Northwood Steamrolls Heathwood Hall To Claim State Title

Orangeburg | Northwood Academy quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='640683' first='Kevin' last='Johnson'], receivers [player_tooltip player_id='1734610' first='Aydan' last='Hogan'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2048043' first='Drew' last='Wolfe'] and defensive stalwarts [player_tooltip player_id='1741086' first='Dominic' last='Russell'], [player_tooltip player_id='1821464' first='Jordin' last='Carter'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1824613' first='Quincy' last='Lingard'] put on an absolute clinic in leading the Chargers to a 61-7 victory over Heathwood Hall Friday night to claim the school's first football championship since 2014.   Johnson threw for 340 yards and five touchdowns. Hogan, an East Tennessee State commitment, hauled in seven passes for 126 yards and three touchdowns while Wolfe added five catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns. The offense finished with 440 yards and scored 61 straight points after falling behind in the opening minute of the game. There was a running clock for the majority of the second half.   “We have a lot of chemistry, and we all connected and we sort of got things rolling in the right direction and we never looked back,” Hogan said. “We worked all off season for this. We just clicked. I get to go home as a state champion and it feels great.”   It was the culmination of a season in which Northwood Academy went undefeated against schools from South Carolina.   “This is amazing and awesome,” Johnson said. “We worked every day to reach this goal. It was super dominant and we wanted to put everyone on notice.”   The offensive explosion was impressive enough, but what Russell and crew did defensively might even be more daunting. Heathwood Hall took the opening kickoff and scored on a 5-yard run from quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='473014' first='Patrick' last='Belk'] that lasted four plays and in which the Highlanders (9-4) gained 67 yards in the opening 53 seconds of the game. The big play in the drive was a 57-yard pass from Belk to Keon McKinley that got the ball in the red zone.   But after that drive, the Chargers defense became a brick wall. In 10 possessions after that, Northwood forced three turnovers, five punts and the end of half and end of game possessions. The total yardage gained in those 10 possessions – negative 16 yards.   Russell and Carter had interceptions. Lingard recovered a fumble. The defensive front of Hammer White, [player_tooltip player_id='1824612' first='Garrett' last='Andy'], [player_tooltip player_id='1825598' first='Nate' last='Cross'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1603835' first='Mitchell' last='Lanier'] would not let anything get going. If they missed the tackle, linebackers Russell and Cody McCleary cleaned things up.   Heathwood Hall had 11 plays of zero or less yards and they only ran 28 total plays.   “Honestly, the first drive woke us up,” Russell said. “Once we started getting things going, we had a few turnovers and knew they couldn't move the ball against us. This means so much because not a lot of people get to win a state championship.”   After Belk took the Highlanders to the early 7-0 lead, Johnson went to work. He connected with Wolfe on a 36-yard fly pattern where the defender fell down and Wolfe was wide open. The second series was more methodical and covered 53 yards in 11 plays that ended with a 7-yard TD pass to Hogan   Johnson (pictured) and Hogan connected again on a 37-yard pass to the three-yard line to set up a three-yard TD run by Carter.   The next Chargers possession ended with a [player_tooltip player_id='1683039' first='Kaven' last='Ford'] eight-yard scoring run. Hogan then caught a 34-yarder where he was just able to get his feet down inbounds near the back of the end zone that pushed the lead 33-7 after the first five series for Northwood.   They turned it over on downs on their sixth series but thanks to Russell's interception, they had one final chance with 20 seconds left in the half. That was enough time for Johnson and Hogan to connect on a 20-yard TD pass with 12 seconds remaining in the half.   Northwood 11-1) ended up scoring on nine of 10 possessions. Carter caught a 41-yard touchdown on the first series of the second that started the running clock.  added a two-yard touchdown run and Carter capped the scoring with an 11-yard scamper.   “You can never take these things for granted,” Northwoods coach Johnny Waters said. “I've been blessed to be able to do it at two different schools. But it takes a lot to get to this point and make it happen.”   Northwood Academy Notables   The offensive line of Kaedan Wagner, Jacob Harrleson, [player_tooltip player_id='1821657' first='Brayden' last='Andy'], Kenny Robbins and KJ Burroughs was spectacular all night. They never allowed the Highlanders defense to get to Johnson and they opened up enough holes to rush for 100 yards as a team. Burroughs is the only senior.   Sophomore receiver [player_tooltip player_id='1825595' first='Scott' last='Geisel'] might not get the publicity of some of the others, but he catches anything that comes near him. He finished with five receptions for 53 yards, all in the first half.    Heathwood Hall Notables   It was the first time since 2009 the Highlanders were in a state championship and while it was a disappointing ending to a great season, there is a lot to build on. A couple of seniors in [player_tooltip player_id='1024349' first='Julian' last='Hughes'] and Henry Morris played decent but there is some youthful talent returning,   Linebackers [player_tooltip player_id='1824987' first='John' last='Thompson'], [player_tooltip player_id='1672907' first='Heyward' last='Belser'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1817611' first='Charlie' last='Taylor'] will be a solid group to build around. McKinley is a play-maker and might move to quarterback next season.