Jags pound Bulldogs, 18-8

North Laurel downs Lawrence Co.

By Denis House

Last season, it took the North Laurel Jaguars until the final game to record their first win.

This season, they did it on opening night, downing Lawrence Co. 18-8 in the Cumberland Valley Bowl at North Laurel. It was only the fourth opening season win in the school history.

“This feels a whole lot better than last year,” Coach David Abbott said after the win. “Everybody stepped it up. Look at the faces of these kids. That tells the story. Winning tonight will make a difference come next week. It makes you want it more. It’s good to get that monkey off our back.”

North Laurel just plain wore Lawrence County down, with a pounding ground game on offense, and some punishing defense, especially in the play of Jacob Osborne, who had an interception and, while playing offense, leveled Shane Pack with a thunderous hit while quarterback Adrian Wardrup was scrambling.

“Both Jacob and Trent Prewitt played well tonight, going both ways,” Abbott said. “We had to scramble to fill some positions due to injuries, but the back-ups stepped it up and played their hearts out.”

The score looked more like a baseball game at the end of the first quarter, with the Jaguars leading the Bulldogs, 6-2. North scored on their second possession of the night, thanks to a fumble by Pack trying to field a Jaguar punt. North recovered on the Bulldogs’ 44, and five plays later, Wardrup hit Raymond Shears on a 10-yard pass for a 6-0 lead. North tried for a two-point conversion, but Wardrup was stopped.

It stayed that way until the 3:14 mark of the first quarter, when North, facing a third-and-18 from their own two, saw Wardrup tackled in the end zone for a safety, cutting the lead to 6-2.

North had a golden opportunity to add to its lead midway through the second quarter, when Osborne intercepted a Chandler Shepherd pass and rumbled to the 15 yard line. But three incompletions, and a fumbled pitch that was recovered for a loss, and the Jags turned the ball over on downs at the nine with 4:40 left.

Now it was Lawrence County’s turn for a bad snap, as the ball sailed over Pack’s head and out of the end zone on a punt attempt, giving North Laurel an 8-2 lead.

The Jags then took over on the 41, and used the running game of Steven White and Hughie Wagers to move the ball all the way down to the 29, where Nick Armstrong connected on a 39-yard field goal to give the Jaguars an 11-2 half-time lead.

On the opening play of the second half, Lawrence County’s Pack took a pitch from Shepherd and raced 69 yards for a touchdown, only to see it called back on a holding penalty. On the next play, Shepherd this time took it down the right side all the way to the North Laurel 43 yard line. But the Jaguar defense held tough, and the Bulldogs were forced to punt the ball away.

Taking over on their own 43, White raced seven yards to the 50, then 12 more into Bulldog territory at the 38. Four plays later, Robert Lewis carried it in from five yards out. When Armstrong’s PAT was good, North Laurel held an 18-2 lead with 7:07 left in the third.

Lawrence Co. added the final score of the game with 6:43 left in the fourth when Shepherd raced five yards for the score. The two-point conversion failed, and North Laurel held on for the 18-8 win.

North Laurel will now travel to face rival South Laurel this Friday night.



North Laurel 18, Lawrence Co. 8

Lawrence Co. 2 0 0 6—8

North Laurel 6 5 7 0—18

NL—Wardrup, 10 pass to Shears (run failed); LC—Safety; NL—Safety; NL—Armstrong, 39 FG; NL—Lewis, 5 run (Armstrong kick); LC—Shepherd, 5 run (pass failed).

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