Northwestern headed back to state final after convincing win over Indian Land

Northwestern will return to the South Carolina 5A Division II state championship game after defeating Indian Land 51-19 on Friday at District Three Stadium.

Northwestern quarterback Xavier Means led the Trojans to victory with four rushing touchdowns.

Along with Means, Northwestern’s offense and defense dominated the majority of the game, much like when both teams met on Halloween, with the Trojans winning 51-13.

Long drives and a quick-tempo offense allowed Means to score a goal-line touchdown and a 7-yard touchdown run to jump to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

Indian Land could not generate any offense in the first half. The Warriors shanked punts on two straight possessions, which led to another Means rushing touchdown for 3 yards, followed by a 29-yard field goal by Alex Bendt to head into halftime up 24-0.

Northwestern is very familiar with a 24-0 lead, as it led by that much a few weeks ago against Gaffney, which ended up rallying and tying the game before losing to Northwestern 52-45.

Indian Land attempted to make its own comeback with scores in the third quarter — a 4-yard touchdown reception from Sequel Patterson, and Hayden Morris for a 12-yard touchdown to bring the score to 24-13.

All hope for a rally was cut short as Means and Nigel Smith scored a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs to stretch the lead to 37-13.

Trojans defensive back Tamarion Watkins scored on a 34-yard pick-six and Indian responded with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Patterson.

After Patterson’s touchdown, Indian Land attempted an inside kick but Trojans defensive back Amarian Coleman returned the recovery a for 52-yard touchdown to seal the victory.

After the game, Means said the Trojans just had to focus on one play at a time.

“No matter what happened on the play before, we always worry about the next play and how we do better on the next play,” Means said.

Even after Northwestern gave up the second-half touchdowns, he said that they didn’t have time to worry.

“Offense picks defense up and defense picks offense up. We don’t worry about bad plays, we worry about that on Sundays when we watch film.” Means said when asked about Indian Land’s potential rally.

Means finished with 157 yards in the air and 169 yards on the ground for four touchdowns.

Indian Land quarterback Matt Kucia finished with 212 yards passing with three touchdowns.

Morris finished with 13 catches for 138 receiving yards and one touchdown. Patterson added seven catches for 59 yards and two touchdowns.

Northwestern will meet Irmo in the SCHSL 5A Division II state championship on Friday, Dec. 5.