CLOVER – A quick start for the Catawba Ridge Copperheads helped to lead them to a blowout win over the Lake Wylie Chargers.
The Copperheads won 52-14 to improve to 5-4 overall and 3-2 in Region 3-4A. Catawba Ridge had six different players score against Lake Wylie.
“The offense found some rhythm early,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Zac Lendyak. “We were able to get some points on the board and that allowed us to get some guys in the game tonight, which is always a great thing too. We had a good week of practice. We have to keep finding rhythm on offense.”
Catawba Ridge took the opening kick and used some tricks throwing across the field to Calvin Rocheleau as he almost broke for a touchdown but was stopped at the Chargers 30-yard line. Five plays later, Boston Halpin scored from one yard out to cap a five-play drive in less than two minutes.
After our defensive stop, the Copperheads again started with good field position inside Chargers’ territory and scored in three plays. Will Gambrill found Carson Boutwell for a 13-yard touchdown with 7:30 left in the opening quarter. The touchdown was set up by a 29-yard reception from Colten McCauley.
Lake Wylie put together a decent drive midway through the first quarter but still ended up punting to the Copperheads.
On offense, Catawba Ridge kept the drives short. For the second consecutive series, the Copperheads had a three-play drive resulting in another touchdown, with Rocheleau catching a 44-yard touchdown pass from Gambrill.
Catawba Ridge opened the second quarter continuing the scoring as Chris Adams got into the mix with a 1-yard touchdown run with 9:50 left in the half.
Lake Wylie finally put together a scoring drive as they would score on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 7:40 left in the first half.
The Chargers got the ball back as they picked off Gambrill on the next play. The Catawba Ridge defense locked in after the turnover and forced the Chargers to punt. That resulted in another Copperheads scoring drive in eight plays with Jayden Fullwood scoring on a six-yard run.
On their next drive, the Copperheads kept the scoring going on another short drive of two plays as Gambrill found a sprinting Rocheleau for their second scoring connection of the game, this time from 27-yards out. That pushed the score to 42-7 which the Copperheads took into the locker room.Catawba Ridge substituted their starters in the third quarter.
The offense slowed but the Copperheads were still able to score on a 42-yard field goal by Josh Crick with about 7:20 left in the third quarter.
Lake Wylie took advantage of the defensive substitutes and was able to score on their next drive to cut into a sizable Copperheads’ lead.
After a small scoring drought by Catawba Ridge, backup quarterback Judah Poulson scored on a 47-yard run with about eight minutes left in the game.
Gambrill, who just played the first half, was 12-of-14 for 225 yards and three touchdowns. McCauley finished with four catches for 104 yards and went over 1,000 receiving yards on the season. Rocheleau finished with two touchdowns to go with four catches for 88 yards.
Poulson led the Copperheads rushing the ball with five carries for 55 yards.
Catawba Ridge will turn around and head back to Memorial Stadium to play the Clover Blue Eagles on Friday, Oct. 30 to end the regular season.
“There is going to be some big playoff implications on that game,” Lendyak said. “We will come over here next week and see what we can do.”
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
