. “You've got to make plays and the kids are making plays.”
Novi racked up 428 yards of offense, primarily behind 20-for-25 passing from Ince (322 yards, four touchdowns). Ince's touchdowns came from 15, 4, 10 and 3 yards, respectively.
“I think Derek Ince is really coming into his own and getting a little more comfortable,” Pennycuff said. “The kids are getting comfortable with this new offense, this new style; and I think they like it. As the season goes, as long as we're getting better and maturing in every facet as young men and as coaches, that's all we can do.”
Salem mustered just 120 yards of offense, mainly on 7-for-22 passing from junior Jeremy Lewis (114 yards, one interception).
Salem senior Marcus Houston had three catches for 102 yards, while Novi seniors Logan Regnier (133 yards on six catches), Derek Cingel (131 yards on four catches) and Michael Jocz (110 yards on eight catches) combined for five touchdown receptions, three for Cingel.
One of Cingel's touchdown receptions was a 68-yard strike from Regnier (1-for-1) on third at 22 at Novi's own 32-yard line.
“I think our tempo helps that and how we do things,” Pennycuff said of such big plays. “We're going to put our best kids in space like most teams try to do. We're going to really take what they give us. When they try to take something away or make a gamble, that's usually when we get big plays. We caught them in a blitz. A missed tackle here or there and we're gone. We can score very quickly and I think our kids realize that.”
Junior Lucas Buck (56 yards on 14 attempts) added a 1-yard touchdown run for the finishing touch with 33 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Both teams were plagued with penalties throughout the evening. Novi had eight for 86 yards and Salem had seven for 48 yards.
“(Emotion) kind of got in the way,” Pennycuff said. “As a football team, we did not have a lot of maturity. We're going to have to fix that; it can be fixed. You have to look at is it a mistake of the heart or a mistake of the mind? If it's a mistake of the mind, that's something we can deal with. If we've got things that are a mistake of the heart, then that's not something we can deal with.”
Each team handed the other two first downs, but the Wildcats otherwise earned a 12-3 advantage in first downs while holding Salem's runners to six net yards on the night. Senior Alex King led the Novi defense with eight tackles (four solo), a sack and 1.5 tackles for a loss.
“The defense did a great job,” Pennycuff said, noting defensive coaches Dave Ray, Sonny Favot and Jerry Stempien have prepared the team well. “They're just good guys who care about the kids. It's probably the best staff I've ever been a part of as a head coach or an assistant. They're just good people who want to do the right thing.”