Football: Northland dominates East in key City-North matchup

Thursday, September 21, 2023
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com

Northland’s Amir Brown gains ground during the host Vikings’ win over East on Sept. 21. Photo: John Hulkenberg

Although it wound up with a share of the City League-North Division championship a year ago with Beechcroft and East, the host Northland football team still found plenty of motivation from a loss to the Tigers last season when the teams met for their latest matchup Thursday.

The Vikings built a three-score lead late in the first quarter and didn’t let their focus wane as they beat the Tigers 49-14 to improve to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the league.

A year ago, East defeated Northland 18-6 when the Vikings were without several injured players – a list that included running back Amir Brown, who romped his way to 205 yards and four touchdown rushes on 22 carries in this year’s matchup.

“We just stayed locked in all week,” Brown said. “We were waiting for this one. We just had to get it back from last year. I didn’t play in that game last year so this was a big statement game for me. We all came together as a team. We knew what we had to do and we had to make it big.”

East, which went 10-2 a year ago and slipped to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the league with the loss, forced a fumble to end Northland’s opening possession.

The Vikings forced a three-and-out possession and got the ball at the Tigers’ 37 following a 20-yard punt.

East’s Taizaun Burns (right) tries to elude Northland’s Quavion Porter on Sept. 21 at Northland. Photo: John Hulkenberg

It was the first of four East punts that went for less than 25 yards, and Northland took advantage by taking a 7-0 lead on a 36-yard run by Brown.

East failed to pick up the ball on the ensuing kickoff and the Vikings fell on it at the Tigers’ 5-yard line, setting up a 5-yard touchdown by Brown to make it 14-0.

Northland took a 21-0 lead on a 1-yard run by quarterback Charles Woodfork Jr. with 3:54 left in the opening quarter, completing a possession which began at the East 33.

“They jumped out on us early,” Tigers coach Mike Bell said. “The first quarter they put us behind the gun and we just never got back from that. We showed some sparks at times, but we never got the momentum turned back in our favor. We never turned the field on field position and were fighting up hill. The kids fought as hard as they could and I’m proud of that.”

Northland made it 28-0 on a 16-yard touchdown from Woodfork to Jasir Smith midway through the second quarter before the Tigers got on the board with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Taizaun Burns to Anthony Shields.

The Vikings responded by driving 65 yards on 16 plays, taking a 35-8 lead on a 3-yard run by Woodfork with 10 seconds to go in the first half.

A 48-yard run by Brown midway through the third quarter made it 42-8.

Northland’s Uzziah Bailey celebrates during the host Vikings’ win over East on Sept. 21. Photo: John Hulkenberg

Burns rushed for a 1-yard tun with 6:05 remaining to cut the deficit to 42-14, but Northland’s Zion Moffett returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown.

After rushing for 31 touchdowns a year ago while playing mostly at running back, Burns has spent most of this season at quarterback and finished with 19 carries for 65 yards while completing 11 of 21 passes for 157 yards.

Northland, which plays host to Centennial on Sept. 29, is facing a schedule that includes a three-game stretch with opponents that are a combined 2-13 before closing the regular season Oct. 19 at Beechcroft. East travels Sept. 29 to Whetstone.

“It was (Brown versus Burns), but then we’ve also got (Moffett, Woodfork and Jerid Jackson-Rivera, and I think we’re a really good football team when we play well,” Sayers said. “This week we challenged our kids every day to go hard in practice. We set up team practice full go so they can get used to starting fast.

“If you were on our sidelines all night, you’d hear (Burns) is in the backfield, (Burns) is at receiver. He’s one of the best kids I’ve ever coached against. We had to shut him down. That was our game plan coming in.”