History Says Friday's CHS-North Game Won't Be Close
- Sep 20, 2017
- 3 min read
There have been few close football games in the series between Crawfordsville and North Montgomery.
This week the two teams will meet for the 49th time, and out of the previous 48 meetings only 12 have been decided by a touchdown or less. And not one of the past 11 meetings saw a final margin of victory under 13 points. Look back even further, only three of past 26 games have been within a touchdown or less.
There have been some great games in the series, though, and they seem to come in streaks. For example, who remembers the series from 2003 to 2006? During that stretch three of the four games were decided by no more than a field goal.
Let’s take a quick look back:
In 2003, North Montgomery posted a 20-17 win over the Athenians thanks to big ground attack with 259 yards on the ground. Brent Parker led the way with 21 carries for 113 yards. Adding to the total for the Chargers were Justin Maltsburger (10 carries for 42 yards), Bryce Pierce (10 carries for 46 yards), and Jordan Turner (8 carries for 47 yards).
On the other side of the ball, the Athenians were held in check with just 64 yards total rushing. But Barboucarr Musa made the most of his three touches with 26 yards while scoring both CHS touchdowns. He also kicked the two extra points and a 32-yard field goal for Crawfordsville’s 17 points.
After a 16-point win by North Montgomery in 2004, it was back to playing it close the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
In 2005, the Athenians ended a nine-game losing streak to the Chargers thanks to one man — junior Daniel Keeling.
Keeling, who had rushed for 18 yards in the 2003 game as a freshman, ran for 212 yards on 38 carries in Crawfordsville’s 16-14 win. Keeling scored on the fourth play of the game on a 57-yard TD run to begin the game. He later added a 10-yard touchdown run for the only other CHS score, that one coming with just 2:12 to play to put the Athenians ahead after trailing 14-10.
As if that wasn’t enough, Crawfordsville coach Rex Ryker put his 1,400 yard rusher in at nose guard on the final defensive series, and he responded with a quarterback sack when the Chargers tried for a last-second comeback.
Also adding heroics to the game was Megan Mummert, who booted a field goal from 30 yards on the final play of the first half to give the Athenians a 10-7 halftime lead.
The Chargers won the county title in 2006 thanks to a thrilling 14-13 win over the Athenians.
Once again it was an early touchdown by Keeling — a 77-yard run on Crawfordsville’s first possession — to go ahead 7-0.
A defensive touchdown — an 85-yard interception return by Cole Brady — midway through the second quarter tied the game at 7-7.
Keeling added a second TD run from 11 yards out on the first possession of the second half to give the Athenians the lead again. However, Mummert missed just her third PAT of the season and the score stood at 13-7.
On the next North Montgomery possession Jake German hit Brady on a 3-yard pass on fourth down, and kicker Lucas Galloway split the uprights for what turned out to be the game-winner.
Keeling had another big game with 176 yards on 31 carries. Overall, the Athenians outgained the Chargers 311-171 in total offense, but still lost the game.
Ever since those three close finishes more than 10 years ago, the closest margin of victory has been 13 points. Will that streak continue or will we have another “classic” this Friday when the two square off at Crawfordsville?
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