Urbana exited its home field for the season with a loss after penalties and turnovers sparked a 31-10 Northwestern victory Friday night in CBC/MRD football.
Although the Hillclimbers were first to dent the scoreboard, it was an uphill battle from there. UHS quarterback Levi Boettcher completed a 61-yard touchdown pass to Max Niswonger on his team’s first offensive play of the game. Cooper Johnson threaded the extra-point kick for a 7-0 UHS lead.
The Warriors answered when Logan Voorhees returned the ensuing kickoff to the Urbana 20. A desperation facemask grab by the UHS defense saved the TD, but three plays later Cole Baldwin dashed 10 yards for the TD with 8:10 left in the first quarter. Gage Voorhees nailed the PAT and the score was knotted, 7-7.
Northwestern’s next touchdown was the product of a 12-play drive, including a key run from QB Trevor Gebby to the Urbana 5. On the next play Gebby completed the TD pass to Baldwin with 1:06 to play in the first quarter. Gage Voorhees targeted the extra-point kick for a 14-7 Warrior lead that held up until well into the second quarter.
Urbana had two key passes to extend drives in the second quarter. The Hillclimbers attempted to convert a 4th-and-3 and Nick Johnson ran for more than was needed before fumbling it away while trying to grind out extra yardage.
Northwestern took the turnover and ran with it when Gebby ripped off a 63-yard run to the UHS 14. Three plays later Gebby completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Cole Brewer for a 21-7 Northwestern lead with 3:40 remaining in the first half.
The Warriors had the ball at midfield with 2:34 to play but had no timeouts remaining. Despite a potent pass from Gebby to Ellis Ulery that notched a first down at the Urbana 28, Northwestern couldn’t add any points before the intermission and led 21-7.
Urbana and Northwestern traded field goals in a painfully long 37-minute third quarter as UHS’s Cooper Johnson had a 24-yarder and Warrior Gage Voorhees a 34-yarder. A key kickoff return from Logan Voorhees set up the Warriors at midfield, and the visitors converted on a Gebby 5-yard TD run capped off by a PAT for a 31-10 lead that held up to the end of the quarter and the end of the game.
UHS drops to 2-6 while Northwestern improves to 4-4.
Urbana plays at Indian Lake next Friday night and closes the season at Graham the following week.
