Nation Ford cruises past Lancaster
It was the Kirk Rygol and Alex Stennett show as two first-quarter touchdown passes gave Nation Ford the lead and the Falcons defeated the visiting Lancaster Bruins 35-14 Friday.
The Falcons’ defense provided some key contributions as well, stopping Lancaster’s running back tandem of Ant Foster and Farrika Grier.
Nation Ford coach Michael Allen, whose team improved to 3-1 overall, called it a “great effort” for four quarters. “The defense played very hard, we created turnovers and we won the takeaway game. Offensively, I think we executed better this week than we did last week and that was our goal to get better.”
Rygol led Nation Ford on the 83-yard drive with 2:52 to go in the half and ran in from 10 yards out to give the Falcons a 21-7 lead at halftime. From then on, the Falcons were rolling as a big 47-yard punt return by Dewaun McCullum gave Nation Ford the ball at the Lancaster two yard line. To seal the deal, Allen called McCullum’s number for a one-yard touchdown run. Rygol added the Falcons’ final touchdown with an eight-yard pass to wide receiver Ben Tuipulotu which gave Nation Ford a 35-7 lead with nine minutes to go in the third quarter.
Turning point
Nation Ford’s defense came up with two big stops on fourth down in the second quarter to deny the Bruins from scoring after Lancaster started a pair of drives in Nation Ford territory.
Critical
After a 60-yard touchdown pass from Jamias Shropshire to Desmond Stowers, the Lancaster Bruins were not able to keep up with with Nation Ford’s high-powered offense. Lancaster had three fumbles and one of them was lost. Foster and Grier were held to 97 rushing yards combined.
Star contributors
Rygol was the star on offense for Nation Ford, completing 18 out of 23 passes for 232 yards and three passing touchdowns. He also rushed for 78 yards and added a touchdown. Alex Stennett and McCullum had a great games receiving. Stennett caught four passes for 79 yards and two touchdowns and McCullum had three catches for 45 yards, one rushing touchdown and a 47-yard punt return.
On deck
Lancaster will be at home next week to play Lugoff-Elgin; Nation Ford is home again next week, hosting Indian Land for homecoming.
Box score
Lancaster;7;0;0;7 - 14
Nation Ford;14;7;14;0 - 35
SCORING SUMMARY
First quarter
NFHS – Alex Stennett 6 pass from Kirk Rygol (Skyler Delong kick), 9:11
LHS – Desmond Stowers 60 pass from Jamias Shropshire (Jacob Cato kick), 8:19
NFHS – Alex Stennett 57 pass from Rygol (Skyler Delong kick), 5:58
Second quarter
Rygol 10 run (Skyler Delong kick), 0:26
Third quarter
NFHS – Dewaun McCullum 1 run (Skyler Delong kick), 10:35
NFHS – Ben Tuipulotu 8 pass from Rygol (Skyler Delong kick), 8:06
Fourth quarter
LHS – Kemarkio Cloud 1 run (Harrison Lanthan kick), 3:29
TEAM STATISTICS
LHS;NFHS
First downs;11;21
Rushes-yards;33-128;29-155
Passing;25-11-0;24-19-1
Passing yards;161;235
Fumbles-lost;3-1;2-0
Penalties-yards;3-11;5-50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: LHS – Ant Foster 11-33; Farrika Grier 11-64; Jamias Shropshire 9-19; Kemarkio Cloud 2-12. NFHS – Kirk Rygol 10-78; Rese Turner 4-28; DJ Robinson 4-14; Josh Victorin 5-33; Dewaun McCullum 2-1; Montre Miller 1;3.
PASSING: LHS – Shropshire 9-21-119, 1 TD; Kemarkio Cloud 2-4-42. NFHS – Rygol 18-23-232, 3TDs; Chris Layle 1-1-3.
RECEIVING: LHS – Cordarius Tinsley 1-37; Ji’Quan Stover 2-17; Desmond Stowers 4-80; Richard Sowell 2-17; Kendrick Shropshire Jr. 1-10; Ben Rivers 1-1. NFHS – Alex Stennett 4-79; Dewaun McCullum 3-45; Halen Burgess 2-46; Montre Miller 3-12; Rese Turner 1-8; John Young 2-12; Ben Tuipulotu 2-31; Josh Victorin 1-3.
RECORDS: Lancaster 2-2; Nation Ford 3-1.
This story was originally published September 16, 2016 at 11:46 PM with the headline "Nation Ford cruises past Lancaster."