The ‘Friday Night Lights’ crowd made themselves heard no matter what occurred on the field.

Football had some encouraging moments, but ultimately suffered a hard 49-19 loss to Natick Friday, Oct. 14, at home.

The game began in thrilling fashion when senior Brendan O’Guin took the opening kickoff to the house. However, it wasn’t long until Natick responded. With several impressive receptions by Natick receivers, the first quarter ended 14-6 in Natick’s favor.

“We were giving them way too many plays,” said Nick Capodilupo, the head coach. “We need to be better at everything.”

During the second quarter, Natick continued to prove themselves the superior team offensively with a solid running game, and several highly effective plays through the air. .

North, on the other hand, found it difficult to get into the game. “Our kick off coverage and tackling was not as strong as it could have been. Offensively, we had a tough time getting our running game started,” said junior Jon Jauregui. 

The game was far from a defensive stalemate, however. After a series of touchdowns, Natick scored with 20 seconds to play until halftime. It seemed that the Natick touchdown would be the last of the half, but with 10 seconds to go, junior DJ Harvey took a kick return for a touchdown, ending the half 35-19 Natick. 

“DJ had a great kick return that brought a lot of energy to the team,” said Jauregui. “We were losing, but it gave us some encouragement.”

The high scoring action did not stop after halftime. To start the third quarter, Natick returned a kickoff of their own for a touchdown. 

The Tiger’s offense did not significantly improve after halftime, but there were some promising plays. Senior Adam Landry, a captain along with seniors Noah Wastcoat, Sam Brambilla, Brad McNew, and Brandon Kasanganayi, threw a couple of impressive passes. One of them was a heave to senior Luca Mancone, which he caught with an athletic dive.

North fed off of these rare moments of encouragement that kept effort and energy high through the whole game. “We didn’t quit,” said Capodilupo. “The kids put in a lot of effort, and it’s hard when they do this and they aren’t successful.”

During the fourth quarter, North managed to stop the bleeding by containing Natick’s defense. Offensively, the Tigers  worked the ball up the field on occasion but were never able to completely put it in the endzone.

North, 2-5, will hope to gain some momentum when they face Walpole away today Friday, Oct. 28.