ND fell in district matchup to Lee

By Will Dickins

North Delta fell to Lee Academy Colts 28-20 in Clarksdale Friday night.

On a night where offenses sputtered, the contest turned defensive. The game was never offered more than a one score lead for either team until halfway through the fourth quarter. North Delta had many opportunities for points but was either stopped just short or called back with penalties.

The Green Wave received the ball first to start the game, but the drive stalled out on the Lee Academy 38. This allowed the Colts to score seven plays later and get the first lead.

The following Green Wave drive looked good, with a balanced 12-play march to the Colts 20 looked promising but stalled out with a turnover on downs yet again.  

The second quarter was much better for North Delta, which included two touchdowns.  The first drive started at the Colts 41 after an errant punt.  The drive featured a Will Kidder pass to Harris Cole for 37 yards.

Kidder would punch it in two plays later to finish the drive with a score. This put North Delta on top 7-6.  Lee Academy would not let the Green Wave lead for long as the running back used one play to sprint 79 yards for the score to go up 12-7.

North Delta looked to answer on the next drive and did with a 31 yard catch by Tyler Holland, but an offensive lineman was spotted going too far down field.  The ineligible receiver call spurned the momentum. North Delta, yet again, turned it over on downs at the 22.

On the ensuing drive for the Green Wave, they found the end zone.  With the clock dwindling down, they worked their way down to the five, no pass went over 17 yards.

The efficient drive by the offense ended with a completed fade route to Luke Daniels who wrestled the ball away from the defender for the touchdown.  The score ended the half with North Delta leading 14-12.

It was a different story for the offense in the second half.  After driving with ease in the second half but not having points for it, the Green Wave struggled to move the ball.

They ran a total of 14 plays in the third quarter amassing negative five total yards.  Each drive was halted by a negative play.  The first was a bad snap. The second was a 15-yard sack.  The quarter ended with Lee Academy holding a 20-14 lead after earning a touchdown and a two point conversion.

Lee Academy punted then was followed by a North Delta punt.

The next drive for the Colts was a 17-play drive that ended in a touchdown and another two-point conversion bringing the score to 28-14.

Hope was not lost as the Green Wave used a 63-yard Will Kidder pass to John Haga Lewis for a touchdown, but there was a yellow flag on the field at the 10.  Offensive holding was called that placed North Delta at the 16.  They would punch it in four plays later on a fourth and 15 pass to H. Cole for the score.  After a failed onside kick,  North Delta stopped Lee Academy for one more chance with 1:36 on the clock.

They got the ball to their own 33 but could not complete another pass.  Lee Academy took a knee on the next play and escaped with a 28-20 victory over the Green Wave, 28-20.

Kidder passed for 210 yards and rushed for 44 while accounting for all Green Wave touchdowns.  Jimmy Manues followed up last week’s performance with 52 yards on the ground.

The top receivers for the night were Lewis with 97 yards and Cole with 82 yards.  North Delta looks to put this loss behind them and get the win Friday at Indianola.