First-time playoff team beats JFK, 28-13

The Eagles made four turnovers in the first half.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
STOW -- Warren JFK football coach Tony Napolet seemed to be second-guessing his gameplan after a 28-13 loss to West Salem Northwestern in the Division VI regional semifinals Friday at Stow-Munroe Falls High School Stadium.
"We should have run the ball more," Napolet said as the Eagles fell behind 21-7 after committing four turnovers in the first half including two interceptions.
Kennedy's senior tailback Anthony Elzy scored the first points of the game on the first play from scrimmage on a 66-yard run.
But Elzy then had only five more carries in the half as JFK tried to test the Huskies' defense through the air.
Takes the blame
"I felt in the first half that we should have run the ball more instead of throwing it more," Napolet said. "I take the blame for that. Quite honestly, I felt we could do both effectively, but it didn't work out that way.
"We should have gone to Elzy more than we did in the first half," he said. "Passing the ball is not our forte. Our strength is [Elzy's] number six. We should have given Elzy the ball more."
Instead, the unheralded Huskies (10-2) fed the Eagles a steady diet of ball control football which paid off in big ways -- much to the chagrin of Northwestern football coach Mike Thut.
"I don't know if anyone outside of West Salem thought we could win this football game," Thut said of the Huskies who are making their first appearance in postseason play. "It feels great."
Thut said that Northwestern, who will play South Range next Friday in the regional final, knew they would have to control the football and keep it away from Elzy in order to grab the victory.
Possession retention
"That was the big game plan for us to make sure we could run the ball and hold onto the football," Thut said. "The longer we had the ball and the less times Elzy had the football the better off we would be."
Elzy, who is heading to the University of North Carolina next year, did manage to finish the game with 192 yards rushing, but most came in the second half as Kennedy tried to get back in the game.
Northwestern scored on their first two possessions of the football game on the strong running of sophomore Travis Morris who finished with 148 yards while carrying the ball 36 times.
Fullback Spencer Hershey scored on a one-yard run, and Morris tallied on a 3-yard run to give the Huskies the early lead.
Kennedy's defense had trouble stopping Morris and Huskies' quarterback Kaleb Reed all night, and JFK's offense kept giving the ball back to Northwestern.
Reed engineered a second quarter drive following a Kennedy turnover on an interception, and got the Huskies a score right before halftime by tossing a 6-yard pass to Hershey.
"Our defense has been suspect from day one," Napolet said. "Tonight when we needed to shore up the defense and we couldn't shore it up."
Huskies' output
Northwestern churned up 326 yards of total offense and 17 first downs.
The Eagles eventually turned to old "Mr. Reliable," Elzy, in the second half, and he nearly got the JFK offense jump-started.
He scored on a 27-yard run late in the third quarter to pull the Eagles to within 21-13, but Northwestern responded by taking the football at the start of the fourth quarter and marching 67 yards on 12 plays to put the game away.
When Reed scored on a 7-yard run it gave the Huskies a 28-13 lead and took over 7 minutes off the clock.
The Eagles (10-2) never got to make a serious threat after that as Northwestern ate up the final minutes with another strong offensive possession.
"I feel bad for our players and coaches," Napolet said. "It was a great season but tonight Northwestern played well and was the better team."