Northwestern too much for Rock Hill to handle in SC high school football opener
Realignment may have kept Rock Hill and Northwestern from contesting the Original Rivalry as a region game, but the traditional cross-town contest again took center stage in Football City USA Friday night.
The Trojans, though, left no doubt about the outcome from the opening snap.
Northwestern scored touchdowns on all nine of its first-half possessions and 13 of 14 in the contest, putting 62 points on the board in the first half on the way to a dominant, 89-13 result at District 3 Stadium Friday night.
“I’m happy for our kids to play well and get rewarded for the long, hard summer they had,” Northwestern coach Page Wofford said after the game. “We didn’t slack up. We pushed them really hard.
“We’ve got some mistakes to clean up, but teams are finding out that it’s a lot easier jumping on than jumping off.”
Northwestern needed just two plays to cash in its first drive. Finley Polk hit Elijah Caldwell from 26 yards away, giving the Trojans a lead they would not relinquish. The Trojans converted twice more — first on a nine-yard conversion from Polk to Turbo Richard and then a 16-yard Richard sprint to the paint — to claim a 21-0 advantage almost six minutes into the first quarter.
Rock Hill answered with a six-play drive of its own, marching 43 yards in just under two minutes and cashing in a 34-yard Matthew Wilson toss to Evion Hinton between two Trojan defenders. The point after knifed the Trojan lead to 14 as the four-minute mark of the first quarter approached.
Northwestern almost immediately responded, going 49 yards in two plays over 14 seconds. Richard applied the exclamation mark to the drive, rumbling in from a yard to make it 28-7. Polk then again found Caldwell to make it 35-7. A 10-yard run from Polk made it 41-7.
Rock Hill then capitalized on a nifty play across the middle, as Wilson connected with Malik Clark between colliding Trojan defenders. Clark sprinted 73 yards to the end zone, slicing the Trojan advantage to 41-13.
From there, the “Purple Tsunami,” as WRHI’s Gene Knight described Northwestern, took over.
Zilon Arnold scored from 16 yards to make it 48-13. Polk and Caldwell connected again — this time from eight — to extend the lead to 55-13. Richard went 44 yards to finish a one-play drive himself. 62-13.
Rock Hill challenged once more, working inside the Northwestern five. The halftime horn sounded before the Bearcats could score, however, affording the Trojans the same 62-13 advantage at the interval.
The second half was played with a running clock under the new SCHSL rules that dictate a lack of stoppages whenever a team leads another by 42 points at the half. Nothing, however — not the running clock, the wave of Trojan reserves that entered the game, or anything else — seemed to slow the Trojan attack.
Greer Hopkins ran in a one-yard touchdown to cap a four-play drive. 68-13. Hopkins then connected with Jayden Burris on a 40-yard strike on the ensuing possession. 75-13. Kamari Chiles then sprinted 28 yards virtually untouched to make it 82-13. That score eclipsed the Trojans’ previous single-game scoring record, a 76-point effort against Byrnes. Hopkins then ran in another from 12 yards, providing the game’s final margin.
“We didn’t let up. Sometimes when you get ahead like that, it starts to get really sloppy and you’re just trying to get out of there,” Wofford said. “To our team’s credit, they kept saying, ‘so what, now what?’ and kept taking ownership of their performance.
“The standard doesn’t change no matter who’s on the field. We talked about it at halftime, and I challenged (our backups). I told them they were going to get in during that second half, and how they performed was going to be on tape for everyone to see. To their credit, they did what they were coached to do.”
All of Northwestern’s stars had big nights before departing the game. Polk connected on 14-of-17 throws for 234 yards and four total touchdowns. Richard tallied 165 yards on 11 carries, visiting the end zone five times. Caldwell hauled in three throws and added two scores. Northwestern finished with over 700 yards of total offense in the contest.
Wilson threw for two touchdowns for Rock Hill, accounting for over 170 yards through the air. Clark and Hinton visited the paint for the Bearcats, with Hinton hauling in six tosses.
Northwestern hits the road to battle Clover in non-region action at Clover Memorial Stadium next Friday. Game time is set for 7:30. Rock Hill will again take to the turf at District 3, squaring off with cross-town rival South Pointe. That game is also slated for 7:30.