LEOPOLD — Steady rain and sloppy field conditions made the ball extremely difficult to exchange on the snap or tuck away securely on the run during North Daviess’ sectional semifinal match-up with host Perry Central Friday night. In fact, the slippery ball helped the Cougars earn a sectional title shot.

Both team’s penalty-prone ways and inability to move the ball just worsened the situation. But North Daviess’ defense and special teams made the plays when they absolutely needed to as the Cougars scored twice in the first half and then held on to escape with a 14-7 victory.

Defeating the powerhouse Commodores earned North Daviess (10-1) an IHSAA Sectional 40 finals rematch with the Linton Miners, who routed North Knox Friday night 44-0.

The Cougars fell on a Commodore fumble late in the game and a few plays later, converted a critical third down on Dalton Sellers’ run with 3:22 remaining. Thanks to the first down, North Daviess ate up clock with tough runs by Ryan Webster until a botched snap on yet another punt with 37 seconds to go gave Perry Central the ball.

On the first play from scrimmage, North Daviess was called for pass interference and the 15-yard penalty put the ball at the 25 yard line. Another complete pass advanced the ball to the 14 for the Commodores, who had no timeouts. The third pass attempt was incomplete and stopped the clock.

Then, it happened…the biggest fumble in an evening full of fumbles.

North Daviess fell on the loose ball and took over. Jano Davis took a knee twice, and it was official.

“Our guys persevered through some tough conditions and we had to be patient,” Cougars Coach Scott Helms said. “We told them all week that the weather was going to be bad, and it was one of those games where you’re not going to move the ball very well throughout much of the game.

“Nights like this are when the fundamentals show up,” he added. “Usually, the team that puts it on the ground the least is the winner.”

But the ball was on the ground quite often throughout the night. It was a chore to move the ball out of the sticky mud and snap it. Several of the Cougars’ illegal procedure penalties were the result of the ball being adhered to the mud and the snap being slowed so much, Helms said.

It was an adventure from the beginning.

Late in the first quarter, Davis buried the Commodores with a punt that settled inside the 1-yard line. The North Daviess defense took over from there and held Perry Central deep in its own territory, forcing the Commodores to punt it away, but Clayton Shake blocked the kick, and the Cougars recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown.

With no time remaining in the quarter, Davis kicked the extra point to provide the Cougars with a 7-0 lead after one quarter of play.

When play resumed, the Perry Central quarterback slipped twice and fumbled but recovered the ball both times. As a result, the Commodores were mired in a third-and-long situation, failed to convert it and had to punt it away again.

The Cougars and Commodores traded lost fumbles, and Davis got loose and ran 61 yards to the Commodores’ 18. Webster then picked up six more yards, but Tribby was rocked on a hard tackle and the ball came loose yet again. Perry Central scooped it up at the 10 to short-circuit North Daviess’ chance to score.

But the “no-one-can-gain-an-advantage” routine continued, and the Commodores had to punt once again. Not long after the punt, Perry Central committed a costly gaffe that helped North Daviess put some cushion between it and the hosts.

The Cougars converted a big third-down situation with a 15-yard pass play to Thomas Faris to get inside the 10. Webster carried it inside the five-yard line and a face-mask penalty advanced the ball half the distance to the goal line. The Cougars had a first down at the 2, but Perry Central’s defense stiffened and North Daviess lost four yards before Davis connected with Corey Stuffle for a touchdown with 31 seconds remaining in the half. Davis’ point-after attempt was good even after an illegal procedure whistled on the Cougars added 25 yards.

Although it came the hard way, North Daviess had a 2-touchdown lead at 14-0 at halftime.