Northwestern put on a power display. Here’s how the Trojans grew their win streak
A stifling Northwestern Trojans defense pounded the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets at the line of scrimmage and came away with a 42-14 win.
Last week was a bye week for Fort Mill (1-8, 0-3 Region 3-5A).
Northwestern (3-5, 3-0 Region 3-5A) came in the game on a two-game winning streak after beating Nation Ford last week 21-20 for its second consecutive region win. The Jackets last game played was against rivals Nation Ford, which resulted in a 42-20 loss.
The Jackets needed to beat Northwestern to keep their hopes of a playoff spot alive. Fort Mill has been led by running back Sebastian Lach, who needed 123 yards coming into the game to eclipse the 1,000 mark on the season.
Fort Mill fumbled on their opening drive against Northwestern. The Trojans got the ball at the 12-yard line of the Jackets. Trojans’ quarterback Dustin Noller then hit receiver Ger-Cari Caldwell on the first offensive play for Northwestern for a 12-yard touchdown.
Northwestern put together another scoring drive in the first quarter as G’hari Page caught a pass and turned it into a 54-yard gain to get the Trojans past midfield. Four plays later, Noller tossed his second touchdown of the opening quarter, this time to Gregory Bivens to put the visiting team up by two scores.
The Jackets were able to get some things moving in the right direction after Northwestern fumbled the ball on the first play of the second quarter. Fort Mill scored three plays later as Dylan Helms hit Cam Saunders for a 33-yard touchdown pass.
Turning point
Northwestern put the game out of reach from Fort Mill with less than a minute left in the first half. The Trojans put together a 70-yard drive with big runs from Marquez Cherry to get Northwestern into the red zone. After a Trojans penalty, Page rattled off a 24-yard run to the one yard line and would score on the next play taking the snap in the Wildcat formation to put Northwestern up 28-7.
Critical
Fort Mill struggled to get first downs during the first half and couldn’t move the ball. Their biggest gain in the opening quarter was a 32-yard trick pass play. The Jackets had another big play in the second quarter which led to a score for Fort Mill, but couldn’t get anything going consistently. They had just five first downs in the opening half, with two of those coming on Northwestern penalties.
Star contributors
Noller passed for four touchdowns for the Trojans in the win and threw for 219 yards as well. Page rushed for 80 yards for Northwestern and caught three passes for 88 yards also. For Fort Mill, Saunders caught four passes for 79 yards and a score.
On deck
Fort Mill will wrap up the season at home against Clover. Northwestern will play rivals Rock Hill in a region game to determine who wins the region title.
Box score
Northwestern 42, Fort Mill 14
Northwestern 14;14;7;7;-;42
Fort Mill 0;7;0;7;-14
SCORING SUMMARY
First quarter
NW - Ger-Cari Caldwell 12 pass from Dustin Noller (Nick Acus kick), 10:54
NW - Gregory Bivens 16 pass from Noller (Acus kick), 1:37
Second quarter
FM - Cam Saunders 33 pass from Dylan Helms (Ben Rich kick), 10:43
NW - Bivens 24 pass from Noller (Acus kick), 6:09
NW - G’hari Page 1 run (Acus kick), 34.2
Third quarter
NW - Daylan Hardin 25 interception return (Acus kick), 2:21
Fourth quarter
NW - Jamaar Moore 26 pass from Noller (Acus kick), 10:07
FM - Caleb Smith 4 run (Rich kick), 1:29
TEAM STATISTICS
NW; FM
First downs 22;12
Rushes/yards 34-204;36-113
Passing 15-23-0;9-18-1
Passing yards 219;102
Fumbles/lost 1-1; 2-2
Penalties/yards 12-105;7-65
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING Northwestern: Dustin Noller 3-6, G’hari Page 15-80, Marquez Cherry 10-72, Jamaar Moore 1-(-1), Jayshon Williams 5-47. Fort Mill: Sebastian Lach 10-1, Dylan Helms 8-7, Caleb Smith 17-100, Cam Saunders 1-5.
PASSING Northwestern: Noller 15-23-0 219. Fort Mill: Helms 7-17-0 70, Smith 1-1-0 32.
RECEIVING Northwestern: Cherry 2-1, Page 3-88, Moore 4-51, Carson Depass 2-13, Gregory Bivens 3-54, Ger-cari Caldwell 1-12. Fort Mill: Saunders 4-79, Lach 2-4, Smith 1-6, Elijah Champagne 1-3, Xavier Easterlin 1-10.
RECORDS Northwestern 3-5, 3-0 Region 3-5A; Fort Mill 1-8, 0-3 Region 3-5A.
This story was originally published October 19, 2018 at 10:59 PM.