CHAPEL HILL — The Northwood football team didn’t quit, but it could not overcome the early hole it put itself in Friday night against Chapel Hill High.
Despite taking an early 8-7 lead, the Chargers gave up the next 28 points. Head coach Chris Kenan’s team battled to make things a two-possession game late, but the game was always in hand for the Tigers, who eventually won 55-35.
“Whether we’re up big or down big, we’re a team that’s shown some consistency in refusing to quit,” said Northwood head coach Chris Kenan. “I can appreciate that as a coach. We may not have the most numbers. We may not be the biggest, fastest or strongest team. But you’re going to have to beat us.”
Things started on a sour note for the Chargers (1-2), as they went 3-and-out on their opening possession, and a bad snap on the ensuing punt gave Chapel Hill (3-0) the ball at Northwood’s 19-yard line to start its first possession. The Tigers immediately capitalized with a 19-yard touchdown run by senior Cayden Forbes to make it 7-0.
Northwood marched right back down the field and scored on a 28-yard scamper by quarterback Will Smith on 3rd-and-11, and a successful two-point conversion gave the Chargers their first, and only, lead of the ballgame.
Just two plays later, Chapel Hill scored on a 70-yard run by senior Drew Allen. The Tigers ended up scoring on three of their next four possessions to take a commanding 35-8 lead early in the third quarter.
Northwood struggled to contain Chapel Hill’s high-octane offense. The Tigers finished the night with 305 rushing yards on 25 carries, 183 of which came from Allen. Forbes, meanwhile, had 66 yards and three touchdowns on eight carries.
“I just have to do a better job of getting our guys ready to play,” Kenan said. “I take full responsibility for that, but hats off to Chapel Hill, too. Their coaching staff is always on point. I know they’re always a well-coached group, and they had some athletes on the back end this time ... To get a good quality win on the road against a team like Chapel Hill, you have to be almost flawless, and we were far from it.”
Trailing by 27 points early in the second half, the Chargers started stringing together some of their best drives of the night. After forcing a turnover on downs on Chapel Hill’s next possession, Northwood drove downfield and scored on a 5-yard run by freshman Robert Tripp.
Chapel Hill fumbled the ball on the first play of its next possession, and eight plays later the Chargers found the end zone again on a seven-yard keeper by Smith to cut the game to 35-20. Smith scored a third rushing touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter and later threw a 43-yard score to sophomore Gus Ritchey to trim Chapel Hill’s lead to 48-35. This was as close as the score would get, though.
Northwood was led offensively by the duo of Smith and Tripp, who combined for 242 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 36 carries. Tripp earned the start at running back for the injured Carson Fortunes, who was injured in the Chargers’ Week 2 win over Jordan-Matthews.
After the game, Kenan commended his quarterback’s effort in the second half. Smith has become the focal point of Northwood’s offense with the recent injury to junior running back Carson Fortunes, and he hasn’t shied away from the opportunity.
“(Smith) has shown a tremendous amount of guts,” Kenan said. “It doesn’t matter what the down and distance is. It doesn’t matter what the play call is. He’s confident in his abilities and his teammates no matter what the situation is or how ugly things might look.”
Northwood (1-2) has a solid chance to get back in the win column this week, as it hosts Seaforth this Friday at 7p.m. The Hawks (0-3) — who have yet to score points this season — have lost their three games this fall by a combined score of 128-0. Seaforth lost Wilow Spring, 49-0, in Week 3.
Sports Editor Jeremy Vernon can be reached at jeremy@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @jbo_vernon.
Chapel Hill 55, Northwood 35
CH | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | — 55
NW | 8 | 0 | 12 | 15 | — 35
Scoring summary
CH — Cayden Forbes 19 run (Owen Kornstein kick)
NW — Will Smith 28 run (Run good)
CH — Drew Allen 70 run (Kornstein kick)
CH — Allen 2 run (Kornstein kick)
CH — Josh Kelley 1 run
CH — Forbes 2 run (Kornstein kick)
NW — Robert Tripp 5 run (Pass no good)
NW — Smith 7 run (Pass no good)
CH — Allen 2 run (Kick no good)
NW — Smith 12 run (Run good)
CH — Ameer Burgman 20 pass from Kelley (Kornstein kick)
NW — Gus Ritchey 43 pass from Smith (Rui Aguiar kick)
CH — Forbes 41 run (Kornstein kick)
Team Stats
Chapel Hill | Northwood
15 | First downs | 14
423 | Total yards | 348
25-305 | Rushing attempts-yards | 44-258
11-14-118| Passing completions-attempts-yards | 6-12-90
0 | Interceptions | 1
1-1 | Fumbles-lost | 1-1
8-95 | Penalties-yards | 7-60
Individual stats
Rushing: CH — Drew Allen 9-183, Cayden Forbes 8-66, Isaiah Roberson 4-12, Josh Kelley 3-19, Sachi Alston 1-25; NW — Will Smith 21-126, Robert Tripp 15-116, Landon Roberson 8-16
Passing: CH — Josh Kelley 11-of-14, 118 yards, one touchdown; NW — 6-of-12, 90 yards, one touchdown, one interception
Receiving: CH — Tarran Keyes 2-22, Allen 2-18, Forbes 1-27, Ameer Burgman 1-20, Ben Bollinger 1-12, Dylan Evans 1-9, Roberson 1-(-3); NW — Gus Ritchey 2-56, Jackson Shaner 2-(-3), Cam Fowler 1-26, Ryan Brinker 1-11