South Florence tops Northwestern in state championship game
South Florence quarterback LaNorris Sellers threw for five touchdowns and ran for another as the Bruins beat Northwestern 57-30 in the Class 4A state championship game Saturday night.
Northwestern never lead in the game, as the Trojans were held to its lowest point total this postseason. Quarterback Finley Polk threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns.
On the ground, however, it was a different story.
Aside from a 36-yard run by Greer Hopkins late in the third quarter, the Trojans ground game was held in check, generating 109 yards on 26 carries.
“We did not get our running game going,” head coach Page Wofford said. “They did a good job stopping our run, and we made some mistakes with some turnovers we shouldn’t have made.”
Northwestern’s defense allowed over 570 yards of total offense to the Bruins, including four passing touchdowns of 30-plus yards. When they were able to get a stop, the Trojan offense could not capitalize, scoring just three points off the four four times South Florence failed.
“They went up, they scored, and we never tied the game,” Wofford said. “There was never any pressure on them. They could continue to run their offense. Both phases of the game, offense and defense. We got to find a way not to give up the big play like we did. Offensively, we got to figure out a way to score when we have to score and to run the ball when we have to run the ball, and we didn’t do that.”
For South Florence, the Bruins win their first football state championship in program history, and they’re undefeated.
After scoring five touchdowns within its opening six drives, South Florence’s offense didn’t start the second half well, failing to score on three straight possessions and allowing the Trojans to cut their deficit to 37-30 early in the fourth quarter.
However, the offense woke up, ending the game with three straight touchdown drives.
“We came out offensively really flat in the second half, didn’t run the ball well and I was disappointed in that,” South Florence head coach Drew Marlowe said. “But we were able to kind of takeover when we needed to right there at the end. Northwestern did a great job. We killed ourselves with penalties in the second half on offense. Just awful. But we were able to get it done in the end.”
For Wofford, his fourth year leading Northwestern did not end how he wanted. The seniors on the team were freshmen when he started, and he wanted to send them out on top.
However, he says this game is another step towards ensuring that Northwestern does not experience this feeling in the future.
“That’s another brick in the foundation,” Wofford said. “It’s not the brick that we wanted to put in the foundation, but it’s the brick that’s in the foundation. We don’t do second place at Northwestern, so to get here was fine. But the goal is to win it.”
This is a developing story, check back for more details
This story was originally published December 3, 2022 at 10:05 PM.