There’s a distinct atmosphere that surrounds a rivalry that passionate fans such as the Crimson Crazies and the Orange Crush exemplify in match-ups between North and Plainfield East. That atmosphere was ever present during North’s 31-20 victory Friday night.

The tension between both teams and their fans was on display, with East seizing the early lead and North looking to respond.

“It’s a big rivalry,” said Head Coach Tim Kane. “You see how big they are, they have some good athletes. We got down early and just battled. It was really just a great win for all our kids.”

It was a slow start for the Tigers on both sides of the ball, unable to convert in the redzone on the first drive of the game, settling for a field goal. East took advantage of it later in the quarter with a 25 yard run for a touchdown.

On the following drive, Senior QB JD Ekowa threw a pick-six that tipped off the shoulder of Senior TE Kyle Speas giving East a 14-3 lead heading into the second quarter. North put up one more touchdown before the end of the first half with a missile by Ekowa hitting Senior Zach Jarosz.

“Our team really came out playing hard and we had a bad thing happen to us with the pick-six,” said Head Coach Tim Kane. “I really wanted our defense to calm down, because I didn’t think we were really playing all that well defensively.”
The defense improved for the Tigers as the game progressed, only allowing one touchdown in the second half and deflecting an extra point afterwards.

The fourth quarter was dominated by the Tigers, who posted two touchdowns, both QB sneaks by JD Ekowa. He also contributed with other runs for large gains in the final quarter, providing North with better field position.

JD’s brother, Junior Ari Ekowa came up with a huge interception with 2:01 remaining in the game, sealing the victory for the Tigers. The play prior, Zack Shelton sacked East’s QB Senior Jeremy Reitz, for a loss of three, setting up a fourth and eight situation for the Bengals.

“I’m so proud of the way the kids responded,” said Kane. “They didn’t get down, even early tonight. It feels good to be back on the winning track.”

The Tigers were coming off a disappointing 6-3 loss to Plainfield South the week before, so it was key for them to win against such an important rival to boost confidence.

“It was really important to win. We had to rebound from a tough loss last week. We just had to prove ourselves,” said Junior DE Timmy Donnahue.

The Tigers are now at 3-2 overall on the season with a 2-1 record in conference play. Their next match-up is Plainfield Central, North’s homecoming game.