Mustangs stampede over Wildcats 40-13 in baseline game Chris Jackett
October 15, 2014
Reprinted with permission of the Novi News
The annual battle for the Baseline Jug had everything one would want in a high school rivalry game, except for a close finish. When the two local football teams met up at Wildcat Stadium last Friday, Northville (6-1, 5-0 KLAA Central) utilized a 23-0 run in the second quarter to power past host Novi (4-3, 3-2 Central) for a 40-13 victory, retaining the covenanted Baseline Jug for a fifth-consecutive year.
“The last time we’ve won five in a row against Novi was in the ‘70s,” Northville coach Matt Ladach said. “We’ve never won six in a row. I’m telling you right now, we’re going to be fired up to do it again next year. This is a great rivalry. People outside of these two communities, I don’t think they understand how much this rivalry means to us. It’s pretty darn big.”
Ladach’s Mustangs played to the occasion, taking a 7-0 lead 5:09 into the game and never looking back after the 1-yard touchdown run by senior Patrick Hannah and point-after kick by senior Zach Wilds.
A 27-yard field goal by Wilds and a 6-yard touchdown run by senior Joe Hewlett (9-for-18, 132 yards, two passing touchdowns; 179 yards on 21 runs, one rushing touchdown) on a short drive following a blocked punt combined to put Northville ahead 16-0 just 4:09 into the second quarter.
Hewlett then hooked up with senior Evan Wieland for a 52-yard touchdown and senior Nick Stegmeyer for an 8-yard touchdown, putting the Mustangs ahead 30-0 at halftime.
“He’s phenomenal,” Novi coach Jeff Burnside said of Hewlett. “I’m clearly dumbfounded on why this get doesn’t get more pub than he does, because he’s one of the best high school quarterbacks I have seen in a long time. He deserves… that kid is phenomenal. Their whole team is good, but he really makes them go. He is phenomenal.” The ‘Cats didn’t roll over, as junior quarterback Rohit Mogalayapalli (2-for-4, 33 yards, one touchdown) connected with junior Devontez Jones 3:53 into the second half for a 17-yard touchdown. Senior kicker Bryan Klosterman’s PAT attempt bounced off the left upright for the second time this season, so the deficit was still 30-6 when Wilds knocked home a 27-yard field goal 34 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Novi sophomore Emmanuel Jackson (54 yards on six runs) got a spark going for the Wildcats’ running game with a 39-yard touchdown run, but a successful PAT only cut the deficit to 33-13 with 4:22 left in the game. Northville senior Jomi Ogunfiditimi got the points back for the Mustangs with an 11-yard touchdown run with 29.2 seconds left in the game to seal it at 40-13 after a Wilds PAT.
“Our kids work extremely hard. At the beginning of the year, we knew we had a good team,” Ladach said. “We are division champs and next week we’ll be playing for the conference championship. In the history of Northville High School, we’ve never won a conference championship.”
The bulk of the Wildcats’ yardage again came from junior Jalen Ward (126 yards on 16 carries), but it wasn’t enough to combat the Mustangs’ 467-284 advantage in total offensive yardage.
“They’ve got some studs back there in that backfield, they really do. I’m ecstatic on how (our defense) did,” Ladach said. “We thought it was going to be really close, neck and neck. They’re a good football team and I’m sure coach will have them turned around for next week.”
The victory also clinched a playoff spot for the Mustangs, who earned the sixth win needed to qualify. The Wildcats will have to win out for the remainder of the regular season to clinch a playoff spot. “Whenever you lose to your rival and anytime you get a glimpse of the jug, that’s what you want in your possession. We didn’t get it done this year. (For) 365 days, it’s going to sting,” Burnside said. “We’ve still got two more games left in the season. We’ve gone 2-1 every third of this season and we can still finish out 2-1 and get ourselves in. That’s what our goal’s going to be.”