Northgate’s defense, pictured above, fought hard throughout last Friday’s contest against Jefferson Morgan. Penalties and missed opportunities, however, put the home team on the losing side of a 13-12 score. Northgate travels to Dormont to face Bishop Canevin tonight at 7:30 p.m. Photo by Tom Steiner for The Citizen

By MEL PERKINS

The Northgate Flames fought until the end Friday night, but fell in defeat to a plucky Jefferson Morgan team.

It was another great night for football at Northgate Alumni Field, and for those that were there to witness it -- they were treated to a full scale battle for ground control. The Rockets from Jefferson Morgan managed to hold on and wrestle a non-conference victory from the hands of a persistent Flames team.

The Flames won the coin toss and deferred to the Rockets, electing to receive the ball at the start of the second half. The Rockets fumbled the ball on the kick return, and the Flames took possession on the Rockets’ 27-yard line. The Flames were unable to take advantage of the great opportunity and turned the ball over on downs.

The Flames' progress was hampered greatly by penalties in the first quarter, and after being unable to establish the passing attack on their first two possessions of the game, the Flames punted to the Rockets. The Rockets quickly went to their run game, and with a series of drives up the middle, and a Flames’ holding penalty, they found themselves with great field position, sitting on the Northgate 23-yard line. With 4:15 left in the first quarter, the Rocket's Brandon Kovith dropped back and tossed a 23-yard touchdown pass to Joe Phillips. The Rockets’ extra point kick was blocked, but the visitors had struck first, taking the lead over Northgate 6 - 0.

The Rockets then kicked off to the Flames' Cody Walter, who fielded the kick on Northgate’s 35-yard line. He promptly broke a couple of tackles and eluded the pursuing Rocket defenders before getting out to the sideline. Then with a burst of speed Walter "took it to the house" for a Northgate touchdown. The Flames' extra point kick was no good, but Walter's 65- yard TD run had tied the game at 6 - 6, and the message was sent that this was going to be a dog fight.

The second quarter started the same way that the first quarter ended -- the Flames' defense was swarming to the ball, and the pads were popping as the Northgate defense refused to give up ground to the persistent Rockets. Linebacker J. D. Hoover and Robbie Vickers were all over the field, making the Rockets pay for every yard, and Conner Doscher, along with Rob Payne, were disrupting the Rockets’ flow by blowing up their running backs before they could get out of their own backfield.

With the first half coming to a close, Northgate took possession of the ball on their 8-yard line. After a short 2-yard pick-up by Vickers, and a run for no gain by Jon Girvin, the Flames quickly called a time out with 1:01 left in the half. The Flames returned from their time out, and quickly attacked the Rockets with a pass from Girvin to Vickers for a 36-yard pick-up.
The Rockets were reeling as the first half was coming to a close. On the very next play, Northgate struck while the iron was hot, and Girvin went long to Rob Jones for a 55-yard touchdown pass that gave the Flames a 12 - 6 lead. The extra point kick was no good, and Northgate went into the locker room with the 6 point edge.

The third quarter started with Northgate receiving the ball, but the Rockets' defense gave the Flames' offense fits, as the Flames were unable to establish their run game or passing attack. The Northgate defense remained focused on stopping the run attack of the Rockets, as hard hits by Vickers, McKenzie Quinn, and Justin Parra, and hard-nosed defensive play, became the highlights of the third quarter.

As the third quarter was coming to an end, the Flames looked to be putting together a successful drive until the Rockets recovered a Northgate fumble on their own 35-yard line.

The fourth quarter started with the Flames still holding tight to a 12 -6 lead over the Rockets. However, the Rockets had the ball and mounted a drive spearheaded by dives and draws up the middle. The drive would culminate with the Rockets' Jesse Jento running into the end zone from the 4-yard line. The extra point kick was good, giving the Rockets a 13 - 12 lead.

The Rockets had wrestled the lead from the Flames, but Northgate never quit the entire fourth quarter, putting offensive drives together only to come up short. The defense fought hard, keeping the Rockets from sustaining another drive. Hoover led the Flames on defense with 10 tackles, and Quinn and Vickers followed with nine tackles apiece.

The Flames' offense searched in vain for a little magic, but could not snatch the lead back from the Rockets.

After the game, Coach Mike Pipak said, "The defense was good. We hurt ourselves with dropped balls and penalties. We just made too many mistakes."

The Flames finished the game with nine penalties for a total of 90 yards.

Northgate will have to put the loss behind them rather quickly, and begin preparation for a tough conference match-up against Bishop Canevin. Pipak said "we'll be back up, and ready for next week's opponent."

The Flames (1-1) will travel to Dormont Stadium tonight to take on the Crusaders from Bishop Canevin (2-0).