Northwestern Trojans blast Laurens to advance in 4A DII playoffs

The Northwestern Trojans capitalized on a Laurens fumble on the second play from scrimmage and never looked back in defeating the Raiders 46-7 Friday night at District 3 Stadium in the first round of the 4A playoffs.

The hosts led 26-7 at the half and shut out their guests 20-0 in the second half. Many of the starters sat during the fourth quarter.

The only score of the night for Laurens came on a flea-flicker that was up for grabs between two Raiders and a Trojan defender. There was a lengthy delay as the referees huddled before deciding Darius Harvey had come down with the 47-yard touchdown from Toby Jackson.

Turning point

The Raiders cut the Trojan lead to 13-7 late in the first quarter on a 47-yard flea-flicker touchdown. On the next possession, Northwestern had fourth-and-goal from the nine-yard line after a false start penalty. Coach Kyle Richardson elected to still shun a field goal try and go for it. Gage Moloney then found Julian Shockley crossing the middle of the field at about the five and Shockley worked his way between two defenders for the touchdown and a 19-7 Trojans lead. That score killed whatever momentum the Raiders had.

Critical

Laurens tried an ill-fated fake punt on their next possession on fourth-and-11 from their own 46. It took way too long to develop as the ball changed hands at least twice and the result was a six-yard loss as the Trojans were not fooled.

Star Contributions

Defensive end Logan Rudolph spent plenty of time in the Laurens backfield and had at least 2.5 sacks. Quarterback Moloney was 24-of-30 for 238 yards and four touchdowns passing and one rushing score. Shockley caught ten passes for 85 yards and a score and Jamario Holley had seven receptions for 103 yards. Jerry Howard carried nine times for 68 yards and a touchdown. Laurens quarterback Toby Jackson was 10-for-18 for 123 yards and the score. Troy Dendy had 11 carries for 45 yards.

Overheard

On the off week: “We didn’t approach it like a normal open week but we had to be careful with how much collision stuff we did,” Northwestern coach Kyle Richardson said. “We did some team-building stuff and found a way to work on the little things without killing them.”

On performance: “We didn’t play lights-out and that’s what I just told them, ‘Don’t let the score fool you.’ Some of that is from the open week but we’ll go back to work Sunday and at the end of the day we get to play another round.”

On the fourth down score: “We didn’t kick the field goal because they almost blocked the first PAT and they blocked the second one. They were really aggressive on film on field goal blocks and PATs.”

On deck

Northwestern will host Westwood in the second round of the playoffs next Friday.

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 11:35 PM with the headline "Northwestern Trojans blast Laurens to advance in 4A DII playoffs."