Northern Highlands QB Nate Johnson gets 'O' going early en route to win over Willingboro
ALLENDALE — Northern Highlands knows the challenges of Group 4 football all too well. In what could be the most stacked Group in New Jersey, you better be battle-tested if you harbor any hopes of attaining a championship.
That’s why the Highlanders opened up against one of the top teams in South Jersey, Willingboro on Friday night. The Chimeras obliged by playing Highlands rough and tough. In the end, the deciding factor was a veteran offense.
Highlands got their season rolling with a 35-26 football win over Willingboro on Friday night, thanks to both the arm and the legs of quarterback Nate Johnson and an offense that looked more like it was October than the end of August.
The Highlanders scored on each of their first three possessions, taking the pressure off of a defense that has plenty of newcomers and was facing a Chimera offense that featured a multi-dimensional quarterback and a solid running back.
NH struck first on a 36-yard screen pass from Johnson to Cole Stecker 2:41 into the game. Willingboro responded with a 14-play drive leading to a Lamar Best touchdown pass to Nasir Hawkins. Without a kicker, they went for two and missed.
Johnson hit Chase Calarco in the flat for a 12-yard TD to make it 14-6 before Willingboro tied it at 14 on a Derrick Bryant 8-yard run and a two-point conversion pass. Matthew Boydell’s 3-yard run put Highlands up 21-14, and the Chimera offense finally blinked as a Jesse DeNobile sack forced a punt just before halftime.
The teams traded interceptions at the beginning of the third quarter and Willingboro got the best of the exchange, with Hawkins taking his pick back to the Highlands 6. Best scored from two yards out on third down, but the Highlander defense came up big on the two-point try with Jeremiah Rivera breaking up the pass to maintain a 21-20 NH lead.
Johnson came back with a 36-yard flat pass to Calarco for a touchdown and a 29-20 lead and added a 1-yard QB sneak to make it 35-20 with 8:59 left in the game. Willingboro scored on a 9-yard Best to Jarelle Taylor TD pass with 29.2 seconds left, but the two-point conversion was deflected away and Highlands recovered the onside kick.
What it means
For Northern Highlands, it was a good start to its defense of the North Group 4 title. They got exactly what they needed, a challenge to both sides of the ball and a successful ending.
For Willingboro, it was a disappointing loss, but a solid building block. A Group 2 school that consistently plays bigger schools, they showed they are once again going to be a handful for any opponent and will be primed for the South Group 2 postseason.
Inside the game
The first game always brings out some of the things that you just can’t prepare for or expect in the preseason. Four holding penalties by the Highlanders stood out, though they were able to overcome three of them (the fourth was right before the interception). The defense had numerous missed tackles, and while you can tip your cap to the Willingboro skill players for their elusiveness, you can bet that there will be an emphasis on tackling drills this week in practice.
The Chimeras fell prey to the Highlanders’ quick counts as Johnson kept them off-balance. They were hit with defensive encroachment penalties five times, two of them resulting in first downs. Johnson was also able to exploit the Willingboro defense with quick reads that allowed him to find seams into the second level.
Turning point
You can make a solid case for Rivera’s pass breakup on the two-point conversion that could have given Willingboro the lead. Had the Chimeras been able to jump ahead, it would have negated the early Highlands efficiency and potentially changed the complexion of the game.
Instead, they fed off the stop and had plays of 16, 17 (after a holding penalty) 10 and 36 yards to score right back.
By the numbers
Johnson was 14 of 20 passing for 212 yards (12 of 15, 177 in the first half) with three touchdowns and one interception. He spread the ball around to eight different receivers before halftime. He also had 92 rushing yards on 12 runs.
Highlands had 366 total yards and Willingboro had 282. Best was 18 of 28 passing for 164 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, but was just 9 of 17 for 63 yards in the second half. Bryant had 24 carries for 91 yards.
They said it
“Those weren’t designed runs; they were designed reads. He (Johnson) is just so quick with his reads that he makes it look like a designed run. We knew we were going to need the offense to take control, and they did. The holding penalties need to get cleaned up, but I thought they did a good job of keeping (Johnson) upright and giving him the ability to make those reads and throws.” – Northern Highlands coach Dave Cord
“We’ve been on a roll since we started summer workouts, and with so many guys coming back we were confident that we could come into the season with a lot of confidence. We have a really good group of backs and we rotate them in and some good receivers. That makes things a lot easier for me; all I have to do is find the guy in space.” – Johnson.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ football: Northern Highlands knocks off Willingboro
