Bloomington North football pays for early mistakes at Mooresville in season-opening loss

MOORESVILLE, Ind. — Anthony Lindsey left Mooresville in almost the same state of frustration last time he was there.

His high school career ended on the Pioneers' home field in the sectionals when he was quarterback at Bloomington North back in 2003. His return also left him shaking his head at what might have been.

There's no finality to Friday's 30-27 loss, however. Lindsey is just getting his career and the season started as the Cougars' new head coach, so there's plenty of time for redemption. North started down that path with a much better performance over the last three quarters but an awful first quarter was just too much to overcome.

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The litany of mistakes and shortcomings was a long one and each of them came back to bite the Cougars like a rabid raccoon: two lost fumbles, 11 penalties for 100 yards, including four off-side penalties on the defense that rewarded Mooresville with three first downs, including one on fourth-and-5, and a short field after a Mooresville turnover that resulted in three points instead of seven.

North finished with 319 yards of offense to Mooresville's 352, wringing even more sting out of the hiccups.

"We played about as bad as we possibly could have," Lindsey said. "Especially that first half. Turnovers on one-play series. Turn the ball over on a big run. Obviously, we've got to clean those things up.

A slow start resulted in a 20-3 deficit with 1:27 left in the first quarter. From there, the Cougar defense played much better, ringing up four sacks, while scooping up a critical fumble right before halftime. Mooresville scored only three more points until a long, seven-minute drive put a good nail in the coffin with 4:48 left after a touchdown run by Trey Bennett to make it 30-20.

An interception on the second play of the game by Zeke Trueblood set up North on the Pioneers 22, but the Cougars had to settle for a 28-yard field goal.

On the ensuing drive, North jumped two straight times on fake snap claps by QB Connor Cruz (16-of-27, 244 yards, TD) which led to a touchdown. From there, bad field position plagued the Cougars. A bad snap and intentional grounding call ended one drive, then a North fumble was turned into a 38-yard TD catch by Kaden Brahn for a 13-3 lead at 4:29 of the first quarter.

Another fumble by Shaun Cooper to start the next drive was turned into a TD run by Bennett and a 20-3 lead with 1:27 left in the first.

"It was probably just first game and some new guys running the ball, trying to make plays and probably trying to do too much," Lindsey said of the drops.

North tallied a field goal and a TD run by Ferree, whose 47-yard screen catch set it up, to get within 20-13 by half.

But there was one more big boo-boo as North jumped off-sides on fourth-and-5, kept a drive alive that resulted in a field goal late in the third that kept North at bay. The Cougars scored with 2:20 left but Mooresville was able to run out the clock.

More: Bloomington North football hungry for postseason success under new coach Anthony Lindsey

"We're always going to fight and we're going to be a physical team," Lindsey said. "So I am very proud of them to keep chipping away and get back to where we had a chance."

Dash King was 10-of-19 for 159 yards and ran for another 98. Ferree finished with 56 yards and three TDs. Jalen Williams had two big catches for 49 yards and Alan Hays and Braylon Oswalt had critical catches on North's last scoring drive for their first career receptions.

MOORESVILLE 30, BLOOMINGTON NORTH 27

Bloomington North (0-1) 3 | 10 | 0 | 14 — 27

Mooresville (1-0) 20 | 0 | 3 | 7 — 30

FIRST QUARTER

BN: Joe Luther 38 FG, 10:35. BN, 3-0

M: Tyler Denny 10 run (pass failed), 8:29. M, 6-3.

M: Kaden Bruhn 38 pass from Connor Cruz (Matt Coffey kick), 4:29. M 13-3.

M: Trey Bennett 2 run (Coffey kick), 1:27. M 20-3.

SECOND QUARTER

BN: Luther 29 FG, 10:57. M, 20-6.

BN: Noah Ferree 2 run (Luther kick), 5:40. M, 20-13.

THIRD QUARTER

M: Coffey 27 FG, 2:40. M 23-13.

FOURTH QUARTER

BN: Ferree 12 run (Luther kick), 11:54. M, 23-20.

M: Bennett 1 run (Coffey kick), 4:48. M, 30-20.

BN: Ferree 4 run (Luther kick), 2:20. M, 30-23.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Bloomington North (28-160): Dash King 14-98, Noah Ferree 12-56, Shain Cooper 1-7, Jorian Brooks 1-(-1).

Mooresville (40-108): Keenan Brownlee 25-77, Trey Bennett 6-22, Tyler Denny 2-16, Connor Cruz 7-(-4).

PASSING

Bloomington North (10-19-2-159): King 10-19-2-159.

Mooresville (16-27-1-244): Cruz 16-27-1-244.

RECEIVING

Bloomington North: Brooks 4-27, Jalen Williams 2-49, Braylon Oswalt 2-21, Ferree 1-47, Alan Hays 1-15.

Mooresville: Kaden Bruhn 5-106, Bennett 5-65, Brownlee 3-57, Denny 2-25, Journey Thompson 1-4, Quinten Gunter 1-3.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington North football pays for early mistakes at Mooresville in season-opening loss