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Unbeaten season stays alive for NorsemenFree Access


photo by mike adzima
North’s Drew Hill, pictured against Cousino, led the defense with eight tackles in the win over Sterling Heights. On offense, Hill had 10 rushes for 139 yards.

On its way to a MAC Gold championship this year, the Grosse Pointe North football team cruised through several opponents with relative ease. Things may have looked a bit more sloppy than the Norsemen are used to this season last Friday night when they visited Sterling Heights. However, in the end, a win is a win and North got that 35-12 to continue its undefeated season.
Last Friday’s game started out slow on both sides. A 30-yard touchdown run by Drew Hill put North up 7-0 after the first possession, the only points of the entire first half.
“We just couldn’t get the offense running on all cylinders in the first half,” North coach Joe Drouin said. “As coaches we kept telling the kids don’t take the cheese — don’t look ahead to next week just because Sterling Heights was a one win team. We got caught looking ahead to Week 9.”
Things became even tougher for North when QB Ryan Henderson left the game with an injury. Without backup Daniel Taylor, who also was hurt, the Norsemen had to turn to Hill as an emergency QB in the second half.
This caused the Norsemen to keep things on the ground for the most part offensively, which plays to their strengths. Hill had another touchdown run in the third quarter, but a missed two-point conversion left the score at 13-0 North.
Sterling Heights got on the board after that, scoring a touchdown and missing the extra point to keep the Norsemen’s lead at seven with a score of 13-6. Sebastian Rouse came up big again for North by returning the kickoff for a touchdown, and a successful two-point try put the Norsemen up 21-6.
To start the fourth quarter, Jaden Holyfield had his first rushing touchdown of the night to extend North’s lead even more. Sterling Heights reached the end zone one more time, but another missed extra point left the scoreboard at 29-12 in favor of North. One final touchdown run by Holyfield helped put the game to rest for a 23-point Norsemen victory.
Much of North’s production on offense came on the ground. Holyfield carried 24 times for 156 yards and two touchdowns, while Hill had 10 carries for 139 yards and two scores.
With a spot in the postseason locked down and the MAC Gold title already won, North’s final test of the season awaits on Friday when it hosts Grosse Pointe South in this year’s annual rivalry game. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., with the Norsemen looking for their first win over the Blue Devils since 2017.