Norman North 42, Edmond North 20

As the final minutes of Norman North’s 42-20 win over Edmond North ticked away, the scene in Harve Collins stadium was different than it has been for most of the 2019 season. The few students remaining in the stands were hollering and joking with the North players and the band was bombastically cheering. Their reaction is understandable, as the sight of a winning Norman North (2-7, 2-4 6A-1) team has been uncommon in recent weeks. The Timberwolves were in the midst of a four-game losing streak, with their last win being a 23-20 slugfest against Mustang on Sept. 27. On Saturday, Norman North dominated every facet of the game. But perhaps the best display of the grit and the will of a struggling team came with 7:30 to go in the fourth quarter. Edmond North quarterback Colby Entwistle delivered a 65-yard strike to Jack Cheap to put the ball at Norman North’s 1-yard line. While the Timberwolves — who held a 42-13 lead at the time — easily could have folded and allowed a garbage time score, they stayed firm and forced a turnover on downs to end the drive. “It was all about rallying them to make a play,” Norman North coach Justin Jones said. “We take pride defensively in that we don’t want to give up points and it was a great effort by our guy to tackle him down at the one. And it took great discipline to stop them from there.” Jones said a critical part in his gameplan of stopping Edmond North’s (1-8, 0-6 6A-1) offense was stifling their passing game. His team was able to set the tone early in the game, as they snagged two interceptions from Entwistle in the first quarter alone. Both interceptions came inside Timberwolf territory, which stunted any potential momentum that the Huskies could have nabbed early in the game. “It was huge and getting takeaways isn’t something we’ve done a great job with,” Jones said. “To get two of those the way that we did really took momentum away and really took them out of their gameplan.” Offensively, Jones and the Timberwolves leaned heavily into the run game, which was a balanced attack that the Huskies struggled to keep up with all night. Three players — running backs Brae Alonso and Jordan Ford and quarterback Jackson Remualdo — combined for over 200 rushing yards, and each put the ball in the end zone at least one time. What Jones said he was most proud of from the win was the resilience his team showed late in the season, despite all the losses they have taken. “It’s a credit to them, to just have the year that we’re having but for guys to be so engaged and locked in with what we’re doing,” Jones said. “At times, we’ve been playing really good football but we’re not getting the results we want, so this win was big for us.” Jones and Norman North will close out the regular season next week with a road matchup against Southmoore.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Edmond North High School Athletics

NORMAN NORTH 42, EDMOND NORTH 20

VIC REYNOLDS

Norman Transcript | 11/2/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: North Athletics