North Bend Central routed at David City Aquinas

The North Bend Central Football Team suffered another setback Friday night, falling 52-14 at David City Aquinas.

The Monarchs jumped out to a 42-7 halftime lead, leading 22-7 at the end of one and shutting out the Tigers 20-0 in the 2nd quarter.

The second half saw Aquinas kick a field goal in the 3rd quarter for their only points, a quarter they won 3-0 to lead 45-7 after three. Both teams scored 7 points in the 4th quarter.

Aquinas had 550 yards of offense -- 431 yards on the ground. North Bend Central finished the game with 202 yards total offense -- 112 rushing and 90 yards passing. Jacob Ray rushed 11 times for 54 yards, Austin Endorf was 11-24 for 90 yards passing and John Emanuel caught 5 passes for 42 yards. Joe Howser opened the game with a 95 yard kick return for a TD, and Ian Virka, who had 76 yards on 13 carries, scored on the very last play of the game.

Cole Johnson made 11 tackles while Emanuel and Ben Rolenc had 8 apiece.

Head Coach Ryan Stieren says this wasn't the same team that won their first 5 games. "We did not play very well tonight. I felt that we had a good plan and a lot of good reps this week in practice but then we came out and did not show much life. They are hard to prepare for and our injuries are mounting but we have to find a way to compete better against the best teams in the state. The challenge will be to bounce back and play with the confidence that we played with the first 5 games. If we can do that, then we can finish the season strong."

The Tigers (5-2) take on Shelby-Rising City (5-2) on the road Friday night in action that can be heard on 107.9 the Bull.

The Huskies lost 28-15 at Centennial last week.

Shelby-Rising City certainly played the Broncos tougher than North Bend Central did, but the Huskies lost to David City, who the Tigers play in the regular season finale next week.

This figures to be a very interesting and intriguing game.

Shelby-Rising City owns a win over Battle Creek, and I guess the question is can North Bend Central bounce back after getting blown out last week?

I think they can, but the Tigers have to play with the same fight, hunger, drive, and determination they played with the first 5 games of the season.

North Bend Central was smacked in the mouth by Centennial and Aquinas, but those are two great powers, and every team is going to take their lumps and have their off games.

How the Tigers bounce back and respond is going to dictate how they fare against the Huskies in my opinion.

North Bend Central has to try and slow down Mason Schleis at Quarterback as well as Grant Lindsley.

The Broncos held both of them in check so the Tigers have to do the same.

North Bend Central has to get off to a strong start like they did against Aquinas, and sustain a high level of play throughout the game.

The Tigers have to get back to their roots and do the things they did the first five games of the season.

North Bend Central can definitely get back on track with a win, and it needs to happen if the Tigers hope to host a first round playoff game.

North Bend Central might be able to make the playoffs even if they don't win another regular season game, but the Tigers want to win Friday night and solidify a playoff berth.

North Bend Central may have to rely on beating David City in the regular season finale to secure a playoff spot, but the Tigers hope that's not the case.

If the Tigers show the same fight and might they played with against and perform similar to how they did at GICC then I think North Bend Central can win.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on the Bull.