Olathe Northwest rallies past Shawnee Mission North

Shawnee Mission North came out for its homecoming game against Olathe Northwest looking to end a long losing streak. And midway through the second quarter, the Indians had taken a 10-point lead.

Undaunted by the energy the Indians brought, Olathe Northwest roared back with 28 points in the second half for a 37-20 victory Thursday evening at Shawnee Mission District Stadium.

“This isn’t an excuse, but we had a lot of starters out,” Olathe Northwest coach Chip Sherman said. “In the first half, the newer players had some jitters. We got them calmed down, and the second half we came back and played a little better.”

The Ravens, 3-2, quickly erased a 13-9 halftime deficit in the third quarter when junior quarterback Jack Hatzfeld scored on a 1-yard run, making it 16-13 with 10 minutes left in the period.

After a blocked punt, Olathe Northwest scored again on an 11-yard run by senior running back Adam Harter, who rushed for over 120 yards.

“We knew we got the ball first (after halftime), and we were going to take it to them,” Harter said. “In the first half, we were moving the ball, but we got a couple of penalties when we got close.

“We knew we could move the ball. We just had to come out and play smash-mouth football and take it to them.”

The Indians, though, showed plenty of spunk despite a 23-13 deficit. It took SM North just two minutes to score a touchdown on a 36-yard pass from sophomore Will Schneider to senior Nick Perez, making it 23-20 with five minutes left in the third quarter.

Schneider was impressive in the first half, rushing for two touchdowns and completing 11 of 18 passes for 158 yards.

“He is a smart kid,” Harter said of Schneider. “I thought I got him a couple of times, and he threw it right over my head.”

Olathe Northwest dominated the fourth quarter to put the game away. Junior running back Dominque Bruce scored on an 8-yard run early in the quarter and followed that up with a 34-yard touchdown run, giving the Ravens a 37-20 lead with seven minutes left in the game.

“This shows we have great team leadership,” Harter said. “It starts from the top. Everybody was motivated when we came out in the second half.”

Midway through the first quarter, when Olathe Northwest already looked like it had control of the game, SM North got tough. The Ravens put together a 14-play drive, but the end result was a 38-yard field goal by sophomore Ben Owen with 2:25 left in the first quarter.

SM North then hit its stride on offense behind Schneider. He engineered an 11-play, 80-yard drive that culminated on a 1-yard run by Schneider.

The Ravens looked like they were going to answer when they drove into SM North territory. But the Indians stopped Olathe Northwest on downs and took over at their 27.

Schneider was once again dynamic with his left arm and legs. The Indians went on a 12-play, 73-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Schneider, giving SM North a 13-3 lead.

This time, Olathe Northwest responded. A 29-yard touchdown pass from Hatzfeld to Evan Pardue made it 13-9 with 55 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

This story was originally published October 2, 2014 at 10:51 PM with the headline "Olathe Northwest rallies past Shawnee Mission North."