North Central rallies to defeat Moscow

North Central rallied from a three-touchdown deficit Friday night, and finally got its offense rolling to overcome a scrappy Moscow team 33-26.

The Bears (1-2) got the ball and drove deep into Indians territory, but receivers dropped two catchable balls in the last seconds and North Central was able to pull out the victory at Joe Albi Stadium.

“I’ve got to give it to the Bears. They battled us,” North Central coach Tom Griggs said. “A win like this is great for the kids.”

The Indians kept feeding the ball to Khanian Charlton, who rushed 28 times for 122 yards. For Moscow, most of the offense came on tough yards from Chad Robertson, who rushed 25 times for 129 yards and scored two first-quarter touchdowns to help the Bears to a 19-0 lead.

But the Indians (1-1) stormed back in the second half.

“We let the pressure get to us,” Moscow coach Phil Helbling said. “We took the gas off the pedal … and they got some things going offensively. We just let the game get away from us.”

The Bears still had a shot after Charlton fumbled near the Moscow goal line. The Bears drove the field but came up short.