ROCK HILL – Nation Ford head coach Michael Allen said his team just didn’t show up to District 3 Stadium ready to play football Friday night against Northwestern High School.
The scoreboard proved he was right.
The Trojans from Class 4A hung eight touchdowns on the visiting Class 5A Falcons, who dropped to 2-2, in a lopsided 62-0 shutout loss in downtown Rock Hill.
“I thought we were prepared with what we did throughout the week,” Allen said. “We just didn’t show up ready to play. It’s very uncharacteristic of this group. But they’ll wear it. … We’ll learn a lot from that. I bet we’ll grow from it.”
Nothing seemed to go Nation Ford’s way Friday night, especially on the opening possession.
Starting the game on their own 20, Nation Ford was assessed a delay of game penalty and then another flag for too many men on the field.
And on third and 24, quarterback Kaden Barnette was forced back into his end zone, eventually falling, and giving up a 2-point safety on the first drive of the night.
The Falcons’ fortunes didn’t get any brighter for the rest of the evening.
Northwestern’s ruthless offense, led by senior quarterback Finley Polk and senior running back Turbo Richard, ran roughshod over Nation Ford, scoring seven first-half touchdowns.
Polk helped the Trojans cut through the Falcons’ defense like a knife through butter in the first half, and the hosts scored touchdowns on each of their first half possessions.
The senior scored the first touchdown of the night with a 4-yard rushing keeper to cap off Northwestern’s first offensive drive.
On the next opportunity, Polk found wide receiver TaDarrian Knox for a 60-yard pitch-and-catch. Polk found Jaylen Burris for a 34-yard score later in the first quarter.
Barnette tried to keep Nation Ford in the game with a long bomb of his own, but was picked off by Northwestern defensive back Jammar Perry on a deep route.
With the ball back in Trojan hands, Richard broke off a 40-yard run before taking it in the end zone himself from 4 yards to help the home team earn a 31-0 lead after the opening 12 minutes.
“We ran into a buzzsaw,” Allen said. “We didn’t play well, and they’re a very, very good football team. They’re coached well with great athletes. The result was exactly what it needed to be under the circumstances.”
It only took Northwestern two plays and 15 seconds to score their fifth touchdown of the night when Zilon Arnold burst up the near sideline for a 42-yard score.
Polk found Kameron Vance for a 20-yard passing touchdown to end a 6-play, 70-second drive that put the Trojans up 45-0 with 7:53 left in the night.
With the ball back, Kaleb White was able to pull off an 18-yard rush to push the Falcons into Trojans territory. But Nation Ford couldn’t push past the Northwestern 32, with Barnette throwing three incompletions and eventually giving up a sack on fourth and long.
Polk found Knox for his second receiving score of the night, this time from seven yards out.
By halftime, Northwestern had earned 430 yards of offense.
Most starters on both sides were rotated out either by halftime or early in the fourth quarter. Junior quarterback Carson Sanford earned a couple drives’ worth of reps in the final minutes for the Falcons.
Nation Ford finally stopped a Northwestern drive from scoring with 40 seconds left in the third quarter.
By the time the smoke had cleared, Northwestern outgained Nation Ford 523 total yards to 139. The Trojans’ front four on defense held the Falcons to just 12 net rushing yards. That number wasn’t helped by the four sacks that Northwestern inflicted on its visitors.
Nation Ford was just inches away from a positive end to a rough game when Sanford found Jamari Gore for a 46-yard gain with less than a minute to play in the waning fourth quarter. Throwing from midfield, Sanford found Gore in space, and Gore rumbled about 20 yards before getting pushed out at the three.
But the next three plays couldn’t provide the payoff: Running back Brandon Johnson was hit for a loss, Sanford threw a jump ball that fell incomplete, and he fell just short on a quarterback keeper on an untimed down to end the game.
“We fought hard in the second half,” Allen said. “They’re gonna fight. I’m proud of them. We’ll run as far away from this as we can. If you want to talk, talk about practice on Monday. We’ll learn from this, and we’ll be better the next time we hit the field.”
White finished with 28 yards, and Brandon Johnson had 12. Barnette ended his game with 60 passing yards and an interception on 8-of-19 passing. Sanford had 67 total passing yards on 4-of-7 passing.
Gore’s reception led the team. Josh Ameo and Jeffery Papin both picked up three catches each, for a total of 32 and 21 yards.
Polk had 217 passing yards on 14-of-18 passing for four passing touchdowns and one rushing score. Greer Hopkins entered the game in the second half, picking up one passing touchdown and 63 yards on 5-of-7 passing.
Arnold totaled 121 rushing yards for the Trojans, Richard had 65 yards, and Polk scrambled for 40. Knox led all receivers with 65 yards. Ten different Northwestern receivers caught passes from either Polk or Hopkins.
Nation Ford will take next week off before returning to action on the road against non-region opponent Richland Northeast (Columbia) Friday, Sept. 22. The Falcons will begin Region 3-5A play on Friday, Sept. 29 with a home game against Clover.
