By David Thackham
Correspondent
CHESTER – Catawba Ridge overcame five fumbles, a defensive safety, and a nerve-wracking first half of action to earn a 21-9 road win over Chester High School Friday night in non-region play.
And by the end of the night, the news trickled in that the second year Copperheads program had earned its first berth in the state playoffs, thanks to a South Pointe road win over York Comprehensive High School.
Senior quarterback Kayden Hager, who went 11-for-19 for 104 passing yards and 73 rushing yards, scored two rushing touchdowns, while junior running back Henry Bowen had 16 rushes for 54 yards added another to give Catawba Ridge its fourth straight win of the season. The Copperheads (4-1, 3-1 Region 3-4A) have already doubled last year’s win total, and players say they feel bullish about their chances going into the 4A playoffs.
“I think we can go all the way,” Hager said, who has adapted well under center after taking over for starter Jadyn Davis when Davis suffered a collarbone injury two weeks ago. “We have the talent. We have the coaching staff. I don’t see anything that can stop us.”
Chester (2-2, 2-1 Region 4-3A) earned a safety near the end of the first half, and finally earned its lone touchdown of the night when quarterback Johnathan Goldsborough ran in from one yard out to finish off an 18-play, 83-yard fourth quarter drive that lasted all of seven minutes.
Coming into the game, Catawba Ridge had shutout each of its last three opponents. Chester was hampered by the absence of three of its top playmakers, including junior quarterback Zan Dunham (ankle), senior linebacker Javonti Jackson (leg) and junior cornerback Khamani Tobias (knee).
But the Cyclones’ defense came out hungry, attacking vulnerabilities on every Catawba Ridge play in the first half. The two teams combined for eight fumbles, including five for the Copperheads.
“That’s totally the opposite of what we’ve done for the last three weeks,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Zac Lendyak. “We were careless with the football, not finishing plays, not running crisp routes. We had to get back to where we were.”
The two teams put on a wacky first half of football action.
On Catawba Ridge’s second offensive drive, the Copperheads had three straight scoring chances negated due to penalties. Throughout a whopping 18 plays, Hager was able to lead his team from a second and goal situation at the Chester 36 to finally score from two-yards out on the first play of the second quarter.
But Catawba Ridge’s offense later fumbled on each of its next three first-half drives, leading to costly turnovers.
The Copperheads began their next drive at the Chester 26, following a stout defensive stance, but Hager was unable to stop a four-and-out despite recovering his own fumble.
Bowen fumbled the ball just minutes inside Chester’s 30-yard line. And a Cyclones defender was able to strip the ball away from Hager on the first play of the following Catawba Ridge drive with about two minutes left.
The Copperheads had one final opportunity in the first half, taking over at their own three-yard line with about a minute to play. After two Hager pass incompletions, a high snap sailed far over the quarterback’s head on third down, and referees determined that Chester was able to recover the ball in the end zone for a Chester safety to make it 7-2 heading into the locker room.
“We came out flat,” Bowen said. “It was one of the worst halves we had played. But we couldn’t have done what we did without our O-line. (Hager) stepped up, and it was a team effort to come back and win.”
Bowen and Hager said Lendyak told the team to keep composed and play hard-nosed Copperheads football.
It took Catawba Ridge just eight plays to drive from its own 40 before Bowen scampered into the Chester end zone from four yards out to make it 14-2.
Lendyak’s defense rose up yet again soon after midway through the third quarter. Jacobie Henderson fumbled the ball on a pass from Hager, leading Chester and Goldsborough to take over near midfield. But despite reaching the Catawba Ridge 16-yard line, Goldsborough was unable to move his Cyclones any further, and was sacked for a big loss to end the drive.
Just before the fourth quarter, Catawba Ridge recovered a botched punt return by Chester to restart a drive at Chester’s 20-yard line. It only took four plays before Hager took it in to score from four yards out and extend the lead to 21-2.
“It was mentally tough with the fumbles,” Hager said. “But my teammates came up to me and told me they believed in me, and that’s all I needed.”
Goldsborough and the Cyclones finally found some rhythm deep in the fourth quarter, but their slow pace ensured the quarterback’s eventual touchdown would be harmless. Catawba Ridge was able to easily recover the ensuing Cyclones’ onside kick with less than four minutes to play, and could run down the clock.
Lendyak said his team is going to need to grit out tough road games like this if they expect to perform well in the playoffs.
“We talked about that in the pregame,” he said. “We were able to overcome (five fumbles) and you don’t usually overcome that and win. I’m so proud we were able to do that.”
Bowen and Hager both say they have high hopes that they can continue their team’s winning ways in the postseason.
With South Pointe securing a 21-7 win over region rival York, that means the Stallions will finish first in Region 3-4A, and Catawba Ridge earns the No. 2 spot.
“I want to see us do a deep run,” Bowen said. “We’ve got to come out and play hard. We can’t come out flat in the first half again. We’ve just got to keep grinding and blocking, scoring points.”
Lendyak said he’s proud of his defense and that his team responded in a tough road environment. And now, his Copperheads have a state playoff run to prepare for.
“It means everything,” he said. “To see that hard work paid off, with everything going on. As a second-year program, I couldn’t be prouder of what we’re doing.”
Catawba Ridge is scheduled to travel to Fort Mill and take on the Yellow Jackets next Friday, Oct. 30 at Bob Jones Stadium.
Final
Catawba Ridge 21, Chester 9
Scoring Summary
Second Quarter
CR – Kayden Hager two-yard scoring run, 11:54
CH – Safety for Chester, 36.6 seconds
Third Quarter
CR – Henry Bowen four-yard scoring run, 9:03
Fourth Quarter
CR – Hager four-yard scoring run, 10:56
C – Johnathan Goldsborough one-yard scoring run, 3:44
