Northwestern rolls through Hillcrest to advance to second round of SC 5A playoffs
After the first 12 minutes of play in District Three Stadium Friday night, Hillcrest held a 6-0 lead over Northwestern. WRHI color broadcaster Matt Hiers characterized the Trojans as being “flatter than a plate full of soup.”
Twenty-four seconds into the second quarter, Will Mattison connected on a seed across the middle to Christian Watkins. Watkins bolted 41 yards to the house. 7-6, Northwestern. Not even a minute later, Kyle Springs-McCottry burst through the Rams’ offensive line and forced an intentional grounding foul by Hillcrest in its own end zone, leading to a safety. 9-6.
The Trojans then unfurled a 10-play drive, with Kyle Aldridge toting the rock for the final five plays: Aldridge made the score 16-6 with a one-yard plunge to cap a drive that clocked in shy of three minutes; one play later, Northwestern (6-0, 4-0 Region 4-5A) then forced a Hillcrest fumble, which it converted into an eight-yard hookup between Mattison and Watkins. 23-6, Northwestern.
The second-quarter onslaught ended on a six-yard scoring strike between Mattison and Elijah Caldwell, putting the Trojans ahead, 30-6, at the interval.
As significant as those 30 points were — Northwestern defeated Hillcrest in the first round of the 5A state playoffs by 30, 51-21 — Trojans coach Page Wofford didn’t even realize his club had posted that second-quarter tally.
“I didn’t know that,” stated Wofford matter-of-factly when the number was mentioned to him during his postgame remarks. “51-21 are the only numbers I thought about.”
Whether or not Wofford kept a running total, his Trojans continued to strike: There was not even one minute elapsed from the third-quarter clock when Mattison synced with Calique Cunningham on a 75-yard scoring strike on the second play of the period. Cunningham broke free for a house call and extended the Trojan lead to 37-6.
“That was just something we saw on film,” commented Wofford on the Cunningham catch and score. “I didn’t know it was gonna go 75 yards. He had to split two tacklers there to do it. He ran to the open grass, Will put it on him, and good things happened.”
Hillcrest (4-2, 3-1 Region 1-5A) got a Logan Coldren run to the paint from seven yards away with 1:11 remaining in the third, giving the Rams their first score in over two quarters of game action. The Rams appeared to get a small burst of momentum from the run, drawing the margin to 37-14.
As quickly as that door slightly opened, Northwestern slammed it shut: Mattison again found Caldwell for a nine-yard touchdown with 8:13 to play, with an 11-yard Myles Stinson touchdown run capping the Trojans’ scoring nearly five minutes later. Jameel McDaniel contributed a 31-yard scoring jaunt to finish the Rams’ tallies on the evening.
Northwestern QB Mattison steps up
With the Rams clearly attempting to slow bruising running back Kyle Aldridge, Mattison stepped up and executed a precision passing game. The junior finished 19-for-28 through the air, tossing for 231 yards and five touchdowns.
“He put the ball on the money a lot of times tonight. He didn’t make a lot of bad throws,” said Wofford of Mattison’s performance. “Our receivers are getting open, and when you’ve got a quarterback that can put the ball on the money and receivers that are getting open, you’re gonna have games like that.”
Caldwell hauled in eight grabs for 52 yards and two scores, while Christian Watkins added two scores of his own on a three-catch, 68-yard effort. Aldridge provided much-needed balance on the ground to help open passing lanes, carrying 21 times for 61 yards and a score. The Trojans turned in 410 yards of total offense.
The Region 2-5A champion Dorman Cavaliers will visit Northwestern next Friday in second-round playoff action. The Cavaliers defeated Boiling Springs, 48-0, Friday night, and Wofford knows the challenge the Trojans’ next foe will present.
“It’s a historic matchup, Dorman and Northwestern. (The Cavaliers and Trojans are) two historically good teams in this part of the state,” Wofford said. “We just hope to give it a good game in front of our home crowd and put on a show against a very good Dorman football team.”
This story was originally published November 14, 2020 at 12:07 AM.