What We Saw: Northwestern 34, Irmo 31

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>ORANGEBURG </strong>| While <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1578842' first='Matthew' last='Fish'] </strong>was understandably nervous, he said it was a routine kick that he's done all the time.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“It's amazing. No other fulfillment, I love it out here. it's awesome,” Fish said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But this one had so much on the line as he knocked through the 27-yard game-winning field goal as time expired for Northwestern to win their sixth state championship in school history in a 34-31 thriller over Irmo on Saturday evening to cap off a 15-0 undefeated season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I'm just happy for the kids. I'm happy for the players that put in the hard work. It's not easy to play football at Northwestern High School, that's the bottom line. We ask a lot of these guys and a lot is expected from them. I guess when you win it all, it might be worth it for a little while. We've never won two in a row so I'll enjoy this one for about a week and start working on 2025,” Northwestern head coach Page Wofford said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Irmo fumbled on the second play from scrimmage as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1360156' first='Andre' last='Pickett'] </strong>recovered inside Irmo territory. It did not take long for Northwestern to respond as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='241044' first='Finley' last='Polk'] </strong>found <strong>TaDarrian Knox </strong>for a 9-yard touchdown pass to give the Trojans a 7-0 lead with 10:33 to play in the first quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='272713' first='AJ' last='Brand'] </strong>made plays with his feet throughout the evening, the first being a 25-yard gain into Northwestern territory on the next series. But <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1267200' first='Tamarion' last='Watkins'] </strong>and the defensive line converged on third down. A holding penalty would extend the Irmo drive and Brand hit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='377560' first='Donovan' last='Murph'] </strong>for a 6-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7 with 4:19 to play in the first quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Northwestern was driving to midfield when <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='753896' first='Jayden' last='Nichols'] </strong>caught the ball and then a big hit forced a fumble, which the Yellow Jackets recovered. The result? No points. After the Trojans forced a punt, they fumbled on the punt return and Irmo recovered to end the first quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>DJ Knox Dowling </strong>made a sack of Brand on 3rd down, knocking them out of field goal range.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Irmo forced two Northwestern turnovers and got no points out of it.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The next big sequence of plays came when <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='755914' first='Jaiden' last='Bryant'] </strong>stuffed Polk on a designed quarterback run on 3rd and 4. Irmo was called for an encroachment penalty, which made the distance to gain shorter – the Trojans decided to go for it. They got it, but it was negated by a false start and had to punt.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Northwestern ended the first half with a bang as Polk hit Nichols for a big gain to midfield. He then connected with Knox for his second touchdown of the night from 8 yards out to give the Trojans the lead at 14-7 with 2:26 to play before the half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“He's a baller. He's a great dude off the field. He's one of my closest friends on the team, we've been working all summer working on our connection and it showed tonight,” Polk said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brand's legs were key on the Yellow Jackets last drive before the half with a 17-yard gain, leading to a 26-yard field goal as the Trojan lead was cut to 14-10 at the halftime break.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Trojans got off to a fast start in the second half as Polk hit Knox for a 37-yard gain for the Trojans, leading to a 20-yard field goal from Fish, extending the lead to 17-10 with 9:13<strong> </strong>to play in the third. Brand made magic of his own on 4th &amp; 1 on an 18-yard touchdown with 4:51 to play in the quarter, tying the game again.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The fireworks continued in the fourth quarter as Brand scored again on 4th and 1, this time on a 29-yard run to give Irmo the lead with 11:08 to play.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Vance made an incredible one handed catch that you just had to be there to see, before catching a score from 8 yards out, giving the Trojans the lead again with 4:05 left to play at 31-24.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brand and Murph connected on a 33-yard score tying the game at 31 with 1:43 left before the Trojans went on the game winning drive. There was no panic from the Trojans' sideline.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“He's (Brand) going to get his and he's an outstanding player and they have a very good offense. Coach (Aaron) Brand does a great job calling plays and getting them in open space so we just said, just get us the ball back as soon as you can and we're going to go down and score and that's what happened so we'll take it,” Wofford said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->