Edmond North trims Edlam rival Edmond Memorial

EDMOND — Edmond North owned the third quarter to key a stunning victory over its Edlam rival Edmond Memorial.

The Huskies built a twoscore lead in the third and controlled the ball for the first 8:32 of the quarter to propel North to a 25-17 triumph Friday night at Wolves Stadium.

Edmond North (1-1) picked up its first victory under new coach Tanner Roof, its first win over Edmond Memorial since the 2013 playoffs and its first win since October 2016.

“Emotions have been high all week long,” Roof said. “After last week’s game, we were just eager to get back here and compete for our school. I’m so proud of these guys. They’ve worked hard all week long, all year long. To come out and get a victory like this, it’s awesome.”

North took the ball at its own 5-yard line to start the second half with a 13-10 edge. Seventeen plays, 95 yards, two fourth-down conversions and three false starts overcome later, North scored using Tyler Merkley’s 10-yard touchdown run to go up 20-10.

Chris Jagosh scooped up the ensuing onside kick to help North bleed more clock.

Once Memorial got the ball back, North’s Jake Hinckley applied the pressure on Bulldogs quarterback Blake Burgess deep in Memorial territory. Burgess threw the ball away out of his own end zone to get called for intentional grounding. North took a safety and a 22-10 advantage.

Brendan Mitchell scored on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Burgess to give Memorial life with 7:45 left, but North added Luke Eisel’s 25-yard field goal with just over a minute left.

“You have to take your hat off to Memorial,” Roof said. “Watching them on film, they’re an explosive offense. They have a good quarterback and good receiver. We wanted to grind it and control it as much as we could. We took a lot of the clock away and gained a lot of momentum.”

Merkley provided the Huskies with 93 yards rushing on 22 carries. All but 1 of his yards came in the second half.

Edmond North fell 43-7 to Edmond Santa Fe in week 1.

“The kids, they don’t like to lose,” Roof said. “They came back hungry. They came back hungrier than ever. We had a great week of practice. They came out determined all week long saying, ‘Coach, we got you. We’re going to win this for you.’ They did. There was no quit in them. They competed for four quarters.”

Edmond North struck first in the game using trickery. Colby Entwistle heaved to Logan Young on a 50-yard scoring pass after North quarterback Ben MacNaughton tossed backward to Entwistle in the flat.

North went up 13-3 early in the second quarter as MacNaughton found Jack Cheap alone in the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown toss off a play fake. Cheap added a 22-yard catch to set up North at the 6-yard line on the 66-yard, eight-play drive.

Edmond Memorial cut its deficit to 13-10 as Nate Williams reached the end zone on a 2-yard run. Brendan Mitchell wove his way for 21 yards on a catch-and-run to precede Williams’ scoring run. The Bulldogs mustered an 11-play, 67-yard drive to score.