By Brad Greer

After steamrolling their first two opponents by the score of 62-15,  Clarksdale Lee ran into a buzzsaw Friday night as North Delta’s ‘Gang Green’ defense held  the Colt offense to 99 total yards in route to a 13-3 victory at Green Wave Field.

The North Delta defense sacked Colt quarterback Ben True seven times and held tailback Welby Wu to seven yards rushing . Lee’s only score came on a Trent Williams 32-yard field goal as the Colts to a short-lived 3-0 lead with 5:15 remaining in the first quarter.

“Without a doubt the defense won the game for us tonight, they  dominated the  line of scrimmage the entire night,” said North Delta head coach Dan Werner. “Every time we did something bad on offense our defense would pick us up and made some big plays. Coach (Hayden) Sullivant called a great game and blitzed them a lot. It just was not the defensive line it, was the linebackers and the secondary unit  doing their jobs,” said Werner.

Trailing 3-0, North Delta received the kickoff and marched 62 yards on 13 plays capped off by a Derek Shawn two-yard touchdown run with 1:52 remaining in the first quarter with Michael Magee adding the PAT. Shawn kept the drive alive with a 12-yard keeper on 4th- and 6 from the Colt 26.

Two plays later, Bryan Nickle’s 11-yard run down to the Lee 4-yard line set up Shawn’s score.

Lee (2-1) threatened to take the lead late in the second quarter when Williams picked off a Shawn pass and returned it 37 yards to the set up 1st-and goal on the Green Wave 9 yard-line. That is where the North Delta defense stiffened as Will Dunlap recorded a pair of quarterback sacks that moved the  ball back to the Green Wave 19 where Williams’ 35- yard field goal was blocked by Nickle. North Delta then took over possession and drove to the Lee 30 before giving the ball up on downs as the Green Wave took a 7-3 lead into the locker room.

The Green Wave put the game away midway through the third quarter as Werner dove into his bag of tricks and came away with a dagger in the heart of the Colt defense. From their own 20, tailback Tres Brasell tossed a 60-yard halfback pass to a wide open Corbin Baker down to the Colt 20. Shawn connected with Nickle on a 20-yard touchdown reception on the very next play to give the home team a 13-3 lead with 5:19 showing on the clock. Nickle also came up big on defense by returning an interception 17 yards to the Colt 36.

North Delta accounted for 262 total yards on the night including 166 yards through the air. Shawn finished the night 10-of-26 passing for 100 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Nickle got into the act by completing one pass for six yards. Brasell led the Green Wave ground game with 22 carries for 75 yards while Shawn added 18 yards on eight carries and a touchdown.

Nickle led the receiving corps with five catches for 55 yards. Chris Reeves, John Cody Dalrymple, and Baker all had a pair of catches.

Magee registered eight tackles on the defensive side of the ball while teammate Ray Tucker added seven stops.

 “Going against the  ‘ Wing T’ offense is tough but we worked  hard on it all week and we were ready for it, “ said Magee. “What we have got to do now is get ready to come out next week against Indianola and give the same kind of effort. “

North Delta opens district play tonight at home against Indianola at 7:30.

ND district season starts

By Brad Greer

Typically there are three phases to a football season. There is non- district part of the schedule followed by  the district slate and then the playoffs.

 After going 2-1 against non-district opponents, it is time to get down to business for   North Delta  as the Green Waves open up district play tonight  at home  against Indianola starting at 7:30.

 Both teams are coming off big wins last week as North Delta downed Clarksdale Lee 13- 3 while Indianola eased past Oak Hill 28-6. The Colonels started off the season with a 28-3 loss to Lee but then rebounded with a 27-14 victory over Manchester.

“They have gotten better and better each week . They like to mix up their offensive schemes and will show a few different looks from a two-back set to a shotgun formation. Their quarterback No.17 (Caleb Dobson) is the best player on the team. He has got a good arm and can run the ball when given a chance. They are very aggressive on defense and will blitz nearly every play,” said North Delta head coach Dan Werner.

Dobson has rushed for three touchdowns and passed for two more in the first three games for the Colonels. Joining Dobson in the backfield will be running back Dalton Deloach.

North Delta will be looking for another strong defensive performance as the one they got last week as the Green Wave held Lee to 99 yards of total offense, 39 of that coming through the air. Michael Magee led the Green Wave unit with tackles while Will Reynolds recorded two of seven quarterback sacks North Delta recorded on the night. Free safety Bryan Nickle returned a fourth quarter interception 17 yards for his second pick of the season.

Junior right guard/ defensive end Will Dunlap will miss tonight’s game after breaking a bone in his hand last week.

Sophomore Sy Pritchard will spell Dunlap on the offensive line while Trebor Gainwell and Chris Reeves will alternate at the defensive end spot. Werner said Dunlap will be out indefinitely after having surgery on the hand  this week.