What We Saw: Northwestern 48, South Florence 7

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>ROCK HILL </strong>| 16 seconds.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That's how long it took for Northwestern to get on the board as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='241044' first='Finley' last='Polk'] </strong>connected with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='753896' first='Jayden' last='Nichols'] </strong>for a 68-yard score to go up 7-0 as part of a five touchdown night as the Trojans defeated South Florence 48-7 on Friday night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The very next offensive snap for the Trojans? It was a touchdown. This time it was Polk to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1267334' first='Kameron' last='Vance'] </strong>(pictured above)<strong> </strong>on a 47-yard strike to go up 14-0.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Less than 3 minutes into the game, Northwestern head coach Page Wofford's squad had two scores on the board. The rout was on from there.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“It's just a testament to our kids being ready to go. We didn't make a big deal about it. It's just the next game, we play one play at a time. They kind of under played what we had called and I didn't think it was going to score but when I heard over the headset, ‘he's open, he's open!' and Finley's throwing the ball, it gets exciting,” Wofford said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Trojans' defense came out and made a statement tonight, particularly on the defensive front as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1360210' first='Mason' last='Grier'] </strong>and <strong>Dimitri Putman </strong>combined on a 4th down stop of wide receiver and South Carolina commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='464881' first='Jayden' last='Sellers']</strong>. They held the Bruins offense to 257 yards on the night and under 100 yards rushing.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Polk, who finished the night 18-of-28 for 298 yards, ended the first quarter like he started it for the Trojans' offense after that 4th down stop, connecting with Vance again for a 12-yard strike in the left corner of the end zone to take a 21-0 lead. The preparation during the week is key for the Gardner Webb commit and his receiving core.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We get a lot of work in at practice. Me, [player_tooltip player_id='1267334' first='Kameron' last='Vance'], J-Nic ([player_tooltip player_id='753896' first='Jayden' last='Nichols']). Don't forget about (Tadarrian Knox) and CJ (Broughton), too. It's a lot of fun to work with those guys,” Polk said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>South Florence's goal offensively was to put the ball in the hands of Sellers, but the defensive front stymied the Bruins – even stopping a reverse for a loss of 3 yards.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Polk took advantage with a third score to Vance with 6:25 remaining before the half. Vance says the work to get to this point between him and his quarterback started during his sophomore season. He finished with 7 receptions for 140 yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We used to go to the field and run routes, get that connection down because we knew the next year, we were going to have a tight connection and score a lot and complete a bunch of passes so it's just me and Finley getting extra work in,” Vance said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823338' first='Amarian' last='Coleman'] </strong>recovered a punt with 39.1 seconds to play in the first half as the ball was dropped by the Bruins in the end zone to go up 34-0 going into the halftime locker room.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Qua Mobley </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820777' first='Evan' last='Harrison'] </strong>scored touchdowns in the second half to close the scoring for the Trojans, while South Florence would add a touchdown from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1166986' first='Messiah' last='Jackson'] </strong>in the third quarter to avoid the shutout.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NORTHWESTERN STANDOUTS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jonathan Spuregon</strong> | DB&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Spuregon had an interception right before the halftime break.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1360156' first='Andre' last='Pickett'] </strong>| DL&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pickett had 2 tackles, along with a forced fumble.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1827578' first='Khalil' last='Williamson']</strong> | DB</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Williamson had a nice pass breakup on third down early in the ball game, to go along with three on the night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>SOUTH FLORENCE STANDOUTS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1574090' first='Lennix' last='Valarie'] </strong>| WR</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Valarie had a 54-yard reception in the third quarter, setting up the Bruins' lone touchdown on the evening.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->