By David Thackham
Correspondent
Head coach Zac Lendyak has spent the offseason coming into the 2020 season preaching to his Catawba Ridge team to believe in themselves.
After seeing his Copperheads earn their first win in 13 months, he’s starting to see that belief pay off with a valuable first win of the year.
Catawba Ridge’s defensive line earned eight sacks in route to a 15-0 shutout of York Comprehensive High Friday night. It was the first win for the Copperheads since Aug. 30, 2019.
Nate Francis and Henry Bowen both scored touchdowns for Catawba Ridge on each side of a York safety.
Catawba Ridge’s defense wanted to push themselves following last week’s season-opening defeat at South Pointe High, according to Lendyak.
“The D-Line really challenged themselves this week,” Lendyak said. “They stayed after practice each week, did extra conditioning on their own, and I think it showed tonight. They really set the tone for the defense all night long.”
Catawba Ridge was able to snuff out multiple threatening York drives throughout the second half to seal the shutout and the win. Lendyak says his team is “tired of being the little brother” in Fort Mill, and wants to turn this win into momentum through the rest of the year.
The Copperheads (1-1, 1-1 Region 3-4A) next host Lancaster Oct. 9.
Catawba Ridge’s night began with a bang. Jacobie Henderson picked off York quarterback Weston Hance at midfield on York’s opening drive in the first quarter. Jadyn Davis, who went 14-for-25 for 122 yards, was able to find Nate Francis six plays later over the middle for the Copperheads’ first score.
After trading punts, the Copperheads pinned the Cougars back at their own three-yard line to begin the second quarter. Frank Thompson Jr. tried to run the ball out of his own end zone, but was stuffed in the backfield and gave up a safety to give the home team a 9-0 halftime lead.
“We’re big in preaching to the boys, if you don’t change something, change won’t happen,” Lendyak said. “You better do something different. So, we restructured practice, and came out hungry. We made the emphasis on not waiting for them. Let’s just go play football.”
Catawba Ridge’s special teams contributed after the break. The Copperheads recovered their own punt after the ball touched a York player and became live again. That put Catawba Ridge on York’s 14-yard line. Henry Bowen, who had 26 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown, only needed a few plays before he scored from a yard out to make it 15-0 to the home team.
On York’s best drive of the night in the fourth quarter, Davis made several big plays using his feet to set drag the Cougars from their own 24 to Catawba Ridge’s 11-yard line. But a tipped pass to the middle of the end zone was picked off by Kayden Hager, effectively ending any chance York had of scoring that night.
Bowen was a bell cow for Catawba Ridge’s rushing attack, toting the ball 26 times. He said it’s a “blessing” to win a game after nine straight losses dating back to Sept. 2019.
“I felt like I had a pretty good game,” Bowen said. “Now we’re 1-1, and I feel like we can win more.”
Ben Hudgins tallied 49 yards for Catawba Ridge on five catches, Quinten Jackson had 38 yards on four catches, and Henderson had 25 yards on four receptions.
Lendyak said he tells his players to take it one play at a time.
“We’ve been able to get ourselves in the weight room more, we’ve had a year of getting older and having growth,” he said. “Tonight, was huge.”
Final
Catawba Ridge 15, York 0
SCORING SUMMARY
First quarter
CR – Nate Francis 10-yard touchdown throw from Jadyn Davis, kick good by Ayden McCarter, 7:27, 7-0
Second quarter
CR – Safety in York end zone, 11:33, 9-0
Third quarter
CR – 1-yard rushing touchdown by Henry Bowen, kick no good by McCarter, 6:00, 15-0
