Tigers remain unbeaten, trounce Hornets

NORTH BALTIMORE– The Tigers just keep on winning. They also keep putting on a masterclass on passing the football. Between junior quarterback Luke Long and senior wideout Cooper Clark, North Baltimore has one of the most dynamic duos in the area. The Tigers are 4-0, their best start since the 2004 season, thanks to a dynamic, multi-faceted offense led by head coach Greg Bishop. North Baltimore defeated Northwest Central Conference opponent Cory-Rawson 64-7 on Friday night, showcasing its high-octane offense early. The Tigers notched 423 yards of offense in the first half, compared to just 48 from the Hornets. Long accounted for five total touchdowns, tossing four and picking up another on the ground. Clark was on the receiving end of all four of Long's TD throws, forming a devastating 1-2 punch for NB.Long ended with 319 yards through the air, going 17-of-23 and adding 12 yards and a score with his legs."I knew he'd pick it up fast, but he's basically another coach out on the field," Bishop said. "Makes my life a lot easier as a coordinator calling the offense. Great kid overall, too. He works hard, does all the little things you want him to do, and he does them hard." Clark didn't catch a pass in the second half, going for 238 yards on eight grabs in the first half alone. Clark first caught a 55-yard score, then a 58-yarder, a 37-yarder, and a 50-yard completion. "He can run past almost anybody," Long said of his top target. "He's got good speed, he's gonna catch the ball. He's an amazing receiver, who just catches the ball every time. That's the most you can ask for from the guy. He's amazing.""It makes it very easy for us offensively, and it opens up our run game too," Bishop said. "With us being able to sling it around, our run game doesn't always get the credit because there's big stats in the passing game, but it opens it up."Senior Brody Walter scored two rushing touchdowns for the Tigers, carrying the ball 11 times for 180 yards. Walter's second rushing touchdown, just two minutes into the second half, was a 75-yard sprint up the right sideline. "He opens up all the passing stuff," Long said. "When we run it, they've gotta stuff the box for him, and then we can throw screens and throw verts. We've just got a great, athletic group. Everybody's athletic, everybody can make a play. One cut, touchdown. We've got a lot of fast guys on our team."Senior Jacob Rockhill caught four passes for 37 yards, and ran in a six-yard jet sweep for a touchdown. Junior Zander South finished with 63 yards on four carries and a touchdown, and 24 more on three catches, while junior Isaiah Hyden had 20 receiving yards. Freshman running back Logan Trout added eight carries for 60 yards and a score. "I'm confident in myself," Long added. "I'm confident in my receivers, I'm confident in my o-line, everyone's playing well. If we can just keep getting better and better, it's gonna be hard to stop us."Cory-Rawson's senior QB Dean Williams ended the night with 179 yards through the air, completing 10 of his 20 passes, and throwing one TD. That score was thrown to sophomore Logan Inbody, who caught it short and ran all the way for a 78-yard touchdown as the third quarter ended. Senior receiver Carson Reese accumulated 51 yards on three receptions, and sophomore Colin Sons added 12 receiving yards. "Compared to our passing game in previous weeks, it was nice to see us have some success in the air," Hornets coach Eric Heffner said. "Right now, we're just looking for ways to move the ball and week by week we try and put together a game plan of what will work the best, and we try and go out and execute it. This week, we thought that maybe getting the ball in the air a little bit might help us get the ball up and down the field.""One of the positives I saw from our guys was just the fight," Heffner continued. "To go into halftime with the scoreboard looking like it was and still have kids coming out at halftime with energy and wanting to still be in the game, play, and have a good attitude, come out and fight, it's encouraging to see as a coach."Following the win, the 4-0 Tigers look ahead to a road NWCC contest against 2-2 Waynesfield-Goshen. Cory-Rawson, now 0-4, travels to Marion Elgin next week for an NWCC matchup with the 2-2 Comets. C-Rawson 0 0 7 0–7N. Baltimore 20 19 13 12Scoring PlaysFirst QuarterNB - Long 6 Run (Kick Failed)NB - Clark 55 Pass from Long (Kick Failed)NB - Walter 4 Run (2-pt Long run)Second QuarterNB - Clark 58 Pass from Long (2-pt Failed0NB - Clark 37 Pass from Long (Ramirez Kick)NB - Clark 50 Pass from Long (Kick Failed)Third QuarterNB - Walter 75 Run (Kick Failed)NB - South 22 Run (Ramirez Kick)C-R - Inbody 78 Pass from Williams (Reese Kick)Fourth QuarterNB - Rockhill 6 Run (Kick Failed)NB - Trout 1 Run (No Kick)