CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Northwest High (2-6) hosted Nashville Christian (5-2) for Thursday night football underneath the lights Thursday night.

The Vikings and Eagles seemed as though they were in for a competitive night of football, but Nashville Christian found ways to separate themselves from their opponent. Nashville Christian won 49-19.

The Vikings inability to make the big plays was their downfall throughout the night. The Eagles stretched the field with their passing attack and on special teams. Nashville Christian’s quarterback threw three touchdowns that went for at least 50 yards.

On special teams, the Eagles returned two punt returns for a touchdown during each half. The first was controversial after the referees picked up a flag for an illegal push in the back. In addition to allowing the two special team scores, Northwest fumbled within their own 5-yard line, allowing Nashville Christian to score with ease.

Coaches’ corner

Even with everything that went wrong for the Vikings, their team never quit. There were plenty of positive takeaways, and head coach Reynaldo Pena touched on some.

“I’m truly proud of their effort and hard work,” said Pena. “We had a great week of practice, but we also had some guys banged up. This led to some young guys coming in, and when their number was called, they went out on the field and shined.

“We had a freshmen score his first touchdown of his high school career tonight, and a young freshmen make a fumble recovery tonight, too. We executed on these levels of plays, which I am proud of. However, we have to be better with our mistakes. Some special teams’ mistakes cost us tonight, but offensively Raymand Rodarte showed out, Jabaree Hinton had one heck of a game, and I can’t be prouder of those guys.”

Pena said the team has two big games coming up that really matter. One against Kenwood High on Oct. 24 and the other against Springfield. He said this next week of practice will be dedicated to Kenwood as they take it one game at a time.

Pena credited the Knights for their speed and quality head coach in Jarhett Snead. He said their team will have to do the things necessary to keep their opponent’s offense contained and capitalize with their own players.