The Charger offense came out firing, and defense was strong as Northwood beat Cedar Ridge 45-6 Friday night at Northwood.
Many alumni and youngsters packed the stands for ECC/Alumni night. From the moment Jared Worley dodged Cedar Ridge defenders and made his way to the end zone on a 60-yard punt return, the rout of Cedar Ridge was on.
Senior quarterback Ti Pinnix was solid and passed for four touchdowns. With four minutes left in the first quarter, Pinnix connected with senior Kadarus Rone to make it 14-0 Northwood. After senior Imoh Udoh forced Cedar Ridge quarterback Cam Pappas out of bounds on third down with two minutes left in the first quarter, Cedar Ridge punted. On first down from the Charger 45 yard line, Pinnix hit senior Jalen Smith on a 55 yard bomb to make the score 21-0. Senior Tyler Whitaker came up with a big 35-yard field goal late in the second quarter to make it 24-0. Pinnix found Rone on 15 yard pass right before the half to make it 31-0.
Pinnix connected with junior Montel Goods on a twenty yard pass to make it 38-0 with four minutes left in the third quarter. Goods added a score on the ground in the third quarter with a minute left to make it 45-0 Northwood. Cedar Ridge finally got on the board with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter by way of a 20-yard pass to make the final score 45-6 Northwood.
Smith, a preseason all-state selection, began to get back on track for the night hauling in a touchdown in the first quarter.
“I knew we were going to throw the ball a lot tonight,” Smith said. “Every time the ball was thrown, I was just thinking, ‘make the play.’”
One thing that was very evident was the strength of the punt return team for Northwood as Worley and senior Darius Cole made big returns for the Chargers to give them good field position.
“Every time I’m out there I’m thinking, ‘let me get in for six,’ and I’ve been getting real close,” senior Darius Cole said.
Worley started the scoring for the Chargers on a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown.
“I saw the biggest hole I’ve ever seen, then I just made some moves and got into the end zone,” Worley said.
The defense was strong, coming up with a big goal line stop late in the third quarter. Senior Nitrel Evans also intercepted Cedar Ridge’s Pappas during the third quarter. The Chargers, to this point, have only given up an average of seven points a game this season.
“Defense stuck to our assignments and stayed focused,” Cole said.
However, the Chargers didn’t start out strong, as they were forced to punt after a three and out on their first possession of the game.
“We have to come out strong and have a good first possession every game,” Worley said.
Northwood faces J.F. Webb High School this Week at Webb. Webb is 2-4 on the year. This game will be a tune-up game for the Chargers’ biggest challenge of the year, Southern Durham. Southern is 6-0 overall and won the 3A state championship last year.
-By Jacob Sipe