Defense the bright spot in a Plymouth loss to Northridge

Courtesy of The Pilot News. Photo by Rudy Marquez.

PLYMOUTH — The final score didn’t turn out the way the Rockies would have liked it but it was a night when they saw their defense come of age, in a loss to start the NLC season to Northridge 13-7.
On a night when most thought they might see a shootout, it was a throwback to an old-school defensive struggle with both teams trying to run the football, and both defenses standing up to the challenge.
The first half was a standoff at 0-0, but in the third quarter, the Raiders got a few breaks and made the most of them.
Plymouth took the second-half kickoff, had a big gain on first down, and had it called back on a hold. The possession went from bad to worse with the Rockies handing over possession to Northridge in the Red Zone, their first trip there in the game.
The Raiders made it pay with a touchdown.
On the next possession, the Rockie offense handed Northridge another short field and found themselves down 13-0.
Other than those two drives, the Rockie defense answered the ball again and again giving the offense a chance to come from behind and get a win.
“I was so proud of them,” said Plymouth head coach Adam Handley of his defense. “We’ve been waiting for the breakout game. We put this defense in last year and it’s supposed to look like chaos and it did. We were able to do some stunts and blitzes and kind of create havoc. We’ve always had the mentality of a bend but don’t break. We knew they were going to get some yards. But it was nice to see that when we had a chance at third and long or fourth and whatever, let’s get off the field. When it mattered, when they were about to go score and shift momentum the defense played their butts off and that was fun to see.”
After the second score in the third quarter, time and again the Raiders had opportunities to put the game away after a Plymouth three-and-out or a turnover, and time and time again the Plymouth defense turned them away.
Lathan Cotton, Jaden Yates and Carter Bush led the defensive effort. Cotton had 13 tackles on the night, Yates eight tackles and an interception, and Bush with 11 tackles. Hayden Graham-O’Brien had seven big tackles and a fumble recovery.
Unfortunately, the Rockies had a tough night on the other side of the ball with the Northridge defense matching Plymouth on every possession. Plymouth quarterback Exzander Ramirez never seemed truly comfortable in the night and the Raiders took advantage.
Ramirez had an uncharachteristic night with just 50 yards passing on 4-11, and 74 yards rushing.
“We got behind the sticks and that is always tough,” said Plymouth head coach Adam Handley. “We were missing Finn (Holm). I think that was pretty obvious from everyone that was watching. #5 is a dynamic player.”
“Owen (Verhaeghe) did what Owen could do,” said Handley of Holm’s replacement at running back. “He had a good week of practice but he’s young. He’s just a sophomore. He hasn’t had the varsity experience that Finn has. At times we tried to force some things and we were missing our vocal leader. He (Holm) is that for us. His ability is missed but his leadership is what Finn brings to the field and we missed that tonight.”