CHAPIN – The Catawba Ridge Copperheads opened their football season with an impressive shutout of the Chapin Eagles on the road.
Catawba Ridge won 30-0 as their defense caused several turnovers by the Eagles.
“We expected big things with having nine of the 11 back,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Zac Lendyak on his defense. “I was really proud of how they played. We said we wanted to play complimentary football on both sides of the ball and I think we did that.”
Chapin elected to receive the opening kickoff to start the game.
The Copperheads forced a punt on Chapin’s first series as they got the ball at the Eagles 41. From there it didn’t take long to score as starting quarterback Will Griggs hit receiver Colton McCauley for a key 38-yard catch getting them down to the three-yard line. Nolan Jones then took it in from three yards out to put the Copperheads up early.
After the initial score, Catawba Ridge struggled to move the ball as well in their next two possessions, despite one of those series starting in Chapin territory.
Catawba Ridge recovered a fumble right before the end of the first quarter putting them at the Eagles’ 27-yard line. Griggs then hit McCauley for another big gain setting up Boston Halpin’s 11-yard touchdown run to open the second quarter and put the Copperheads up 13-0.
Bradey Compton came in at quarterback on the Copperheads first real series of the second quarter, but the offense went backwards due to penalties as they were forced to punt to Chapin.
One thing that plagued Catawba Ridge in the first half was the exchange between the center and quarterback. On several occasions it resulted in a fumble for the Copperheads.
Defensively, Catawba Ridge was strong in the first half, no more so than with 61 seconds left as Casey Fikis had a 65-yard interception return for a touchdown to extend the Copperheads lead. That allowed Catawba Ridge to take a 20-0 advantage into the half.
Griggs came back under center to start the second half. He was able to get Catawba Ridge down into the red zone where Declan Hogan hit a 26-yard field goal extending the Copperheads lead. Griggs hit Connor McFadden on a 34-yard gain to get them into the red zone on the drive.
The Copperheads put together a 17-play, 85-yard drive between the third and fourth quarters, but coughed the ball up at the one-yard line killing the drive for their first turnover of the game.
Catawba Ridge got it right back with Ian Babcock getting a fumble and returning it to the Eagles’ 13-yard line. Halpin then took it in for his second rushing touchdown of the game on the next play putting the Copperheads up 30-0.
Griggs went 7-for-14 for 124 yards in the game. His main target was McCauley, who caught three passes for 99 yards. Halpin did the most work on the ground with 12 rushes for 54 yards and two touchdowns.
Catawba Ridge heads back on the road as they visit Dorman next week to try and improve to 2-0.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
