It would have been easy for Catawba Ridge to give up after conceding a late touchdown at home against Chester High School on Friday night, said Copperheads’ head coach Zac Lendyak.
The Cyclones had just taken their first lead of the night with five minutes left in the fourth quarter on a shocking 53-yard rushing touchdown that diced the Copperheads’ secondary.
But Lendyak’s team showed grit and determination to pull out a 27-24 win and cap off a back-and-forth thriller at The Pit.
Sophomore wide receiver Calvin Rocheleau (6 catches for 101 yards) caught two touchdowns in his varsity debut, including the game-winning score, and senior cornerback Xavier Gilmore secured a clutch interception in the final 40 seconds to help Catawba Ridge secure a wild win in front of an overjoyed home crowd in Fort Mill.
“You can learn a lot from a game like tonight,” Lendyak said. “It would have been easy to say ‘Man, we know, we just weren’t going to get it done tonight,’ but the guys found a way at the end. It wasn’t the prettiest way to win, but it was a win.”
With the win, Catawba Ridge improves to 2-1 on the season. The Copperheads had previously beaten Chapin and fell to Dorman.
Lendyak started quarterback Bradey Compton (12-for-32, 1 INT, 2 TDs, 139 passing yards), and switched to Will Griggs (8-for-14, 1 TD) early in the third quarter.
Receiver Colten McCauley finished with five catches and 56 yards, while Lucas McCauley hauled in a 48-yard touchdown on his lone grab.
Catawba Ridge scored on its first drive. Compton spotted wide receiver Lucas McCauley over the middle, and the speedy sophomore dashed up the field for a 48-yard score within the opening two minutes.
Chester responded with a 32-yard field goal just a couple minutes later. The Cyclones should have cashed in for more on that drive; running back Hudhaifah Taylor’s 33-yard jet sweep had set the visitors up on Catawba Ridge’s 13, but Catawba Ridge stuffed the drive back to the 20 before Gunnar Wells made his consolation kick.
The two teams traded possessions heading into the second quarter.
On a Catawba Ridge punt with nine minutes remaining, Chester’s return muffed his catch, and Catawba Ridge’s Judah Ponce recovered the ball on the opposing 20-yard line for a pivotal recovery.
Compton quickly took advantage of the miscue, and threw a dart to Rocheleau, who had no trouble breaching the end zone to take a 14-3 lead.
Wide receiver Darius Sutton was ruled out of the game this week with an arm injury. He had been the team’s second-leading receiver through the first two games.
Lendyak said he needed someone to step up, and his staff found a viable option in Rocheleau, who had impressed as a freshman on the junior varsity team.
“We just believed in him,” Lendyak said. “We kept going to him. It’s great to see a young kid take advantage of the opportunities he’s given.”
Chester then fumbled the kickoff return, and Catawba Ridge’s special teams came up clutch to recover, but the ensuing drive went three-and-out.
Chester had one last attempt before halftime, taking the ball on the 25 with 7:25.
The Cyclones rushed for 10 straight plays to move nearly 50 yards, draining six minutes off the clock. On the drive’s lone throw, Catawba Ridge’s Gilmore picked off Chester quarterback De’Imari Cockrell on the 18.
With 100 seconds left in the first half, Catawba Ridge took advantage of two big flags to move from its own 30 to the Chester 30, but the drive died before Compton could find his receivers in the end zone.
Down by 11 at halftime, Chester wasted no time. Starting at his own 18, Feaster shot out of a cannon on an 82-yard rush where he cut left, then back across field before any Catawba Ridge defender could lay a hand on him to cut the lead to 14-10.
Griggs took the reins from Compton midway through the first drive of the second half.
He pushed his offense as far as the Chester 1, but a sack pushed the home team back too far. Declan Hogan nailed a 32-yard field goal to make it 17-10.
But the Cyclones were game, and used the run game to full effect. Chester used a short field to push inside the red zone, and it was a matter of time before Cockrell scored a quarterback sneak from six yards out to tie the game at 17-17.
Josh Crick hit a 40-yard field goal for Catawba Ridge early in the fourth quarter. But Feaster’s 53-yard scoring run felt like a gut punch for the Copperheads’ momentum.
Griggs took over the line with five minutes, connected with Colten McCauley and Rocheleau for important chunk yardage, and spotted Rocheleau over the middle to earn a huge 31-yard score with just 2:34 left on the clock.
Chester reached as far as the Catawba Ridge 36, but Gilmore was wise to the deep ball, and picked off the pass before leading a mass celebration on the sideline.
“Xavier’s worked so hard for four years to get the opportunities that he’s been capitalizing on,” Lendyak said. “We had one of the best practices of the season on Wednesday because of his energy, and he brought that to the game tonight. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Both teams return to the gridiron next week. Catawba Ridge will next play at Spring Valley High in Columbia on Thursday, Sept. 11, while Chester will next host Saluda High on Friday, Sept. 12.
