Catawba Ridge downs Indian Land, shuts out its opponent for three straight weeks

The year 2020 will be remembered as a year unlike any other and for mostly bad reasons. But for the Catawba Ridge Copperheads and their head coach Zach Lendyak, it will be remembered for how they overcame all that to make history for their school and their football program in a positive way.

Friday night at Indian Land, the second-year program recorded its third straight shutout to defeat the Indian Land Warriors, 14-0.

The Copperheads (3-1) came up with a huge goal-line stand in the fourth quarter to seal the deal. Kayden Hager filled in at quarterback for Catawba Ridge with starter Jadyn Davis out with a collarbone injury. Hager had a nine-yard touchdown pass to Jairus Frank in the first quarter to start the scoring and a 27-yard, tackle-breaking touchdown run on fourth-and-2 early in the third quarter.

Henry Bowen had 90 yards rushing on 20 carries for the Copperheads.

Notable: Copperhead defense

Catawba Ridge has shut out York, Lancaster and Indian Land in successive weeks.

Quotable: ‘We are really proud’

“Our defense is playing at a different level right now,” Lendyak said while holding his game ball. “To do this in our second year, we are really proud. We knew last year we were going to take our lumps because we were a young team. But we just kept saying we’ve got everybody coming back.”

This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 11:12 PM.