Nouvel storms out of the gate
GREG MANCINA
THE
Flint Hamady had planned on putting up a bigger fight Thursday night in the Red Feather Classic against Nouvel Catholic Central.
But the Hawks compounded their own problems in facing the two-time defending state champions, and the benefit game at Arthur Hill's Memorial Stadium quickly got out of control.
Taking advantage of crisp offensive execution to go along with Hamady's early mistakes -- a poor snap on a punt, an interception and a fumble -- the Panthers rolled up a 34-0 lead after the first quarter on the way to a 55-6 victory.
''Obviously, when you're going against the No. 1 team in the state, they'll capitalize on your mistakes,'' said Flint Hamady coach Clint Galvas. ''It got out of hand quickly.''
The quick start was partly by design as Nouvel coach Mike Boyd wanted the ball first in order to pound on a team that was using many of its players on both sides of the ball.
''We couldn't have had a better start,'' Boyd said of his team's seven-play, 66-yard drive into the end zone on the opening possession.
''Then they helped us with turnovers,'' Boyd added, ''and it got out of control.''
The Panthers broke in a new starting quarterback and running back, and both responded beautifully.
Ryan Henris completed 6 of 9 passes for 107 yards and three touchdowns, adding pizzazz to an effective ground game.
Chad Jacobs caught two of the touchdowns -- 31 and 27 yards -- and finished with three catches for 67 yards, while Sam Herbert hauled in two passes for 19 yards, including a 4-yard score.
'Ryan has a couple of good receivers and he put the ball on the money,'' Boyd said of his senior quarterback. ''He called some audibles a couple of times and put us in the right things.''
Nouvel also has newcomer Kevin Robinson at tailback, and the 218-pound senior carried the ball eight times for 88 yards and touchdowns of 20 and 31 yards.
Nouvel ended up with 329 yards of offense.
''Kevin Robinson ran very strong I thought, and we played very well up front on both sides of the ball,'' Boyd said.
The offensive outburst, which included five touchdowns in 8 minutes and 10 seconds in the first quarter, nearly overshadowed a Nouvel defense that is the strength of the team coming into the season.
Hamady had negative total yards until the second-from-last play of the first half and finished with just 89 total yards, including Altario Chism's 2-for-8 passing for 5 yards.
The Hawks had shown a couple of offensive formations that the Panthers did not expect, but still could not sustain anything on the ground.
''They just flowed to the ball very well,'' Boyd said.
After the opening scoring drive, the Nouvel defense held and then sacked the punter off a bad snap at the Hamady 22-yard line.
Two plays later, Henris threw a 4-yard touchdown to Herbert.
Another defensive stop led to a 42-yard scoring drive that Henris capped with a 31-yard toss to Jacobs.
Ditto the next score a stop, a short field, and a 27-yard TD toss to Jacobs.
Murphy Wilson scored Nouvel's next touchdown on a 35-yard interception return to cap the first quarter with the 34-0 lead.
In the second quarter, Austin Krawczak scooped up Chism's fumble and raced 71 yards for another defensive touchdown and the 41-0 lead.
Backup quarterback Ross Rokita then made it 49-0 by halftime on a 25-yard bootleg for a touchdown.
The first half ended with
Both teams ran the football during the second-half running clock, although Robinson broke through for a 31-yard touchdown run for Nouvel, while Mario Harris Jr. returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards to finish the scoring.
''I hope we learn a lot from this loss and can turn it into something positive,'' said Galvas, whose team begins defense of its Genesee Area Conference's Blue Division title next week against New Lothrop.
Boyd also is anticipating a game at Traverse City St. Francis.
''It's going to be interesting next week,'' Boyd said. ''It'll be tough to stop Traverse City St. Francis from running the ball, but that's what we do well.'' v
