Nowlin’s pick seals deal for Hammond
Micah Nowlin’s teammates tease him for his bad hands.
“They talk down on my hands,” Nowlin said. “They joke that I should cut off my hands because I can’t catch a pick anyway.”
The Hammond defensive back, however, had two interceptions Saturday, including the game-clinching takeaway late in the fourth quarter, to lead the Golden Bears to a 14-6 win over Reservoir.
The homecoming victory is Hammond’s first in six years.
“Everybody today said, ‘You finally caught the ball,’ ” Nowlin said. “It feels so good to win on homecoming. We haven’t done it in my time here, so it feels amazing.”
Nowlin’s interceptions were two of three takeaways by a Hammond defense that is keen on causing turnovers. The unit, led by defensive coordinator Earin Saunders, has 16 takeaways this season and celebrates each one with the donning of a takeaway chain.
“Micah has been a quiet leader for us all season,” said Hammond head coach Will Bell. “Based off his play in the weeks leading up to this and how he played last week, he was named a game captain for us.
“He lived up to the standard that we set for him. He couldn’t have played a better game for us.”
Hammond (4-2, 3-0 Howard County) drew first blood in the first quarter. Tayshawn Yates took a sweep, spun between two defenders and ran 75 yards for a touchdown. Sam Mercedes, who ran for 99 yards on 21 carries, punched in the two-point conversion to put the Golden Bears up 8-0.
“Tayshawn has been a player who’s really coming on for us as a return man and a receiver,” Bell said. “We’re trying to find ways to get the ball in his hands. He has big-play ability and he ran the ball hard there.”
Nowlin then picked off his first pass of the game, this one on a Reservoir fourth down in Hammond territory. The Golden Bears then went up two scores on the next drive, with Mercedes’ legs and a 31-yard pass from quarterback Eric Grinwis to DeLayfette Burnside leading the Golden Bears downfield on a 14-play, 85-yard drive. Grinwis capped off the drive with a 1-yard sneak.
Reservoir (0-6) responded on its next drive to score right before halftime. Quarterback Malcolm Brown, who threw for 162 yards and eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark on the season, threw a dime to Jalen Jasmin for a 48-yard touchdown to reduce the Gators’ deficit to eight points.
Neither team scored in the second half, nor did they enter the opposing team’s red zone until Reservoir did midway through the fourth quarter. Brown drove his team down to the 5-yard line but was intercepted by Hammond’s Khaleb Mair, who jumped a slant route at the goal line.
“With the coverage that we had, he played it just as he should’ve,” Bell said. “The quarterback made a good throw, but (Mair) made a better play. That was the game right there. We were on the ropes, and Khaleb stepping in there was huge.”
With about four minutes remaining,