PITTSBORO — Ben Smith and Anton Enoch combined for 358 yards and four touchdowns through the air, but it wasn’t enough to offset five East Chapel Hill turnovers as Northwood hung on to defeat the winless Wildcats 27-24 Friday evening on Homecoming Night in a mistake-prone Big Eight 3A Conference matchup on James L. Griffin Field.
With their fourth victory in a row the Chargers improved to 4-3 overall and 3-0 against Big Eight rivals to remain tied atop the league standings with Southern Durham, while East Chapel Hill plummeted to 0-7 for the season and 0-3 in the conference.
The triumph also marked Northwood’s seventh win in eight meetings with the Wildcats in a series that began in 2007.
While both teams enjoyed success throwing the ball, neither could generate much offense on the ground. A lot of that was due to the multitude of yellow handkerchiefs that littered the turf throughout the contest, as the Chargers were penalized a dozen times for 117 yards, whereas East Chapel Hill was whistled for 13 infractions resulting in 112 yards in penalties.
Northwood’s Jack Thompson completed 14-of-31 passes for 182 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions, while Deuce Powell was the Chargers’ leading ground gainer with 59 yards and one TD on 10 carries.
“While penalties killed some early drives, we have to learn how to play hard from the outset, as once again our motor started slowly tonight,” said Northwood coach Cullen Homolka. “Defensively East Chapel Hill brought good penetration against the run, while their offense hurt us with the deep ball. We just didn’t play solid football the second half, and we still need to get better in all-around team effort – on offense, defense and special teams.”
Smith opened at quarterback for the Wildcats and completed eight-of-23 aerials for 162 yards and a touchdown but suffered three interceptions. Enoch came on in the second half and connected on 13-of-18 throws for 196 yards and three scores, including a pair to brother Anthony Enoch, who accounted for 171 yards on six receptions, as East Chapel Hill finished the evening outgaining the Chargers 390-243 in total yardage.
“We failed to capitalize on a number of opportunities in the first half with overthrown balls and missing open receivers,” said Wildcats’ coach Brian Nunn. “I thought the momentum swung in Northwood’s favor when they returned a fumble for a score midway through the first quarter, and although our kids competed and fought hard tonight, they still don’t know how to win yet. One thing I was pleased about this evening was our defense. We’ve struggled all year stopping the run but tonight we did a good job in that regard.”
The Chargers received the opening kickoff and turned the ball over on their first play from scrimmage when a Hue Jacobs bobble was recovered by East Chapel Hill nose guard Chandler Farrow at the Northwood 35.
Three plays later Smith completed a 35-yard touchdown toss to wide receiver Zaion Vaughn, but the score was nullified by an ineligible receiver downfield, bringing the ball back to the 40.
Ignoring the setback, Smith continued to march his team downfield and five plays later hooked up with wideout Devin Cornish in the back left corner of the end zone for a 17-yard TD strike to put the Wildcats up 6-0 with 8:19 to go in the initial period.
Following Anthony Enoch’s interception of a Thompson pass a minute later that gave East Chapel Hill possession of the pigskin at the Northwood 30, the Wildcats were poised to add to their total when Smith connected with Cornish at the five, but the ball came out of the receiver’s hands and was scooped up by Charger safety Jalen McAfee-Marion, who sped 95 yards in the opposite direction to give the winners a 7-6 advantage after Aidan Laros kicked the extra point with 5:22 left in the first quarter.
The contest then turned into a defensive struggle until safety Jack Vail’s second interception of the night with 3:53 remaining in the first half gave Northwood possession of the ball at the East Chapel Hill 47.
The Chargers proceeded to march 53 yards in five plays to increase their lead to 14-6 when Thompson climaxed the drive by connecting with wide receiver Chris Lawson down the left sideline for a 34-yard scoring toss prior to Laros’ conversion with 2:32 to go until intermission.
Aided by three pass interference calls against Northwood, the Wildcats threatened to narrow the gap before halftime by moving from their own 33 to the Chargers’ six prior to the drive being snuffed out when defensive back Aaron Ross picked off a Smith pass in the end zone with three seconds left until the break.
After receiving the second half kickoff, East Chapel Hill launched a time-consuming 11-play, 78-yard scoring drive culminated by Anton Enoch’s fourth-down, 27-yard touchdown strike to Vaughn in the left side of the end zone to pull the Wildcats within 14-12 with 6:58 remaining in the third stanza.
Following an exchange of possessions, Northwood took advantage of a shanked East Chapel Hill punt to set up shop at the Wildcats’ 34, and five plays later Powell bulled his way six yards up the middle to the goal line to extend the Chargers’ lead to 21-12 after Laros split the uprights with 24.6 seconds to go in the third period.
On East Chapel Hill’s very next snap from scrimmage Northwood linebacker Jake Mann recovered an Anton Enoch fumble at the Wildcats’ eight in the closing seconds of the quarter, and two plays later fullback Wes Sanders plunged one yard over center to stretch the Chargers’ advantage to 27-12 with 11:55 left in the game.
After halting a Northwood drive at its own five with 7:44 remaining, East Chapel Hill traveled 95 yards in four plays to trim the margin to 27-18 when Anthony Enoch capped the march with a diving catch in the back of the end zone on a 39-yard pass from Anton Enoch with exactly six minutes to go.
Following Anton Enoch’s pick of a Thompson pass that gave the ball back to the Wildcats at their own 18 with 2:41 remaining, East Chapel Hill went 82 yards in six plays to edge within 27-24 when Anton Enoch hit Anthony Enoch on a right-to-left slant pattern from six yards out with 25.7 seconds showing on the clock, but Ross then gathered in the ensuing kickoff at the Chargers’ 43 to preserve the victory.