Mayday, Mayday Down go the Jets: NHS cruises to 37-7 win over rival JM

Defense dominated the game as the Chargers demolished rival Jordan-Matthews 37-7 Friday night at Northwood.

The game was a stalemate for most of the first half. After the Charger defense came up with two consecutive goal line stops, junior Montel Goods muscled his way into the end zone for a three-yard score with 9:43 left in the second quarter. The Chargers would pull away from there.

After the defense forced JM to punt on fourth down with 6:26 seconds left in the second quarter, quarterback Jacob Fowler connected with Jared Worley for a 16-yard touchdown.  Then, lightning suspended the game with 3:53 left in the second quarter. The suspension did not slow down the Chargers’ offense, as Fowler would score on a quarterback sneak from the four-yard line just before halftime. After the half, senior running back/receiver Kadarus Rone turned his last rivalry game with JM into a memorable one by scoring on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Fowler. Rone scored again later on a six-yard run to make it 35-0 Chargers.

The defense capped the night off when Elijah Washington stopped JM quarterback/cornerback Rahman Mateen in the end zone for a safety.

JM finally scored on an interception by cornerback Kareem Brooks that was taken back for a touchdown with two minutes left in the fourth quarter.

“This game is our biggest rivalry game of the year, it’s our Michigan vs. Ohio State, our Carolina vs. Duke and for these seniors who have played Varsity since they were sophomores to go 3-0 against them is incredible, never been done before,” head coach Bill Hall said.

Hall was quick to praise the defense after another solid performance.

“The strength of the team this year so far has been the defense,” Hall said.  “Coming into the season everyone said that the offense would be the best, and right now the defense is playing light’s out.”

This year’s Charger defense has only given up 15 points in the past three games compared to Northwood’s offense, which has tallied 116 points. These are great numbers for the Chargers, and if they keep this up, they will be competitive to win any game. The JM game however, is very important to Northwood players.

“To beat guys that we’ve been playing since we were five and six years old feels great. Everyone made plays that contributed to the win tonight,” said Fowler, who threw for two touchdowns and ran for one on the night.

Rone was very emotional after a solid performance against JM.

“It hurts to know that I have played my last game against JM, boys that I have played my whole life,” the senior said.

Friday night the Chargers face a 2-1 Carrboro team led by star running back Trai Sharp, who is one of the top running backs in the state. Sharp is ranked sixth in the state among running backs according to NCPreps.Rivals.com).

But the confident Chargers defense says they are up for the challenge.

“If our defense keeps working hard in practice, we’re going to get the shutout again,” said senior Elijah Washington, who came up with multiple stops in the backfield and a safety Friday night.

Follow @nhsomniscient on Twitter for live updates throughout the game Friday night.

– By Jacob Sipe