Reeths-Puffer hung tough with Forest Hills Northern early on its
homecoming night Friday, but the Huskies were able to pull away and
knock off R-P 40-27.
The Rockets (2-4, 1-2 O-K Green
Conference) trailed only 13-6 early in the third quarter after Cole
Piper's touchdown run, but FHN responded with a scoring drive, a squib
kickoff that it recovered, and another touchdown drive, and R-P was
unable to get closer after that.
The visiting Huskies scored
late in the second quarter and early in the third to go ahead 13-0,
breaking open a game the Rockets had to that point succeeded in slowing
down. However, despite FHN pulling away later, coach Cody Kater said he
felt his team performed better in the second half.
"I felt
like we executed better in the second half than in the first half,"
Kater said. "We got into more of our game plan in the second
half...Overall, we're excited about the growth we're seeing at some
positions, but we have to find a way to make them connect."
A
lot of the Huskies' success was the result of their size advantage up
front. Although Kater felt the team did well to execute a game plan
focused around making FHN quarterback Owen Ostipow use his arm to beat
the Rockets rather than making plays with his legs, eventually that size
advantage bore fruit. The Huskies had 272 yards rushing and 363
overall.
"The kids executed some of it, but when they got in
the heavy personnel and they were able to bully us, we were just
outmanned," Kater said. "We had a hard time shutting it down in the
second half. They had extra pounds on us and they were pretty technical
too, and did a good job executing."
Braylon Swain was
effective through the air, going 10-of-12 for 127 yards and three
touchdowns. Piper ran for 61 yards, and Cal Millis posted 10 tackles.
