The adage says there’s calm before the storm.
Saturday afternoon at Thomas Field, the North Cross Raiders were glad to see a burst before the storm.
Forced to wait out a delay of an hour after the skies opened up 20 seconds into the second quarter, North Cross used a quick start to outlast Blessed Sacrament-Huguenot 33-14 for their second straight home win in as many weeks.
Riding the arm of senior quarterback Max Revercomb, North Cross scored three touchdowns in the first eleven minutes of the first quarter before thunder, lightning and downpours sent the fans scampering for cover and both teams to the locker room to wait out the requisite delay.
North Cross had rolled out of the gate. Two minutes in, Revercomb connected on a 49-yard bomb to junior wide receiver Jordan Lowery for a quick 7-0 lead after Brandon Campbell’s point-after.
Minutes later it was Revercomb-to-Lowery on a 29-yard strike that made it 14-0. With 1:09 left in the opening frame, sophomore Chase Overton’s 14-yard TD catch made it 20-0.
Blessed Sacrament used a long pass play on its next possession to get inside the Raider 10-yard line before the rains came. When play finally resumed, the Knights punched it in on a CJ Filipkowski 7-yard touchdown pass to Matt Schiefer that made it 20-7.
Although the remainder of the second quarter was played with North Cross threatening, the score held until the teams went to the halftime break.
“The first quarter was great, the second not good at all,” North Cross head coach Stephen Alexander noted after the game, “The second quarter is on me. We had great execution to start, and after the delay I changed some things around that didn’t work.”
North Cross got some breathing room in the third quarter when senior Ryan Dent hauled in a 52-yard pass from Revercomb that put the Raiders in front 27-7. The Raiders added insurance early in the fourth quarter when Lowery pulled in his third TD catch of the day on a 9-yard Revercomb toss for a 33-7 Raider advantage.
Blessed Sacrament finished the scoring on a late 76-yard Filipkowski to Tanner Dobrucky pass.
“The early big lead was huge,” Lowery said. “All the work we put in this week paid off. The break killed us. After the delay we just tried to keep focused.”
One saving grace was the play of Raider junior lineman Davis Call who made himself at home all afternoon in the Knight’s backfield.
“We were explosive in the first half,” Call noted afterward. “In the second half they were getting tired and I kept it (the pressure) up. I’ve become to realize when the double-teams are coming.”
“We’ll take it,” Alexander added. “Beating Blessed-Sacrament is always a good win.”
Revercomb now has 14 touchdown passes and 928 passing yards in three games.
– Bill Turner
