Northeastern improved to 8-1 and 3-1 in the North Division. They pulled into a first-place tie with both Mechanicsburg (7-2, 3-1) and West Jefferson (8-1, 3-1), which beat West Liberty-Salem 20-7.
“I’m just thrilled,” Houseman said. “We came down here and played some Jets football.”
Mechanicsburg senior Conley Bogard threw three TD passes, two to senior Conner Eyink and another to sophomore Matthew Davis, and sophomore Aidan O’Neal rushed for a TD as the Indians saw their six-game winning streak snapped on Senior Night.
“I thought we played pretty well tonight,” said Jets coach Jake Buchholtz. “It’s one of those things where we knew what the OHC North was, and we, finally, I think, played our best football tonight and that’s what it’s going to take to beat a good Mechanicsburg team.”
Houseman rushed for 185 yards and three TDs, while Newman rushed for two TDs and caught another from senior Diezel Taylor as the Jets wracked up 388 yards of total offense.
“Our line did some things up front that I don’t think a Northeastern football team has done against a Mechanicsburg football team in 20 years and even in our 10-0 year (in 2022),” Buchholtz said. “I challenged the guys. I told some people this week that I thought we had our best week of practice. These seniors are a fantastic bunch and they left it all out there tonight and played some good football.”
Taylor also returned an interception for a TD and senior Rhett Lough added two interceptions and a fumble recovery in the victory.
Bogard hit Eyink on a short TD pass to give the Indians a 7-0 first quarter lead. On Northeastern’s next possession, Newman broke free for a 50-yard TD run and ran in the 2-point conversion to give Northeastern an 8-7 lead.
After an interception by Lough, the Jets took a 16-7 lead on a 4-yard run by Jacoby Newman and a 2-point conversion by Diezel Taylor. The Indians quickly responded, scoring on a 4-yard run by O’Neal to make it 16-14 midway through the second quarter.
Northeastern responded with a 28-yard TD run by Houseman and a 2-point conversion by Taylor to give the Jets a 24-14 lead with 2:42 remaining in the first half. They added on to their lead as Taylor returned an interception 50 yards for a TD to make it 32-14.
“This was the biggest game of the year for playoff rankings,” Taylor said. “It was a big game and we had to come in and fight. That’s the first game, I think this year, that we’ve played four solid quarters of football, and that shows how much potential we have and how far we can go.”
Mechanicsburg drove the ball down the field, scoring 40-yard TD pass from Bogard to Eyink right before the half to cut Northeastern’s lead to 32-20.
The Indians drove the ball into Jets territory to open the third quarter, but Taylor, Houseman and senior Kaleb Moone tackled Indians junior Tevin Mitchell, popping the ball free. Lough recovered and Houseman scored on a 15-yard run to extend their lead to 18 points.
“That’s a huge turnover, and then for us to turn around and eat up six, seven minutes on the clock, I thought was an absolute game changer for us,” Buchholtz said.
Mechanicsburg cut the lead to 38-26 on a 3-yard pass from Bogard to junior Matthew Davis, but the Indians wouldn’t get any closer.
Newman and Houseman each scored TDs in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
The Jets can clinch at least a share of the OHC North title with a victory against Triad (0-9, 0-4) next week.
“We’re going to come for it, no doubt,” Houseman said. “We know where we’re at, we know what we’ve gotta do and we’re going to come out and take it.”
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