Indian Land football dominates Catawba Ridge, stays unbeaten
Indian Land remains undefeated.
The Warriors jumped ahead early in a 34-7 rout against Catawba Ridge, limiting their South Carolina rival’s chances and shutting them out until the final seconds Friday night.
Sophomore quarterback Matt Kucia shined for Indian Land (7-0, 3-0 Region 3-5A), throwing a touchdown pass early and hitting his targets throughout the night.
“We have that 1-0 mindset,” Kucia said. “We’ve always got each other’s backs, working as hard as we can. Lifting with our coaches pushing us every single day, day in, day out, we keep working. We’re hungry for more.
“We’re out to win a state title this year. That’s all. And that’s our mindset right now, just be 1-0 every single week.”
How Indian Land defeated Catawba Ridge
Catawba Ridge (4-3, 1-2 Region 3-5A) put together multiple promising drives early, and its defense recovered a fumble midway through the first quarter on Indian Land’s first play from scrimmage.
The Warriors jumped ahead early and kept their opponent off the board.
Finding themselves around midfield during the opening period, Kucia connected on a touchdown pass. Senior wide receiver Hayden Morris hauled in the grab from the back left corner of the end zone, giving the Warriors a 7-0 lead in the first half.
Pinned to its 1-yard line after excellent punt coverage, Kucia led the Warriors’ offense to several third-down conversions. They defended their next punt well, and Catawba Ridge started moving downfield — before junior defensive back Jackson Conner came up huge.
Conner, nicknamed “the Joker,” intercepted a pass from Catawba Ridge quarterback Will Griggs and returned it more than 70 yards for a defensive touchdown.
“That’s what ballplayers do,” Conner said. “We’ve got good team chemistry after practice, everybody in the locker room. We all worked all summer training, we’re all in this together, we’ve got a good bond off the field.”
Senior running back Jamol Horton dashed home with a short touchdown rush early in the third quarter as the Warriors opened a three-score lead. The Copperheads led another strong series into the end zone, and then a tipped interception gave Indian Land the ball right back.
Horton rushed in his second touchdown of the night toward the beginning of the fourth quarter and senior Noah Terry added a touchdown during the game’s final three minutes. Catawba Ridge made its only score with four seconds left.
Notable
• Catawba Ridge had won three of the four all-time meetings with Indian Land since 2020 entering Friday, including a 14-7 road victory last season on the Warriors’ homecoming.
• Indian Land is undefeated for the first time since 2023, powered by a high-octane offense averaging over 40 points per game behind Horton (now 10 touchdowns this season) and wide receiver Sequel Patterson, a local multi-sport standout with Division I interest.
• The Warriors limited Catawba Ridge junior defensive back Joshua Dobson, ranked No. 7 nationally in the class of 2027 by 247Sports with offers from Clemson and South Carolina.
They said it
“The part of it that people don’t realize is just the amount of work that Matt (Kucia) puts in,” Indian Land head coach Adam Hastings said. “To learn what we’re trying to do, and to understand the scheme. There’s a lot of stuff you see in the game that it’s him checking — he’s always talking to us, ‘When can I flip this?’ — and there’s a good portion of the plays we call that he has the ability to check to another play. He’s done a great job having a good grasp of what we’re trying to do.”
Up next
Indian Land is back home at 7:30 p.m. Friday to face Clover before finishing the regular season on the road against Fort Mill and Northwestern. Catawba Ridge visits Nation Ford at 7:30 p.m. Friday before returning Oct. 24 to host Rock Hill.
Scoring summary
FIRST QUARTER
IL: Kucia connected with senior receiver Hayden Morris for a touchdown grab of roughly 25 yards, PAT. (7-0, Indian Land)
SECOND QUARTER
IL: Conner recorded a pick-six, PAT. (14-0, Indian Land)
THIRD QUARTER
IL: Horton punched it in from short. (20-0, Indian Land)
FOURTH QUARTER
IL: Horton rushes in a touchdown, PAT (27-0, Indian Land)
IL: Terry scores a touchdown, PAT (34-0, Indian Land)
CR: scores late touchdown, PAT (34-7, Indian Land)
