Abe Ridlen got the ball rolling for Northwestern Friday night — literally.
A member of Northwestern’s kickoff coverage team, Ridlen forced a fumble on the game’s opening kickoff, which the Tigers recovered on the Taylor nine yard line. It was all downhill from there.
Northwestern running back Michael Schulte scampered around the right side for a touchdown on the next play and the Tigers never let the Titans back in the game, rolling to a 42-0 victory at Taylor.
The Tigers (4-1, 2-1 Mid-Indiana Conference) established control instantly. After forcing Taylor into a quick punt on the Titans’ first possession, Northwestern again struck on its first play. This time, Schulte had a wide-open passage around the left side and blazed 71 yards for his second score just 93 seconds into the game.
“You can’t script that out any better,” NW coach John Hendryx said of his team’s quick opening flurry. Those two scores “took their emotion a little bit. It was [Taylor’s] homecoming, they were pretty fired up to play and I thought we just kind of took that away, and it elevated our [emotion] because I thought we were a little flat. It was a perfect start for us.”
It was a nightmare for Taylor (1-4, 0-3 MIC).
“It puts pressure on you when you turn the ball over on the kickoff,” Taylor coach Josh Ousley said. “It really took a lot out of us.”
Schulte didn’t score again, but ran another 10 times and racked up 139 yards on the ground.
“There were some amazing holes open, it was just right there,” Schulte said. “There were some great blocks going on and I got into the open and I just went.”
He wasn’t the only beneficiary of Northwestern’s punishing ground game. Schulte partnered with Derek Mumaw, who ran 10 times for 46 yards. In total, Northwestern ran 37 times for 285 yards. Backup quarterback Tanner Martin added another 49 yards on five carries and Luke Miller ripped off 32 yards on three rushes. In the second quarter, Mumaw added a four-yard TD run and Austin Henderson scored on a two-yard TD run.
Northwestern passed just nine times, with starting QB Trevor Gibson completing four passes for 44 yards.
“I thought our offensive line played well,” Hendryx said. “We knew they’d come out and try to get a lot of pressure on Gibson, but we weren’t planning to throw a whole lot, just get the run game going because of it. If [Taylor’s defense is] going to bring a lot of heat up the inside, it makes it tough to defend the perimeter, and I thought our edge run blocking was really good. I thought our wings blocked well for each other, I thought the wideouts did a good job, and then our guards ran well — [Karson] Merrell and [Alex] Pier got out and got in front of stuff well.”
Northwestern scored on a one-yard plunge by Gibson in the third quarter, and ended the scoring with a 36-yard punt return by Jake Ridgeway in the fourth. It was a just reward for the punt return team which was consistently effective. Earlier in the game, Ridgeway faked a reverse on a punt reception, and ran 54 yards to set up Northwestern’s final score of the first half.
Just as impressive was how Northwestern handled Taylor’s offense. Taylor was stopped for zero, or negative yardage on 15 plays as Tiger defenders overran the Titan backfield with regularity. Gordon Jenkins’ 84 yards rushing on 15 carries was one of few highlights for Taylor.
Northwestern’s defensive effort was a big improvement after giving up 46 points to Western in a two-point victory last week.
“I thought it was a good win,” Schulte said. “We were struggling for a little bit defensively. Giving up zero, that’s a good way to come back from struggling.”
Ousley hopes the result is an eye-opener for the Titans.
“I think they realize [the Tigers are] a good football team, but I don’t they realize how much they have to turn their game up to match how good [the Tigers] are,” he said. “[The Tigers] do things the right way, they really get after you physically. We didn’t match it in the first quarter.”
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FOOTBALL: Quick-strike NW stuns Taylor
Tigers rumble for 285 yards on the ground in shutout victory
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