Miquelle Canady (20) hits the hole for the Redhawks.Westwood quarterback Davis King unleashes a strike.
Coming off a loss to Fairfield Central last Friday, Redhawks head football coach Rodney Summers said he was looking for “improvement; to control the game better and to run the ball more.” He most certainly got improvement as Friday night’s game was much closer and closer even than the score reflects. Still, the ‘Hawks suffered their second consecutive loss on the 2012 season, falling 21-17 to Richland Northeast.
At first, it looked like it was going to be a long night for the Redhawks. On their first possession, the Cavaliers intercepted a pass from Davis King and ran the ball for a touchdown. The extra point was good. Westwood went three plays without a first down and had to punt the ball. The Cavalier’s second possession resulted in another touchdown, this time a pass from A.C. Whaley to Michael Franklin, followed by the extra point. At this point, early in the first quarter, the Redhawks were down 14-0.
Despite an interception and other good breaks later in the first quarter, Westwood was unable to get on the scoreboard, and it ended with the score the same, 14-0 Cavaliers.
In the second quarter, the tide began to turn the Redhawks way. An interception by Tyreque Bell put the ball on Richland Northeast’s 34 yard line. A complete pass from King to Vyncint Smith resulted in a touchdown, but the PAT was no good, giving Westwood only the 6 points.
On the next Richland Northeast possession, the Cavs were forced to punt with 8:50 to go in the half. The punt left Westwood with good field position on their own 40 yard line. They managed to move the ball to the Cavalier’s 13 yard line, but it would be fourth down and time to decide on a field goal attempt or to risk going for it. Go for it they did, and King hit Smith again for a touchdown. To make up for the missed PAT, the Redhawks went for the 2-point conversion and made it to tie the score 14-14 with five minutes to go in the half. The Cavaliers made a valiant attempt at a last minute score with a long complete pass downfield, but it would be short of the goal line as time ran out.
On his way out of the locker room after the break, Summers briefly outlined his plans for the second half.
“I told my team things can get really ugly really fast,” Summers said. “Thanks to some fortunate turnovers we were able to battle back and get back in the game. We will switch and go to the outside, we can’t let up! I saw some things in the secondary we didn’t capitalize on. We missed two big passes on the first drive. The ball went right through the receiver’s hands.”
To begin the second half, the Redhawks dealt the Cavaliers a surprise with an onside kick which the Redhawks successfully recovered. Unfortunately on the very next play, RNE’s Malik Scott intercepted a pass from King. RNE couldn’t capitalize, however, and had to punt.
On the following scoring drive, Westwood again successfully converted a fourth down and one yard situation, followed by two more first downs. Westwood could only get a field goal from this drive, but the field goal put them in the lead for the first time, 17-14.
Later in the third quarter, a short punt by Westwood puts the Cavaliers on the Westwood 26 yard line from which they are able to score a touchdown. The PAT being good, the score became 21-17 RNE.
The fourth quarter began with a dangerous scoring drive by RNE. RNE’s Denzel Washington ran for a 20 yard gain to be stopped by Raymond Hall. Two more running plays brought the Cavaliers to the Westwood 45 yard line and a costly facemask penalty against Westwood took the Cavaliers to the Westwood 30 yard line. Another complete pass by Whaley to Washington delivered RNE into the Westwood red zone. RNE became stalled on the Westwood 8 yard line in a fourth down situation. Surprisingly, instead of a field goal attempt, the Cavaliers went for the conversion. The pass play was incomplete and Westwood took over.
Westwood had a few more fortunate breaks and penalties going their way, but time and scoring opportunities were running out quickly. Westwood was to get its hands on the ball for the last time via a RNE punt with 23 seconds to go in the game. A razzle dazzle play gave Westwood a first down, using only two seconds off the clock. But Hail Mary pass with three seconds on the clock was intercepted by the Cavs, sealing the deal for RNE.
“Our defensive backs kept Whaley off a bit so he wouldn’t pick us apart,” Summers said. “Although our defensive backs are young, they came up with some good plays.”
Summers was understandably disappointed, but he said he was proud of his team, showing a 4A team that his Redhawks came to play.
“That’s what we wanted to do,” Summers said.
Next up for the Redhawks is Blythewood High School, which Summers characterized as the “battle of the woods.”
WHS 0 14 3 0 – 17
RNE 14 0 7 0 – 21
Scoring
First Quarter
RNE- Borquin 65 interception return. Kick failed. (10:55)
RNE- Howell 26 pass from Whaley. Lourie kick. (8:00)
Second Quarter
WHS-Smith 33 pass from King. Kick failed. (10:55)
WHS-Smith 12 pass from King. Williams 2 pass from King. (5:08)
Third Quarter
WHS-Howard 30 FG.
RNE-Whaley 8 run. Lourie kick. (0:30)
Team Statistics
WHS RNE
First Downs 17 19
Rush Yds. 103 127
Comp-Att. 15/33 10/21
Pass Yds. 190 172
Fumbles-lost 1/0 1/1
Penalties-Yds. 8/78 11/100
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: WHS – M. Canady 20-53. K. Smith 8-34. T. Gallman 1-17. J. Jenkins 1-4. D. King 4-(-5). RNE – D. Washington 11-54. J. Blunt 7- 42. A.C. Whaley 9-28. R. Howell 1-7. C. Foulks 1- 0.
PASSING: WHS – D. King 14-32-179-2TD-4INT. D. Williams 1-1-11-0-0. RNE – A.C. Whaley 10-21-172-1-3.
RECEIVING: WHS – V. Smith 4-58. A. Lee 4-47. J. Jenkins 3-50. T. Gallman 2-23. D. King 1-11. M. Canady 1-1. RNE – R. Howell 4-69. S. Foulks 2-53. D. Washington 2-24. C. Foulks 1-19. B.J. Dickerson 1-7.
Records: WHS 0-2/0-0 RNE 2-0/0-0.
