Mobley's Three TDs, Defense Power Trojans Past Spartanburg

SPARTANBURG | The big question mark a lot of people had about Northwestern was how would they handle expectations after a 15-0 state championship season?   They answered some questions on the road in the 2025 season opener Friday night in the Upstate, defeating Spartanburg 39-7 behind Qua Mobley's 119-yard, three touchdown performance (pictured above) and a solid defensive effort. Mobley credited his offensive line for his performance.    “They're blocking their tails off, man. They're trying to prove a point this year. This is the best o-line in the state, man. It's just those boys and the receivers blocking them. It's just them, it's not anything else. I'm trying to break tackles. I don't care about anything else and I'm just getting downfield,” Mobley told Prep Redzone SC after the game.   The Vikings got the ball first and marched the ball to midfield, highlighted by a [player_tooltip player_id='1172345' first='Trenton' last='Lynch'] run on a direct snap on 4th and 4 and [player_tooltip player_id='1816641' first='Chris' last='Colin'], who took the place of [player_tooltip player_id='1592374' first='Trey' last='Burke'], who missed tonight's contest with an injury. The drive stalled thanks to a [player_tooltip player_id='1823343' first='Malik' last='Darby'] sack.   Insert new Northwestern quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='232624' first='Xavier' last='Means']. He showed off his legs making something out of nothing, not only on the opening drive, but at various points during the contest like on a third-and-long in the third quarter, and got the ball to [player_tooltip player_id='1267334' first='Kameron' last='Vance'] in the quick passing game. They capped off the 83-yard opening drive with a 1-yard run from Mobley to put the Trojans on the board 6-0 with 2:55 to play in the first quarter as the extra point was no good.   “We'll go back and correct some mistakes. He's got to work on his footwork and polish that up a little bit to get a little more accurate on his throws. We had some guys open that we didn't hit but the offense is the offense and we're going to do what we're going to do and you saw his speed out there a little bit tonight, making things happen with his legs. That's kind of fun to watch and fun to see.   Teams are going to have to pick – are they going after coach (Ryan) Hunt and those wide receivers and going to cover them and keep the run lanes open? Or are they going to try to get a light box and watch Qua run the ball while Xavier just kinda pulls the strings back there," Northwestern head coach Page Wofford said.   Lynch was the playmaker throughout the evening for the Vikings. On the next series, he caught an out route and sprinted 66 yards down to the Northwestern 5. But then the drive came to an abrupt end as [player_tooltip player_id='1823338' first='Amarian' last='Coleman'] ripped the ball out of the receiver's hand for a 98-yard pick six to go up 13-0.   Things went from bad to worse for the home team as the Trojans got another interception, this time from [player_tooltip player_id='1820778' first='Jeremiah' last='Cannon']. The Trojans got nothing out of it as Spartanburg's [player_tooltip player_id='1820845' first='Carter' last='Waugh'] nearly picked off Means, and then they missed a chip shot field goal with 10:13 to play before the half.   Spartanburg went into the bag of tricks on a fake field goal from Lynch, but it was all for not as the Trojans forced a fumble and they recovered in Spartanburg territory with 6:05 to play before the half.   Back to Mobley for the Trojans. He runs with a good burst of speed and power. He hit a run of 27 yards before a 22-yard run to increase the Trojans lead to 20-0, which would end up being the halftime score. The third quarter was much of the same. Mobley scored on a 1-yard run with 6:59 to play in the third quarter.   “He's a hard runner, wears No. 22. He reminds me of Emmitt Smith. Now, he's not Emmitt Smith. He reminds me of him with the way he runs, low center of gravity. Nobody played a perfect game, but he did very well. When he got into the open field, he's a sight to see, man. He's hard to bring down and we're just happy to have him and he does an excellent job back there for us,” Wofford said.   Lynch found the end zone on a 8-yard run, aided by a roughing the kicker penalty from Northwestern with 3:26 to play in the third quarter.   [player_tooltip player_id='1824470' first='Alex' last='Bendt'] knocked through a 41-yard field goal with 10:27 to play in the contest before the snap went over the punter's head on a Spartanburg punt and resulted in a safety to increase Northwestern's lead to 32-7.   Means scored on a keeper to close the scoring at 39-7.   Northwestern Team Notes   [player_tooltip player_id='1283361' first='Jaylon' last='Richardson'], the defensive back transfer from Catawba Ridge made his presence felt on the first series as he made a quick tackle on a pass on Spartanburg's first drive of the ball game. [player_tooltip player_id='1149051' first='Kamerin' last='McFadden'] exploded through the gap to get a tackle for loss as the Vikings tried to get it to Lynch out of the wildcat in the first quarter, right before the pick six in the first quarter.   [player_tooltip player_id='1823336' first='Jonathan' last='Spurgeon'] played at defensive back last year and moved to receiver this year, and made plays in the quick passing game.   [player_tooltip player_id='1820772' first='Nolan' last='McKinnon'] is a senior on the Trojans' defensive line, and he did a good job of setting the edge on one play in the second quarter to make a tackle for loss. He was involved in several tackles throughout the evening against the run.   Spartanburg Team Notes   [player_tooltip player_id='1820156' first='Ruben' last='Landrum'] did a good job of wrapping up Means down near the goal line in the first quarter.   Jordan Hale-Atkins showed good penetration into the backfield, with a tackle for a loss inside the red zone when the Trojans were threatening in the second quarter.   On Deck   Northwestern will host Ridge View in the home opener, while Spartanburg travels to the Midlands to face the defending 5A-D1 state champion Dutch Fork.

SPARTANBURG | The big question mark a lot of people had about Northwestern was how would they handle expectations after a 15-0 state championship season?