High school football: Knights top Colts to stay unbeaten

It took three hours and 17 minutes. It wasn’t pretty, and it felt like there was a flag being thrown every other snap.

But each team played hard for all four quarters, and a win, whether aesthetically pleasing or not, is a win. And Vanguard will take the 36-19 victory it earned Friday night at North Marion.

Both coaches also said they will take lessons gleaned from the contest in hopes of continuing to improve as they enter the second half of the season.

Here are five things we learned about the Knights (4-0) and Colts (2-2):

Fred Gaskin is a problem for the opposition

Vanguard’s sophomore quarterback took snaps for three quarters and finished 9-for-13 for 216 yards with touchdown passes of 95 yards (to Tyrell Randall), 21 yards (to Elijah Hopkins) and 34 yards (to Dallen Ponder).

Two completions that stood out most were a pair to Joshua Rembert in the same series of the third quarter.

First, on third-and-7 from the VHS 23, Gaskin scrambled left to avoid pressure in the backfield. He kept his head up, aware of the line of scrimmage while also sifting through a progression of receivers. He threw a nice 18-yard touch pass to Rembert near the Knights’ sideline.

Two plays later, Gaskin rolled to the other sideline, stayed focused while again being pressured and tossed a 26-yard completion to Rembert.

“The offense played well,” said VHS coach Edwin Farmer, whose backup quarterback, Ronnie Gilchrist, also looked sharp in leading the Knights to 10 points in the fourth quarter. “Our offensive staff did a great job getting everyone prepared.”

Knights have to clean up the penalties

Unofficially, Vanguard finished with (gulp!) 25 penalties for 238 yards. It can’t be said the Knights didn’t spread those out equally, too, as they had 15 for 121 at the half.

Farmer said he wasn’t sure all of the penalties were deserved, but he did acknowledge his team was flagged much more than what made him comfortable.

“We have district play starting soon, so we have some big games coming up,” Farmer said. “We’ve got to do a better job with the penalties.”

VHS D was stout

Vanguard defensive back Malik McConico had two big moments early.

One came on an interception of AJ Cussins on the first series of the game, and the second came on the third series when McConico made a teeth-shaking hit on talented NMHS receiver Chris Foster that resulted in an incompletion. McConico was called for targeting, but a physical statement was made.

Also, they don’t wear traditional defensive end numbers, but VHS’s Ronald Carpenter (No. 18) and Jaelyn Williams (19) spent much of the game in the Colts’ backfield. 

NMHS doesn’t quit

North Marion found itself behind 36-3, but, instead of dropping their heads and thinking ahead to next week, the Colts scored 16 points in the final minutes of the contest.

Coach Greg Carr saw that as a positive, but added that parts of the rest of the game were concerning.

“The effort was there, it always is, and I will never question their passion and toughness,” Carr said. “I love that about them.

“However, our execution was not where it needed to be. We’ve got to be better at doing the Xs and Os.”

One player whose performance really popped was 6-foot-2, 220-pound sophomore linebacker Andrew Zock who has proven to be adept against the run, rushing the passer and in coverage. His name was called a lot by the PA announcer during the game.

Both teams could have future implications from this game

A near-brawl broke out with 10:05 remaining in the third quarter. Officials stopped the contest for close to 15 minutes while discussing penalties and potential ejections.

In the end, three Colts and one Knight were tossed. The FHSAA will review the tape and the officials’ notes before determining possible suspensions.