Northwestern Crushes Booker T. in Battle of Old Friends
By Rudy Rodriguez-Chomat
September 5, 2003

Booker T. Washington talked the talk. Northwestern walked the walk as the Bulls destroyed the overmatched Tornadoes 26-7 before 8,000 at Traz Powell Stadium to win the battle of current Northwestern vs. former Northwestern.

Over the summer, Tim “Ice” Harris left Northwestern to become the head coach at Booker T. Washington. He took his son along with him to be the starting quarterback and his spread offense as well, not to mention half the Northwestern coaching staff from last season’s state semifinal team.

It wasn’t enough as the Roland Smith led Bulls rolled to an easy victory after a close first half.

Terry Perry led the charge rushing 28 times for 145 yards and 3 touchdowns.

“My offensive line did a great job,” Perry said. “They played their hearts out. They break open holes that a diesel truck could drive through.”

Although the game was tied at 7 at the half, it was never really close besides the halftime scoreboard as the Tornadoes only gained 26 yards in the first half being smothered by a missile-quick defense that is comparable to Central’s defense of last season.

Perry himself had already rushed for 91 yards by that point and Booker T.’s ariel attack was grounded by a ferocious pass rush that recorded 5 sacks and had air tight coverage in the secondary.

The defense was led by Romeo Davis who recorded a sack and caused havoc in the Tornadoes’ backfield constantly putting pressure on quarterback Tim Harris, Jr., with blitzes coming right up the middle.

“I have to give the credit to my defensive coordinator Max Edwards and Scott James,” Northwestern head coach Roland Smith said. “They did a great job leading the defense.”

It was a sour homecoming for Harris though as Booker T. never really threatened the Bulls as Northwestern scored early taking a 7-0 lead on an 8-yard run by Perry. Although they tied the game late in the second quarter on a blocked punt return for touchdown by Darrian Mobley, the Tornadoes where suffocated offensively mounting no attack the entire game.

The Tornadoes never took the ball in the Northwestern territory in the second half and were held to 49 total yards offensively, rushing for 27 and passing for 22, completing only 2 of 17 pass attempts, partly due to the fact that a Bulls defender was consistently in Harris’s face.

Northwestern finally took over the game in the third quarter scoring on a bulldozing 8-yard touchdown run by Perry, running over a Booker T. defender at the goal line, capping a 6-play 24-yard drive, keyed by a blocked punt by Davis.

The Bulls added another score less than 2 minutes later on an interception returned 35 yards for a touchdown by linebacker Antwan Allen effectively sealing the game as the Bulls defense continued to dominate.

The dominating second half ended the battle that came in with Harris and a few other coaches having gone over to Booker T. during the summer to find better coaching opportunities.

“Those guys got a chance to be head coach, offensive and defensive coordinators,” Smith said. “I am very happy for them. I think it was a great move by them, and I wish them nothing but success.”

Picture 1: Star of the Game: Terry Perry
Picture 2: Tim Harris, Jr. under center.
Picture 3. Darrian Mobley running around the edge.
Picture 4: Robert Brown being sandwiched by Booker T. defender, Gregory Johnson #22 and teammate.
Picture 5: Terry Perry trucking over Booker T. defender for a touchdown.