Tigers win game, lose players

The Northwestern High School football team roared to a 40-14 victory over the Hayward Hurricanes Friday night in Maple.

The Tigers remain perfect for the season — 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the Heart O’ North Conference — but they are no longer in perfect health.

Two players came out of the game Friday due to injury.

Northwestern’s first injury came when Hayward recovered a Tigers fumble at 7:02 in the first quarter. Junior lineman Jay Karich got tangled up in the scrum for the loose ball and was helped off the field with what is believed to be a sprained left ankle. He watched the rest of the game on crutches.

Senior Nick Murray joined him on the sidelines early in the third quarter. He took a hard hit at the end of a 31-yard run and landed heavily on his arm at the 2-yard line. Murray grimaced when he stood up and jogged off the field to have the medical staff examine him.

“I really feel bad for Nick,” said NHS coach Dennis Scherz. “He was having a breakout game, really starting to gel, and I think his wrist is broken. It’s not good.”

Prior to the injury, Murray had 94 yards rushing on just four carries. He also scored a touchdown for the Tigers in the first quarter when he returned a kickoff 97 yards to the end zone.

“That’s tough,” Scherz said. “We’ll recover, but I feel bad for him. He was really doing his best job.”

Following Murray’s injury, the Tigers punched through the final 2 yards to the end zone to take a 34-7 lead. Fullback Mark Pooler took the ball in for the Tigers and finished the night with four of Northwestern’s six touchdowns.

Pooler’s first TD came at 7:50 in the first quarter on the Tigers’ opening series. He had an 18-yard run right up the middle to finish off Northwestern’s eight-play, 76-yard drive.

Hayward took a 7-6 lead after scoring off of the fumble recovery that sidelined Karich, but Murray put the Tigers back in front 13 seconds later with his long kickoff return.

Northwestern then scored 27 unanswered points in the second and third quarter. Pooler ran in the first three touchdowns on short yardage, and Nathan Sikorski added a 29-yard scamper near the end of the third quarter to give the Tigers a 40-7 lead.

The Hurricanes scored a 10-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Northwestern 13 14 13 0 — 40

Hayward 7 0 0 7 — 14

Tags: sports, football, tigers, preps