The Catawba Ridge Copperhead football team used a strong second half to overcome first half penalties and a tight game with the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets to get a 38-14 win opening the 2023 season.
Both teams opened the season against each other last year with the Copperheads getting a 31-7 win over the Jackets. This game was a little different, but the same result as Fort Mill has now lost 16 games in a row.
The game wasn’t as big of a blowout as the score may indicate as Fort Mill had their chances with the help of 13 Catawba Ridge penalties for 129 yards and multiple Copperhead turnovers.
“Some of these things were first game mistakes,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Zac Lendyak. “You want to play with an edge, but we have to be better. I want to hold them accountable.”
Catawba Ridge had 517 total yards in the game and 30 first downs, 21 of which came on the ground. Fort Mill had just six total first downs and only 108 total yards.
Fort Mill won the coin toss and was forced to punt on the first drive of the game. Catawba Ridge then took the ball and methodically marched down the field taking up big chunks of time off the clock in the process.
The drive ended with a 3-yard touchdown run at 5:02 by Ira Mister to put the Copperheads ahead taking 4:45 off the clock on a dozen plays going 76 yards.
Fort Mill struggled in the opening quarter to move the ball. Four of their first five plays ended up in negative yards, as the Jackets were forced to punt again on their second drive.
The Jackets got a lucky break as Braylon Thomas returned a fumble 36-yards on the next series for Catawba Ridge to tie the game at 7-7 with just over 2:46 in the opening quarter.
Despite the mistake the Fort Mill defense wasn’t able to stop Catawba Ridge as they took the next series and would go down and score again with the help of a big 35-yard run by quarterback DJ Latimer to get them near the red zone. The Copperheads would score four plays later on another Mister 4-yard touchdown run to put Catawba Ridge back ahead.
Catawba Ridge got an interception by Rasean Marajah right before the quarter ended and had the ball back at the goal line. Latimer then opened the second quarter with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Darius Sutton to extend their lead just six seconds into the quarter.
Fort Mill struggled offensively and replaced starter Quinn Kelly with Collin Martin to start the second quarter. Martin and the Jackets gained some positive yards but ended up having to punt.
The Jackets were able to get the ball back because of a muffed punt giving them a second chance. Martin made the most of it and hit Tanner Mays for a 30-yard touchdown to cut into the Copperheads’ lead.
If there was one thing that Catawba Ridge struggled with in the first half, it was penalties. Those penalties put them in poor starting position and negated positive plays. It also gave Fort Mill extra opportunities. Catawba Ridge had one touchdown called back after offsetting penalties.
A scrappy Fort Mill came right back to put themselves in the game as Martin hit Jackson Smith for a 27-yard pass putting them across midfield. Two personal fouls by Catawba Ridge on the play moved the ball to their 9-yard line. Fort Mill worked its way to the two-yard line only for the Copperheads to get the stop. That series seemed to take all the momentum away from Fort Mill after they failed to score.
Catawba Ridge then made the most of it to go down the field and hit a 34-yard field goal from Camden Gifford to put the Copperheads up 24-14 at the half. In the first half, one stat that stood out for Catawba Ridge was eight penalties for 78 yards.
The Copperheads took the opening kick in the second half and extended their lead making it down the field going 75-yards on six plays aided by a big 35-yard catch from Brady Ambrose and capped off on a 5-yard touchdown run by Mister.
Catawba Ridge’s Brayden Wasik scored on the Copperheads second drive of the third quarter as Catawba Ridge scored two touchdowns in four minutes to blow the game open from that point.
The Copperheads kept their foot on the gas and continued to pound the ball on the ground as both Mister and Latimer did most of the work running the ball in the second half.
Latimer finished with 128 yards rushing on 14 carries and Mister finished with 143 yards rushing on 22 carries and three touchdowns. Latimer also passed for 148 yards on 11-of-19 passing.
Fort Mill was led by Martin who passed for 95 yards going 8-for-17.
Next week, Fort Mill hits the road to Chester while Catawba Ridge will host Charlotte Christian.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
