A healthy Erin Rethlake has made the Huntington North softball team even better than last year’s Class 4A state runner-up.
If this was déjÀ vu all over again, déjÀ vu arrived this time under an assumed name.
Its ID read “Anthony Linnear.”
Six days after Linnear and the North Side Redskins went toe-to-toe with Northrop early and then jetted away to a 21-point victory late, they did it again Thursday in their Class 5A sectional opener at Spuller Stadium. This time the Bruins jumped to a two-touchdown lead, only to see North lay down 42 straight points en route to a 42-21 verdict.
“It’s tough trying to play a team back-to-back,” North Side coach Ryan Hall said.
And Linnear?
All he did was run for 216 yards and two scores, catch a 43-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Jackson and return an interception 4 yards for another score.
“I’m a little tired,” he said when it was done.
Do tell.
“I think he’s the best payer in the city,” Hall said. “I know Jaylon Smith is great, but pound for pound, offense, defense, (Linnear) is one of the best players around.”
Along with Jackson, who threw for 199 yards and a touchdown and ran for two more, Linnear led the Redskins back from their early hole.
After a lost fumble and a punt on their first two possessions, the Bruins got a jump start when Trevon Wilson returned a punt to the North Side 48, after which quarterback Colin Brockhouse laid a 36-yard yard pass down the sideline to Derek Smiley. On the next play, Brockhouse kept it for the score from 13 yards out.
Four plays later, Austin Pearson roared through to block a North Side punt, setting the Bruins up again at the Redskins’ 11. Brockhouse promptly found Spencer Cowherd for the score, and it was 14-0 Northrop after one.
And then, just like last week, here came North Side.
After a rocky first quarter, Jackson took the Redskins on a nine-play, 70-yard drive, going 3 for 4 and getting the last 18 yards himself to slice the deficit in half. Then, after Northrop went three-and-out, the Redskins took off again, Linnear finishing it from 5 yards away.
One more Northrop drive that ran out of steam early, and the Redskins were back at it: This time Jackson dropped a 43-yard bomb on Linnear to make it 21-14 North.
The Redskins went to 28-14 when Jackson rolled in from the 3 to finish a 65-yard, 14-play drive to open the second half, and the Bruins were in serious catch-up mode thereafter.
“Our kids were very excited to play this game,” Hall said. “They just needed to calm down.”
