How Catawba Ridge football went from ‘noticed’ to ‘known’ and on the cusp of history
Editor’s note: To read about tonight’s game results, return to heraldonline.com
Catawba Ridge head football coach Zac Lendyak doesn’t know if there’s a singular moment when his team knew it was the real deal. But he said a significant turning point happened at halftime of the South Pointe game earlier this year.
“They were absolutely destroying us,” Lendyak recalled to The Herald via phone interview Monday, “and we challenged them there to really think about what they wanted for the season, and what we could do from that point forward, regardless of how that game ended up.”
Keep in mind that at the time, Catawba Ridge — which will travel to top-ranked AC Flora on Friday night for an Upper State championship and a chance to play in the 4A state title game — was one half into its first game of its second season in program history.
Plus, after losing eight straight to end its inaugural season last year, the Copperheads were in a region game for the first time ever — and were welcomed to the 4A classification by arguably one of the best 4A football programs of the last decade in Rock Hill juggernaut South Pointe.
And yet, the disappointed feeling in that locker room was an unqualified one, Lendyak said.
“We weren’t who we knew we could be,” said Lendyak, who was an assistant coach at Fort Mill’s Nation Ford for several years before being Catawba Ridge’s first head coach. “And they had said from the beginning of the season, from the beginning really when Catawba Ridge started, that we were going to do things differently. And by that, we meant we didn’t want to be an average football team: We don’t want to be the team that only beats the teams that you should. We want to knock off the teams that no one thinks you have the chance to beat.”
Something changed after that September Friday night.
Since then, Catawba Ridge hasn’t lost. And the games haven’t been close, really: The Copperheads shut out three-straight opponents in early October and have won by a two-possession margin in every victory in 2020.
“We went from being, ‘Who is Catawba Ridge and where are they from?’ … to, ‘We don’t want to be noticed. We want to be known.’”
On this seven-game winning streak, the Copperheads have forced turnovers. (Against Irmo last week, the team forced three interceptions — one was returned for a touchdown by Jacobie Henderson, and another one, by Quinten Jackson, halted an Irmo drive in the red zone.)
They’ve held goal-line stands. (Notably against Indian Land in the regular season, Catawba Ridge’s defensive front seven, led by Brody Tesimale, Asa Johnson, RJ Lincoln and others, made two goal-line stands en route to its third straight shutout.)
And they’ve sustained and grown as an offense despite their freshman starting quarterback, Jadyn Davis, missing four full games due to an injury. (Davis returned to action against Irmo in the team’s win last week, splitting time with senior Kayden Hager, who took up the QB mantle admirably in Davis’ absence. “I know the saying, ‘If you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have one,’” Lendyak said. “But that, for us, is simply not true.”)
As a result, the Fort Mill community has rallied around Catawba Ridge. Lendyak said that teachers, parents and community members have shown up with signs before the team leaves for road games, and that the team has even been welcomed home with fireworks.
If Catawba Ridge wins on Friday, the team will be the first from Fort Mill to ever make a state championship football game, per South Carolina High School League playoff record books.
“Any time you’re playing on Thanksgiving, it’s really exciting for the town,” Lendyak said, adding: “Win, lose or draw on Friday, we can say that we made the town of Fort Mill proud, hopefully.”
AC Flora scouting report, prediction
Let’s not mince words: AC Flora, which finished as the No. 1 team in the 4A regular season S.C. Prep Media Poll, is good. And the state of South Carolina knows it. Last week, the Falcons soundly defeated South Pointe — the only team, as aforementioned, to beat Catawba Ridge this year — and did so by the brawn of their big, formidable offensive line.
The Falcons rushed for over 500 yards: Starting running back Matt Pack ran for 286 yards and three touchdowns, and his backup, Markel Townsend, ran for 136 yards and three touchdowns. The Copperheads’ strength all season has been their defense, and they’ll have a lot to prove on Friday. (But then again, they always have.)
Listen: Interstate 107.1/107.3/WRHI.com
Zietlow’s prediction: AC Flora wins.
Editor’s note: Zietlow is 39-14 on the season with his picks and correctly predicted 3-of-3 outcomes from last week’s slate of games.
This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 8:03 AM.
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