WHAT WE SAW: Northwestern Comes From Behind To Defeat Greenville

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>GREENVILLE | The first thought that came to everyone's mind going into Friday's 4A Upper State Championship between Northwestern and Greenville probably wasn't the Trojan defensive line.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But that's exactly what happened as <strong>Khamari Morant </strong>picked off <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='349806' first='Bryson' last='Drummond'] </strong>in the&nbsp;final minute as Northwestern overcame a 21-7 second quarter deficit to defeat Greenville, 33-28 to advance to the 4A state championship next Saturday night at 7 p.m. against South Florence at Benedict College in Columbia.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The duo for the Red Raiders would help get things off to a fast start for the home team. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='91149' first='Tyler' last='Brown'], </strong>who committed to Clemson on Thanksgiving, had a huge kickoff return before <strong>Mazeo Bennett </strong>scored on a 14-yard TD run out of the wildcat with 9:15 to play in the opening quarter. Northwestern responded on the following series on 3rd and 24 as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='241044' first='Finley' last='Polk'] </strong>connected with <strong>Greer Hopkins </strong>on a 72-yard long ball to tie the game at 7.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Greenville's <strong>Noah Wallace </strong>picked off Polk a few series later on a pass that was intended over the middle. Greenville would cash in on the takeaway with a 5-yard TD run, courtesy of <strong>Alijah Jones </strong>to give them the lead back at 14-7 with 4:20 to play in the first.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Greenville QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='349806' first='Bryson' last='Drummond'] </strong>was impressive to watch at quarterback as he made plays with his feet, getting the Trojans to jump a few times early. He picked up a first on 3rd and 18 to kick off the second quarter before Bennett scored his second touchdown of the night, again out of the wildcat to make it 21-7 with 11:07 to play before the half. Northwestern coach Page Wofford didn't sense any panic for his team, or his offense when they were struggling.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Keep chopping. Don't try to do too much. I think Finley was trying to do too much early, trying to make the extra throw, the extra play. And really just do the system, man. Just play the system and you'll be alright," Wofford said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>GETTING A HAND ON THE BALL</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Northwestern's defensive line would play a huge part in getting the Trojans back in the contest in the second quarter as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1360210' first='Mason' last='Grier'] (pictured above) </strong>picked off Drummond, leading to a <strong>Zilon Arnold </strong>5-yard TD run with 8:19 to play before the half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I just saw the ball and I just caught it. That's it. We did great with adjusting to them and we did great with the game plan this week and we just executed very well,” Grier said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='265222' first='Turbo' last='Richard'] </strong>continues to stay patient and explode in the hole when it opens. He ripped off a 77-yard touchdown run to cut Greenville's lead to 21-20 with 4:27 to play before the half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But back to the defensive line — Drummond tried to connect on a screen but it was picked off by <strong>Jeremiah McDowell </strong>for the Trojans. The result? A 58-yard bomb down the right sideline from Polk to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='146372' first='Elijah' last='Caldwell'] </strong>to take their first lead of the night at 27-20 at the half. Northwestern coach Page Wofford was very complimentary of his defensive line's performance and how they make the lines on both sides of the ball better.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“They make our offensive line better, going against our offensive line, it makes them better. Coach (David) Pierce has a lot of experience working with very good defensive lines and this one is no different. They're a bunch of young cats that are only going to get better and it's going to be exciting to see and awesome to see. I'm proud of them, happy for them. That's always a wonderful thing to see those young guys have success like they've had,” Wofford said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The third quarter was a defensive stalemate until Greenville's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='209382' first='Jayden' last='Pepper'] </strong>16-yard TD run broke the ice to give the Red Raiders the lead at 28-27 with 30 seconds to play in the quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Trojans would get the ball back after McDowell recovered a Greenville fumble which led to a Polk TD on a QB sneak, which turned out to be the game winning score.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->