ROCK HILL – If there was a perfect half for the Northwestern Trojans, they might have just played it.
The Trojans beat the Catawba Ridge Copperheads 56-20 as the Copperheads dropped to 4-2 on the season and 1-1 in Region 3-5A.
“Anytime you come out on the losing end, especially like this, it’s not what you want,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Zac Lendyak. “They (Catawba Ridge) played in the second half with as much passion as they have any game this year and I am proud of that. We gave them everything we had it just wasn’t enough.”
Catawba Ridge went three and out on their first series after the opening kickoff. After a 10-play drive, Northwestern missed a 29-yard field goal on their first drive.
Catawba Ridge put together a decent drive with the help of Will Griggs running the ball. But a penalty hurt the drive resulting in the Copperheads punting.
Northwestern took the ball and the scored after a long run by Nigel Smith.
Things didn’t get any better on the Copperheads next drive as Griggs threw a 32-yard interception returned for a touchdown.
Josh Dobson then took the ensuing kickoff 92-yards for a touchdown to put Catawba Ridge on the board.
Defensively, the Copperheads had trouble slowing down the Northwestern offense as they went up 21-6 on their next drive with another touchdown.
Northwestern took the ball in the first series in the second quarter and used two penalties to aid the Trojans as they would score again on a Smith one yard run just 70 seconds into the quarter.
On the Copperheads first series, Griggs hit Calvin Rocheleau for a 31-yard gain to get them past midfield, but Catawba Ridge ended up having to punt.
Northwestern took the first play from scrimmage on their next drive as Evan Harrison scored on a 58-yard pass from Xavier Means to put the Trojans up 35-6.
The Trojans then took another punt by Catawba Ridge after another three and out and scored on a 36-yard punt return with 6:45.
The Copperheads put in Mark Blakeney for an injured Curtis Dayson. Blakeney ran in from 21-yards out to cut into a large Northwestern lead with 4:40 left in the second quarter.
Northwestern responded as you might expect as Smith scored his third touchdown of the game on a 19-yards run.
Catawba Ridge tried to respond, but Griggs got hit hard and fumbled as he left the game after the hit. Northwestern recovered the fumble and put together another scoring drive before the half to go up 56-14 with 31 seconds left in the first half. The 56 first half points wasn’t a record for the Trojans as they scored 62 in the first half against Rock Hill several years ago.
The second half started with a running clock as the there was a 42-point differential between the teams.
Bradey Compton came in at quarterback for the Copperheads. Griggs’ game was finished as he went 4-of-15 for 60 yards before the injury.
Compton and Colton McCauley connected on two plays, one for 37 yards to get them in the red zone. That would be all they could do as they again missed a field goal to end the drive.
In the fourth quarter, Catawba Ridge put together their best drive of the game as Blakeney scored his second touchdown of the game on a 20-yard run with four minutes left.
Blakeney rushed for two scores on seven carries and 66 yards rushing. Compton finished 6-of-10 for 80 yards in the second half. Rocheleau caught five passes for 61 yards and McCauley also caught five passes for 79 yards.
Catawba Ridge heads into a bye week and will play Indian Land on Friday, Oct. 10.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
