By Brad Greer
While most teams favor to be somewhat conservative when playing in jamborees by not showing everything in their repertoire, North Delta decided to air things out a bit at the District 1-AAA jamboree Thursday at Lee Academy.

Quarterback Will Kidder threw for 195 yards and two touchdowns while running for another score as the Green Wave blanked Kirk 13-0 then battled the host Lee squad to a 6-6 tie in a pair of two 20-minute contests with a running clock.

“We spread things out and tried to throw the ball around a little bit tonight. Kidder’s arm is much improved and we have got some wide receivers that can go up and catch the ball,“ said North Delta head coach Brandon Ciaramitaro.

“I was very pleased with how we moved the ball on offense. I thought the offensive line did a good job protecting the passer and giving him enough time to get rid of the ball. We really did not get into our whole offensive package, but that was by design and we want to be balanced in both running and passing. We came out here tonight to see what we can do against our district opponents and now we can get back to work and get ready for West Memphis in our season opener next week,” said Ciaramitaro.

North Delta’s defense set up the first score against Kirk on the second possession by recovering a fumble at the Raider 21. A seven-yard run by Baker West led to a Kidder two-yard plunge to get North Delta on the board at 6-0 after the PAT failed.

 After forcing Kirk to a three-and-out on the following drive, the Green Wave offense went to work as Kidder connected on four-of-seven passing for 67 yards, capped by a nine-yard scoring strike to Bailey Ross with Hudson Parnell adding the point after.

The drive was kept alive by a 14-yard Kidder-to-Ross completion on fourth down from the Green Wave 42. Kidder followed with a 35-yard strike to John Haga Lewis to the Kirk nine yard line to set up the scoring play.

North Delta ran 20 plays for 130 yards and six first downs while holding Kirk to 65 yards all on the ground. Michael Prine accounted for three tackles while Ty Campbell added two stops. Matt Burchfield had a fumble recovery.

Kidder had three carries for 20 yards with West contributing with 12 yards on three totes. Kaleb Joyner had one carry for 17 yards while Joseph Wright and Cole Devazier had one carry each for five and nine yards.

 The Green Wave struck first against the homestanding Colts as Ross hauled in a 66-yard bomb from Kidder. Lee answered with a 11-play drive capped off by a five- yard scoring run by Sumpter Bass. North Delta threatened  to lead on its following series but was thwarted as a Kidder pass was picked off in the endzone.
With the clock winding down, Lee drove to the Green Wave nine before Bass was stopped after a three yard gain as time expired. Ross had two receptions for 116 yards with Dennis King added one catch for 12 yards.
North Delta garnered 132 yards on ten plays and three first downs with Lee gaining 120 yards on 21 plays and eight first downs. Prine, Tripp Savage and Ethan Calvert registered two stops each for the Wave defense.