By Lee McManus
Correspondent
The first round of the playoffs offers a variety of matchups.
The 4A playoff matchup between the Fountain Inn Fury and Catawba Ridge Copperheads, on paper, looked to be even. Both teams entered the game at 6-4. Through three quarters it proved to be dead even, tied at 17. The Fury outscored the Copperheads 24-7 in the fourth quarter to win 41-24.
Catawba Ridge head coach Zac Lendyak talked about the challenge of facing Fountain Inn’s rushing attack.
“All the credit to Fountain Inn, that offense, and especially that quarterback (Holliday) and what they were able to do tonight,” he said. “They’re big, they can move bodies, they run the ball really well. When we get there we need to get them on the ground. When you don’t it turns into really long drives and that keeps our offense off the field and theirs on, and that’s usually a recipe for losing the football game.”
Just under two and a half minutes into the game Catawba Ridge jumped in front. Will Gambrill found Calvin Rocheleau in the far side of the end from the 11. A holding penalty on fourth and eight at the Fury’s drive alive.
Two drives, one of 67 yards and one of 80, gave Fountain Inn a 14-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. Fury quarterback Sam Holliday kicked off a huge night with a one-yard sneak. CJ Thomas-Anderson added to the lead thanks to a fortunate bounce for Fountain Inn. A bad snap bounced straight to Thomas-Anderson, and he took it in from the six.
The Fury as if they might take control of the game after stopping the Copperheads on fourth and two from Fountain Inn’s six. The Fury marched 70 yards before Nate Odell intercepted Holliday. Odell’s 32-yard return set up the Copperheads at their own 49. Boston Halpin’s one-yard plunge and a 2-point conversion tied the game.
Just before the half the Fury took over at their own 20. They drove all the way to Catawba Ridge’s 14 before settling for a field goal. Caleb Ruzicka’s 31-yard field goal gave Fountain Inn a 17-14 halftime lead.
The Copperheads drove all the way to the Fountain Inn before settling for 27-yard Josh Crick field goal.
Fountain Inn scored just one minute into the fourth quarter on Holliday’s second one-yard sneak. Holliday’s 54-yard run set up the score.
The lead grew to two scores when Holliday found Ben Ruwe in the middle of the end zone. Ruwe made an excellent to bring in the 40-yard reception.
Catawba Ridge struck back in just three plays. Gambrill hit Colten McCauley in stride down the near sideline from the 43.
Ruzicka’s 24-yard field pushed the lead back to ten. After Jax Reid picked off Gambrill Holliday needed just one play to cap the scoring. His 48-yard run down the far sideline capped off a big night.
Overall, the Fury rushed 42 times for 391. Fountain Inn finished with 521 yards of total offense.
Gambrill passed for 223 yards on 16-of-28 completions, while McCauley caught 4 passes for 103 yards. Copperheads’ senior linebacker Tyler Gindoff led the defense with 15 total tackles.
Catawba Ridge finished the season at 6-5 overall.
