Christian Brown (26) leaps over the RNE defense.
RICHLAND — The Westwood Redhawks took the field at Spring Valley High School Thursday night for an away matchup against the Richland Northeast High School Cavaliers. Each team had lost their season opener and were gunning for their first win of the season. This time Westwood had it’s way. The Redhawks made their way through this penalty and injury-plagued contest, defeating the Cavaliers 21-13.
Before the game, Westwood head coach Rodney Summers was counting on his team to come onto the field ready to play.
“We can’t come out flat like we did last week,” Summers said. “I have a good feeling about tonight’s game if our guys come out ready to play. If so, it will be a different story from last week. Our guys sound like they are ready to play. However, RNE is going to be trying to avenge their loss to South Aiken last week. They like to run a controlled offense, running the ball. We need to make sure they don’t keep the ball from us. We must take advantage of the mismatch in the secondary; throw the ball some as well as run the ball. Try to do all phases of the game well.”
The first quarter began with Westwood receiving the opening kickoff, which Raymond Hall ran back to the Redhawk 35-yard line. Westwood scored two first downs in a row on running plays by Kjiwan Smith and a Chris Patterson quarterback keeper. On the next play, Patterson fired one to Adonus Lee who was downed on the RNE 19-yard line. Westwood had what looked like a touchdown on the next play, but was called for holding. The play after, same story. Westwood would incur nine penalties total in the game, costing them 92 yards.
Westwood finally scored after RNE was called for a personal foul, which moved the ball halfway to the goal line. Smith ran the ball in from the Cavalier 11-yard line for the score at 9:49 to go in the first quarter. Kicker Brandon Howard put the ball through the uprights for the extra point. The ‘Hawks would hold the 7-0 lead throughout the first quarter.
In the second frame, a short RNE punt combined with a major penalty penalty assessed against the Cavaliers for an illegal block gave the Redhawks the ball on their own 34-yard line where they launched their next scoring drive. Patterson took to the air numerous times, twice hitting Lee for major yardage while Miquelle Canady handled the ground attack. Patterson found receiver Vyncint Smith downfield, who ran the ball in for the touchdown at 7:51 to go in the half. Howard added the extra point again, making the score 14-0, Westwood.
The Cavaliers answered right back after receiving the kickoff. Three plays into the drive, RNE quarterback Simeon Kelly hit receiver BJ Dickerson for a 74-yard touchdown pass. The point after kick was good, and the score was then 14-7, Westwood.
At halftime, Summers was cautiously optimistic.
“It’s nice to be ahead, but we are letting them hang around too much, though,” Summers said. “You know I was hoping to have them up at least 21 to nothing right there. They get the ball to start the second half. If our defense can hold their own, and our offense gets a play in here or there, then we will be OK.”
Westwood was called for unsportsmanlike conduct on the third play of the RNE possession, giving the Cavaliers a big break. The ball was spotted on the Westwood 30-yard line, first down, Cavaliers. However, the Cavs could not capitalize on their good fortune, turning the ball over to the Redhawks on downs. The Cavs bad fortune was a blessing in disguise for RNE, as the Redhawks went for the pass to Lee, who tipped the ball right into the waiting arms of RNE’s William Black. There were no defenders between Black and the goal line, so Black ran the ball in easily for the touchdown, with 8:45 to go in the quarter. In a valiant attempt to put themselves ahead of Westwood, RNE went for the 2-point conversion, but came up short. The score was 14-13, Westwood.
Westwood returned the kickoff to their 48-yard line, and steadily marched down the field from there. From the RNE 20-yard line, quarterback Nick Leveretter completed a pass to Raekwon Geter, but Cavalier Kaywohn Douglas forced the fumble and recovered the ball. The Cavs made a few plays for short yardage but ultimately were forced to punt. Westwood’s luck held true when a bad snap caused Leveretter to drop the ball, which was recovered by Black of RNE.
The Cavs appeared to be tiring and could not match the superior conditioning of the Redhawks this late in the game. The last score occurred with 9:30 to go in the game as Leveretter connected with Lee for an 8-yard completion, followed by a handoff to Canady who sprinted the last 29 yards for the touchdown. Again, Howard was perfect in PAT kicks for the 21-13 final.
Asked if conditioning was the key, Summers said, “Yeah, we really feel like we are in good shape. That’s just something we try to pride ourselves in. A lot of that has to do with diet and all that. Our guys took care of themselves in the off season. We pride ourselves for our conditioning, everybody.”
Regarding the upcoming Blythewood game, Summers continued, “Last year they handled us. They didn’t kill us on offense, it was special teams play last year, it was really special teams. We need to stop the penalties. Some of tonight’s were major penalties. We can’t have those, silly here and there, it’s something we’re going to address. We hope to clean it up and play a good game nest Friday.”
WHS 7-7-0-7 – 21
RNE 0-6-6-0 – 13
First Quarter
WHS — Kijuan Smith 11-run. Brandon Howard kick. (09:49)
Second Quarter
WHS — Chris Patterson pass to Vyncint Smith. Howard kick. (07:51)
RNE — Simeon Kelly pass to BJ Dickerson. Stafford kick. (06:49)
Third Quarter
RNE — William Black 24-INT return. PAT failed. (08:45)
Fourth Quarter
WHS — Miquelle Canady 29-run. Howard kick. (09:30)
RNE WHS
FIRST DOWN 5 21
RUSHES / YARDS 28/61 41/283
PASSING YARDS 78 103
C-A-Int 3-9-0 9-19-1
Fumbles / Lost 3 / 0 5 / 1
Penalties / Yards 7 / 59 8 / 92
RUSHING WHS: Miquelle Canady 8-107; Chris Patterson 14-99; Kijuan Smith 13-52; Christian Brown 4-35; Nick Leveretter 1-(-8). RNE: Jaquari Blunt 12-41; William Black 2-10; Simeon Kelly 13-7; Corey Benjamin 1-3.
PASSING: WHS: Chris Patterson 5-14-1-66 yds.; Nick Leveretter 4-5-0-37 yds. RNE: Simeon Kelly 3-9-0-78 yds.
RECEIVING: WHS: Adonus Lee 6-62; Vyncint Smith 1-25; Raekwon Geter 1-9; Tyrel Galman 1-7. RNE: BJ Dickerson 1-74; Paul Cooper 1-2; Devion Brown 1-2.
