Northwestern Routs Indian Land In Keep Pounding Classic

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>CHARLOTTE | </strong>Northwestern head coach Page Wofford wanted his team to get back to playing their standard of football after last week's loss to Hough.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The opening series offensively started at the 3-yard line and went 97 yards.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And the Trojans pretty much did whatever they wanted then, and thereafter as they routed Indian Land, 54-7 in the Keep Pounding High School Classic on Saturday afternoon at Bank of America Stadium (team celebration photo above).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“(The focus) was just to do our thing, get back to playing Northwestern football. One play at a time, try to win the next play. A lot of so what, now what? If something good happens, get to the next play. If something bad happens, get to the next play, just try to put it behind you. We didn't do a very good job of that last week and this week, we were able to get on the field and practice a little bit more with the wet bulb holding us back a couple of weeks. It was good to get out there and get on the field and practice,” Wofford said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1718680' first='Payton' last='Vining'] </strong>picked up a first down for a gain of 21 yards on 3rd-and-11 for the first chunk play for the Trojans' offense and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='513067' first='Malik' last='Ratliff'] </strong>made a good catch on an in breaking route for a first down before capping the drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='232624' first='Xavier' last='Means'] </strong>to make it 6-0 with 8:29 to play in the first quarter. The two-point try was no good.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Indian Land went three-and-out on their first series. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1819991' first='KJ' last='Drakeford'] </strong>made a nice tackle on 3rd down, bringing up 4th and short. Means converted it easily with a gain of 20+ yards, before <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823352' first='Daylen' last='Shankle'] </strong>scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to go up 13-0 with 3:33 to play in the first quarter. Shankle finished with 121 yards rushing.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1467825' first='Matt' last='Kucia'] </strong>connected with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1819399' first='Isaiah' last='Thomas'] </strong>for a first down reception on the next series, but <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1271263' first='KJ' last='Burg'] </strong>did a good job of providing coverage on third down to force a Warriors' punt at the 2:33 mark, and a bad punt put the Trojans at midfield. A roughing the passer penalty moved the ball to the Warriors' 30 before Shankle picked up a gain of 24, and Burg scored from 3 yards out to extend Northwestern's lead to 19-0 with 47 seconds to play in the first quarter.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Indian Land would get themselves back into the contest as <strong>Kylan Foye </strong>put on the afterburners for an 80-yard touchdown run to cut into the Trojans' lead at 19-7 with 31 seconds remaining in the first quarter. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1422617' first='Jackson' last='Conner'] </strong>made a nice tackle on the next series before <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822500' first='Jackson' last='Headley'] </strong>snuffed out the quarterback draw forcing a punt, and it seemed like the momentum was shifting towards Warriors head coach Adam Hastings's squad. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Trojans defense would answer the bell, however, as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1604056' first='Kahlil' last='Williamson'] </strong>met the ball carrier for a nice pass break up on third down to force a punt with 9:27 to play before the half. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Vining, Ratliff and Means all had first downs on three consecutive plays on the next drive before <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1301735' first='Dash' last='Holley'] </strong>scored from 6 yards out to extend the lead to 26-7 with 7:56 to play before the half. The Trojans finished with 526 yards of offense, and Means credits the chemistry between him and his receivers for why they are able to be successful on game day.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“(It comes) after practice (with) throwing balls, working on routes,” Means told Prep Redzone SC after the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Means would find the end zone again with 4:18 to play before the half after a scramble down to the Indian Land 10-yard line. Then the Trojans defense would get in on the action as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1283361' first='Jaylon' last='Richardson'] </strong>recovered a fumble. Northwestern held the Warriors to 205 yards of total offense and Wofford was complimentary of his defense after the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“(Indian Land) is not going to held to 7 points much this year, I can promise you that. Not with the weapons they have, not with that quarterback, not with Coach Hastings there. They've got a good offensive plan and I think we caught them a little off balance today so I was pleased with the way the defense played and how coach (Mario) Donato put that game plan together and the way they were able to execute.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Burg on the play of the defense: “Man, it was just a great week of preparation coming off a loss from Hough, but we needed it. We needed it (to) keep us humble so it could prepare us for the rest of the year."</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The very next play, Means found Ratliff for a 74-yard touchdown catch on a deep ball. The East Carolina commit at quarterback capped the halftime scoring with a toss to Vining from 47 yards out for the 40-point halftime lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Northwestern would empty their bench in the second half with reserves as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2152119' first='Tavion' last='Rust'] </strong>found the end zone from 4 yards out to close the scoring.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1301735"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6a9372fce349f"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Holley was active on both sides of the ball with four solo tackles on defense which led the team and forced a fumble that set up a touchdown in the second quarter along with a sack. Speaking of touchdowns, Holley got into the end zone, as we mentioned in the second quarter. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">He's fast and instinctive and knows how to be around the football to affect an offense and what they try to do best. And he's got the attention of colleges with UNC, Colorado, Miami (OH) and Cincinnati already offering him. He'll be a guy you'll want to keep your eye on as the non-region schedule progresses.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->