Senior running back Kadarus Rone rushed for three touchdowns and senior wide receiver Jalen Smith had two touchdown receptions as the Chargers rolled over Northern Vance 52-7 on homecoming at Northwood Friday night.
Northwood looked very sharp throughout the night on offense, scoring quickly and often. Rone started the scoring off for the Chargers on a 4-yard touchdown run. He would score twice more on two 20-yard touchdown scampers.
“My line played really well and the holes were there all night for me to run through,” Rone said.
Smith was able to continue a strong October campaign, catching two touchdowns. The first was a 60-yard strike from quarterback Ti Pinnix in the first quarter, then a 20-yard touchdown right before the half.
Jared Worley returned a punt 85 yards for a Charger score and Darius Cole returned an interception 26 yards for a touchdown. The Chargers had the mercy rule into effect going into halftime (42 point mercy rule) as the score was 49-0 Northwood. Northern Vance finally scored in the fourth quarter off of a double pass. Northwood added onto the route with a 12-yard touchdown from Junior quarterback Adam Lambert to senior wide reciever Anthony Upchurch.
“ The whole time I was out there tonight I was thinking let’s get better,” Pinnix said. “We have tougher competition coming up next week against Chapel Hill. We have to play our game and not get caught up in the moment.”
This game was special because it was homecoming, and the many seniors on the squad experienced their last homecoming game. Players were very excited to go out with a win.
“We went out with a bang, we played solid, it felt great to go out like that,” senior linebacker Trent Cline said.
Northwood’s offense seemed to be clicking on all cylinders the whole night against Northern Vance’s defense. The Charger defense continued to play well and has only allowed an average of 8.1 points per game so far this season.
But next week’s foe, Chapel Hill, will prove a tougher challenge. Chapel Hill, like Northwood, is 7-2 overall with losses to Southern Durham and Orange. This game, scheduled for Thursday night at 7 at Chapel Hill, will be the battle for the three seed in the conference.