Blackhawks Spoil Nc’s Home Show

North Central football returned to NC High on Friday for the first time in 26 years.

Make that 26 years and 24 minutes, because NC won’t claim its first half against the Cheney Blackhawks.

Cheney (2-0) blazed to a 32-0 lead before halftime and cruised to a 38-15 non-league win over the Indians (0-2).

The opening half had little that NC cared to display in its first home game since 1969.

The Indians tackled poorly, dropped a wide-open pass deep in Blackhawks territory, and botched two snaps on punts that led to 10 Cheney points.

“Maybe there was too much pressure,” said NC coach Jerry McCullough. “Maybe there were too many distractions.”

Maybe, also, Cheney is a formidable team.

The Blackhawks scored on five of their first six possessions, each time needing fewer than six plays to score.

Senior running back Chad Randall, who had 49 yards on seven carries, started Cheney toward a 15-0 lead with touchdown runs of 28 and 2 yards.

Senior slotback Adbul Odood made the lead 29-0 with a 75-yard TD run through several tacklers and a 5-yard TD catch between defensive backs. Odood had 116 total yards.

Cheney showed another part of its attack with Chris Collins’ 37-yard field goal after NC’s second bad snap on a punt.

Then, after NC rebounded with Ryan Corigliano TD runs of 12 and 2 yards, the Blackhawks got a little luck. Jack Myers fumbled near the NC 40 after a 10-yard gain, but August Parker found the loose ball and carried it the rest of the way.

NC played without five injured starters, mostly at key skill positions.

“The continuity from four weeks ago has been greatly disrupted,” McCullough said. “That has put us in a tailspin.”

Cheney came away with just what it wanted, win or no.

“We wanted to play as many kids as we could,” said Blackhawks coach Tom Oswald. “We had 44 kids and probably played them all.”

, DataTimes