Mooseheart finishes regular season perfect, claims conference

Updated: October 22, 2011 5:30PM

Even after the buzzer sounded Saturday in Winnetka, Mooseheart coach Gary Urwiler seemed to look around to make sure the result was real.

In a game featuring two undefeated clubs, Urwiler’s Red Ramblers were the ones celebrating a 17-7 win over North Shore Country Day, a victory that gave Mooseheart the Northeastern Athletic Conference championship and possibly the top seed for the Class 1A playoffs.

Urwiler and his staff cobbled together a game plan that nearly shutout a team that entered the game averaging 41.6 points a game.

North Shore didn’t score until midway through the fourth quarter, but the touchdown left the score 14-7 and very much put the Raiders in position to pull off the comeback.

Instead, Mooseheart (9-0, 9-0) orchestrated a lengthy drive and secured the win with Sahr Mahoney’s 47-yard field goal with 2:09 to play.

“We had a good game plan,” Urwiler said. “They are an explosive team, and we didn’t take them lightly. We shut them down a little bit.”

Following a slow start by both teams, Mooseheart got on the board first on Oumaru Abdulahi’s nine-yard run 21 seconds into the second quarter, and the 7-0 lead held up until the half. Abdulahi finished with 20 carries for 110 yards, 105 coming in the second half.

“That was huge,” Noel Yarngo said of the early edge. “I know they aren’t used to being down. Once we got the lead, I think we took them out of their game a bit.”

Yarngo did his part on both sides of the ball. The senior intercepted a pass to start the second half and later caught a 28-yard pass to give Mooseheart a 14-0 lead with 6:55 to go in the game. The Red Ramblers forced three turnovers and didn’t give the ball away once. They held an opponent to seven points or less for the fifth time this season.

“That was our best defensive game of the year,” he said. “Defense was a big advantage for us.”

Turnovers, tackling and penalties punished North Shore (8-1, 8-1) as much as Mooseheart’s play did. The Raiders were flagged 10 times and missed more tackles in the backfield than coach Jim Deuble cared to recount.

North Shore quarterback Steve Smith didn’t make any excuses.

“We didn’t do the fundamentals well,” said the senior, who finished 6-for-16 for 112 yards. He threw two interceptions and one touchdown, a 42-yarder to Austin Curren. “I don’t know what else to say. It was a sloppy game all around.”

Mooseheart ended the regular season undefeated for the first time since 1996 and is enjoying its best season since finishing 7-3 in 2007.

“It means a lot to us,” Yarngo said. “This is a huge thing.”

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