Unbeaten Indian Land at Catawba Ridge among top Rock Hill-area football games

Indian Land remains undefeated heading into its Week 7 high school football game at Catawba Ridge.

Coach Adam Hastings said the Warriors, coming off a 34-26 win against Nation Ford, are “just trying to take everything in one week at a time” and not get “caught up in what our record is, who’s coming up ... or what happened last week. Just focus on what’s going on right now.”

Indian Land has largely cruised through the season, outscoring its first five opponents by a 198-22 margin. In Week 6, Nation Ford became the first foe to score double digits against the Warriors (6-0).

“We felt like we played some good football teams, but we also felt like we were playing pretty good early on in the year,” Hastings said.

One of the key factors in the Warriors’ success this season has been the play of sophomore quarterback Matt Kucia. Kucia has 1,171 passing yards and 10 passing touchdowns with just two interceptions.

“For a sophomore, he just has a lot of maturity that you just don’t see in a kid who’s a sophomore,” Hastings said of Kucia. “He’s mature, he understands what we’re asking to do and he understands the offense. He understands different ways that we’re trying to attack a defense in the game plan. … Then you combine that with his intelligence and his really good arm strength. He can make every throw. When you have those two things together, you have a really good player. We’ve just been so pleased with him and how he’s grown the last two years.”

Another facet of the Warriors explosive offense has been three-year starting running back Jamol Horton. Horton has 764 yards with 290 of them — yes, 290 rushing yards — against Nation Ford last week. He also had two of his eight touchdowns on the season last week. The senior is averaging 127.3 rushing yards per game and averages 7.5 yards per carry.

“He’s elusive,” Hastings said of Horton. “He has great explosion. He understands where to take the ball in the run game. He had a good start to the year and then for different reasons, we haven’t really had to run the ball a lot, or we’ve had a short field where he just hasn’t had all opportunities. ... He’s got 25-plus carries in the last two games, because we’ve had a full field and we’ve had a lot of success running the ball. To see a kid like that, just to grow on the success that we’ve been having is awesome to see.”

As mentioned, the Warriors have limited their opponents’ scoring. So, not only is the offense clicking, the defense has held up its end of the bargain as well.

“When you look at our defense, we return so many guys,” Hastings said. “All three linebackers started last year. All of our defensive backs played last year. When you look at our defensive line, we have one returner there, but the other three have just done a phenomenal job. … I think there’s a lot for us to build off of, and continue to build off of as we’re going to continue to face teams that are really good offensively.”

Rock Hill-area games of the week

Rock Hill (4-3) at Nation Ford (3-3), 7:30 p.m. Friday: Nation Ford looks to get its first win in region play. The Falcons are putting up a lot of points this season but are struggling with keeping opposing offenses at bay, having given up 201 points this season. Rock Hill junior receiver Nigel Lightner could be a threat. He leads the Bearcats in total touchdowns with seven and averages almost 70 yards per game receiving.

Indian Land (6-0) at Catawba Ridge (4-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday: Catawba Ridge defensive back Joshua Dobson, ranked No. 7 on 247 Sports in the class of 2027, will have his hands full with the undefeated Warriors. Indian Land excels in the pass and run game. The Copperheads’ defensive will have to limit explosive plays to have a chance at stopping the Warriors.

Fort Mill (4-3) at Northwestern (6-1), 7:30 p.m. Friday: Since starting 4-0 for the first time since 1983, Fort Mill has dropped three straight to Catawba Ridge, Clover and Rock Hill. The road doesn’t get any easier as the Yellow Jackets face a Trojans team coming off three blowout victories. Northwestern has scored more than any team in the Rock Hill area (335) with 52 points or more in the past three games.