OYEHUT — North Beach topped Life Christian Academy by about the width of a shoelace in a non-league contest at Lt. Jim Davis Field on Friday.
With the Hyaks (1-1) leading 14-7 in the fourth quarter, the Eagles connected on a pass play for a touchdown to cut the lead to 14-13 and decided to go for the two-point conversion and the win. LCA called a quarterback sneak designed for Michael McKay to carry the ball. McKay ran toward the line, but rolled off to the right side and looked as though he may get to the end zone when North Beach junior Brenden Chaney was able to trip him up and keep the Hyaks up by one point for good.
“It was a nailbiter,” Hyak coach Todd Bridge said. “It was a big turnaround from last week. We won this game on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with our scout game. We had physical practices and that is where we won tonight’s game. Defensively, they threw everything but the kitchen sink at us, but our kids adjusted well and fortunately we had the right defense at the right time.”
North Beach drew first blood early in the second quarter when Tavo Muro spun off a defender and scampered 60 yards for the touchdown to give the Hyaks an 8-0 lead.
The Eagles answered with a 50-yard touchdown off a sweep play just a couple of minutes later to make it 8-7 at halftime.
It was the Hyaks defense which would score the game winning touchdown in the third quarter. McKay went back for a pass and pump faked, but as his hand came forward the ball squirted free into the hands of North Beach defensive tackle Ben Poplin. The junior toted the ball 55 yards to the end zone to give the Hyaks the lead for good.
Bridge cited Matt Rowling for his performance at center.
North Beach travels to Toutle Lake next Friday.