Football: High-Octane Northgate Rumbles Past Tennyson

Northgate 70 Tennyson 18

The Star: Senior wide receiver Matt Butler scored four touchdowns — one on the ground and three on the receiving end — to go with impressive play at cornerback.

The Turning Point:  After taking an early 14-0 lead, Northgate's Cameron Stover recovered a Tennyson fumble and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown midway through the first quarter, which helped open the floodgates.

The Quote:  "We had a lot to clean up from last week, and we did a great job preparing for this one." – Northgate head coach Justin Lowell.

What's Next?  Northgate travels to Dougherty Valley next Friday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m., in a match-up of top running backs in the East Bay (Northgate's Cameron Stover and Dougherty Valley's Michael Spivey).

Bottom Line: Northgate was just too much for Tennyson after jumping out to an early 28-0 first quarter lead, and Butler couldn't be contained in the red-zone (three touchdowns inside the 30-yard line).

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If the Webster Dictionary came up with a sports definition for the term, "total team effort," it would have a play-by-play description and box score of Northgate's 70-18 victory over Tennyson written in as an example.

The Broncos dominated from the opening kickoff in every facet of the game, scoring touchdowns on the ground, through the air, on a kickoff return, and on fumble and interception returns.

Northgate running back Cameron Stover picked up where he left on from last week's impressive performance against Dublin, picking up 214 rushing yards and two touchdowns on only nine carries, including a 78-yarder in the third quarter.

The senior standout also had a 15-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown in the first quarter to give the Broncos a 21-0 lead.

With Stover breaking off huge yards on the ground, the Northgate passing game was able to flourish.

Senior quarterback Alex Cost was a perfect 5-for-5 for 109 yards, including three touchdown passes to wide receiver Matt Butler.

Butler, an athletic senior, out-leaped the Tennyson defender on two of his scores, and also picked up a first-quarter touchdown on the ground.

"He's our sparkplug," head coach Justin Lowell said. "We try to get him the ball, and it really helps out with the way Stover is running the ball."

The Cost and Butler connection goes back a long way.

"We worked hard day in and day out (in the off-season)," Butler said. "He knows where I'm going to be, since we've known each other since we were five years old."

With many of the starters resting in the second half, running back Aaron Khomash had a chance to shine.

The junior returned a kick-off 80 yards for a touchdown, and also raced for a 69-yard score late in the fourth quarter.

The defense scored its second touchdown of the game when defensive back Erik Carlson picked off a pass in the fourth quarter and went 70 yards for the score.

After jumping out to impressive 2-0 start to the season, Lowell knows the next opponent, Dougherty Valley, should give them a test.

"They will give us a challenge," Lowell said. "They have a good team and some hard runners, so it should be a good game."

Northgate travels to San Ramon next Friday night for a game with Dougherty Valley.

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Northgate 70 Tennyson 18

Northgate – 21 21 21 7 - 70

Tennyson – 0 6 6 6 - 18

Scoring Summary

8:24, 1st NG – Stover 43 run (Levy kick)

5:12, 1st NG – Butler 12 run (Levy kick)

4:53, 1st NG – Stover 15-yd fumble recovery (Levy kick)

11:53, 2nd NG – Butler 20 pass from Cost (Levy kick)

6:27, 2nd T – Lloyd 7 pass from Huessa (kick failed)

4:08, 2nd NG – Butler 27 pass from Cost (Levy kick)

0:40, 2nd NG – Butler 14 pass from Cost (Levy kick)

12:00, 3rd NG – Khomash 80 kickoff return (Levy kick)

8:55, 3rd NG – Stover 78 run (Levy kick)

4:30 3rd NG – Carlson 70 int return (Levy kick)

0:39, 3rd T – Huessa 1 run (2-pt att failed)

10:30 4th NG – Khomash 69 run (Levy kick)

1:00, 4th T – Lloyd 11 pass from Huessa (2-pt att failed)

Individual Statistics

Rushing (car-yards): NG – Stover 9-214, Khomash 1-69, Butler 3-36,  Stuart 3-10, Cost 3-10, Han 1-14, Schmidt 1-2, Carlson 1 (-1) Tennyson -  McFadden 7-9, Flowers 2-13, Jimenez 4-9, Huessa 10-(-36), Head 1-30, Lloyd 2-1, Cosby 1-9

Passing (comp-att-yards-int): NG – Cost 5-5-109-0. Tennyson – Huessa 12-20-140-1

Receiving (Rec-yards):  NG – Butler 4-103, Han 1-6. Tennyson – Lloyd 7-50, Paxton 2-48, McFadden 1-38, Ray 2-10.  

Team Offense (rushing-passing-total)

Northgate: 348-109-457

Tennyson: 37-140-177

Fumbles/lost: NG -1/1. T -1/1

Records: Northgate 2-0, Tennyson 1-1

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More Patch East Bay Football Coverage — Week 1

Friday, Sept. 10

San Ramon Valley 16, Mitty-San Jose 13. By Kyle Bonagura

Campolindo 35, Mt. Eden 14. By Kyle Yamamoto

Encinal 59, El Cerrito 20. By Jordan Conn

Marin Catholic 20, Las Lomas 8. By Richard Paolinelli

Serra-San Mateo 28, Monte Vista 21. By Jim Mannion

Dougherty Valley 31, Kennedy-Fremont 13. By Bill Soliday

Foothill 37, Novato 12. By Steve R. Waterhouse

Cal 45, College Park 3. By Adam Berke

Berean Christian 45, St. Helena 7. By Peter Fournier

Vallejo 42, Albany 24. By Patrick Creaven

Concord 36, Amador Valley 23. By Eric Gilmore

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