By Noah Dalton
MITCHELL — Mitchell High School entered Friday night’s matchup against North Daviess looking to bounce back from a 42-8 loss to North Central Farmersburg the previous week, but ultimately fell 50-6 on Senior Night.
Turnovers were perhaps the largest factor for the Bluejackets, who gave the ball away six times (four interceptions and two fumbles).
Head coach Bobby Owens also pointed to penalties, which repeatedly stalled drives. “Every time we would get a first down, then it was a penalty,” Owens said. “And would put us behind the sticks.”
The Cougars led 16-0 after the first quarter. Bentley McNabb opened the scoring with a 24-yard touchdown early in the quarter, North Daviess added a safety after a high punt snap, and an intercepted pass was returned for a touchdown.
Mitchell did make one stand, forcing a turnover on downs on 4th-and-goal from the 4-yard line, but the early deficit continued to grow.
The second quarter was where the game got away from the Bluejackets. North Daviess scored 34 points to take a 50-0 lead into halftime, adding a 2-yard run, two 1-yard scores, a 43-yard interception return and a blocked punt returned for a touchdown.
“We had a terrible second quarter,” Owens said. “I just got to find the answer to keeping the energy up and keeping them sound.”
The Bluejackets avoided the shutout in the third quarter, when quarterback Kaden Mullis found the endzone with a 19-yard rushing touchdown, marking their only scoring play of the night.
“I’m sure we had 250, maybe even 300 yards today of offense,” Owens said. “It’s just we turned the ball over and had some penalties.”
Mitchell will look to bounce back next week against Patoka Lake Athletic Conference opponent Paoli.
“We’re there. We just got to get over that last hurdle,” he said.
“They’re getting the fundamentals. We’re getting them in the right place at the right time, and we’re starting to execute. And hopefully we can build some momentum with Paoli,” he continued.
