Howard, Moloney lead Northwestern football in 40-21 march over Clover

Jerry Howard rushed for 112 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead the Northwestern Trojans to a 40-21 win over the Clover Blue Eagles in a Region 4-5A contest at District Three Stadium on Friday night.

Howard scored two of his touchdowns in the first half to stake the Trojans to a 26-7 lead. He scored on an 11-yard run in the first quarter, and added a two-yard run with 37 seconds left in the first half.

Quarterback Gage Moloney, who completed 12 of 24 passes for 182 yards on the night, accounted for the other two Northwestern touchdowns in the first half. He opened the scoring with a one-yard run and passed to Tykilly Hill on a 14-yard scoring play in the second period.

Clover’s only score in the first half was a 10-yard run by Semaj Lakin early in the second period. That cut the Northwestern lead to 13-7.

Howard scored again on a two-yard run in the third period to make it 33-6. And when Antonio Heath scampered in from 18 yards out, Northwestern was in front 40-6 late in the third quarter.

Howard was also Northwestern’s leading receiver. He caught five passes for 46 yards.

Clover scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth period. Garrett Miller scored on a two-yard run and Lakin, who led the Blue Eagles’ rushing attack with 95 yards, got in from four yards out.

The Trojans improved to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in the region with the win. The loss dropped Clover to 5-3 overall and 0-2 in region play.

Next week

Northwestern travels to Nation Ford, while Clover returns to District Three Stadium for a contest against Rock Hill.

Northwestern 40, Clover 21

This story was originally published October 14, 2016 at 10:21 PM with the headline "Howard, Moloney lead Northwestern football in 40-21 march over Clover."