In Their Own Words - Voices of the PAC-6 - ECH vs. Northern (10/21/2010)

When I arrived at Durham County Memorial Stadium and began to watch the Knights and Wildcats warming up it became clear that there was a high probability that on Northern's homecoming, it was going to be a good Knight for the home team!  Why so sure - seeing East's starting quarterback Drew Davis in sweats and clearly not getting ready to take on the Knights.  In our weekly analysis of games last week [PAC-6 Breakdown (Week 4) - Wildcats visit Knights - The Knights are Surging] it was clear that on paper this match-up in many ways was a potential mis-match and not having Davis at the controls would simply add to that mis-match.  Air-Renner relies heavily on the signal-caller making the correct reads and delivering the ball on point to athletes in space and that is much easier said-than-done.

The Wildcats started off strong moving the ball well in their opening drive, but the tide quickly turned as the Knights began to slowly wear down the undersized Wildcats through a gashing rushing attack.  It's been a bit scary as I've looked back over my picks for games involving Northern Durham and this week was no different as I was one point off of the total mark as the final score ended up 41-14 [DFBFan's Pick - Northern 42, ECH 14].

The Knights ran the ball as effectively as they had over their recent winning streak, while the Wildcat defense continued to have problems stopping opposing team's rushing attacks.  Through the air, the Wildcats had spurts of success, but simply couldn't generate enough positive plays to finish drives, putting up just 149 yards through the air and no passing touchdowns.  Add to that, the Northern defense completely shutdown the East rushing attack allowing just one total yard on 16 carries.  For Northern, this was a game they should have won and moreover, should have won going away and they accomplished that goal, providing them with additional confidence heading  into their bye-week.  The following quotes are from the voices of the PAC-6 and were included in articles from the News and Observer and Herald-Sun.  For more information on the game, follow the links provided at the end of the post.

After one of Northern's most complete victories of the year, head coach Anthony Sullivan discussed the impact of their victory over East as well as how this win plays into the remainder of Northern's schedule.

"It's a big win," said Northern coach Anthony Sullivan. "It keeps us atop the conference, continues the streak and gives us some more confidence headed into some huge games coming up.  We didn't finish strong, but we did enough to win the football game."

Commenting on dialogue that began to appear through internet/media sources going into the East game about the possibility of the Knights overlooking their competition with Hillside and Southern waiting in the final two weeks of the season, Coach Sullivan responded.

"When things come out like they did tonight, there's nothing but good that can come from it.  It's just another medium for our players to get some love."

Head football coach Bill Renner has seen his East team go from a struggling team in most all aspects of the game, to a team that at least offensively has shown through the 2010 season to have the capability of moving the ball and putting up points through his four and five wide spread sets.  After losing starting quarterback Drew Davis two weeks earlier, Coach Renner commented on the progress of back-up quarterback Jackson Boyer.

"He did some good things and he did some things he needs to do better," he said. "But for the first time he played the whole game, he did a good job." Coach Renner

News and Observer (article by Mike Potter)
Durham Herald-Sun (article by Steven J. Gaither)