BLYTHEWOOD – Westwood tried and narrowly missed getting a Region 3-4A victory over the past month. In a game moved up to Thursday because of incoming thunderstorms Friday, the Redhawks finally put a region win in the standings.
Christan Horn had seven catches and for 105 yards and two second-half touchdowns as Westwood blew past Richland Northeast 38-3 at District Two stadium.
The hungry Redhawks defense swarms the Lancaster ball carrier. | Leroy Howard
The win, plus a victory next week against South Aiken, can keep the Redhawks in the hunt for one of two at-large bids in the 4A upper-state bracket.
“We’ve been in every single region game,” Head coach Dustin Curtis said about snapping the 4-game skid. “We had a chance to win, but we made some mistakes, the ball didn’t bounce our way, but the kids have been resilient. They’ve never had a defeated attitude in practice.”
Westwood (5-4, 1-4) held RNE to 130 yards of total offense and never allowed the Cavaliers (1-8, 0-5) to get within 10 yards of the goal line.
RNE, which had been outscored 327-32 and shut out six times going into Thursday’s game, gave the Redhawks a few small fits before Westwood settled down to a 21-3 halftime lead.
“It was hard to get into a rhythm,” Curtis said. “That was a weird first half,”
In three out of their first four possessions, the Cavaliers ventured deep into Westwood territory, but netted just three points.
RNE ran the opening kickoff to the Westwood 33-yard line, but on the third play from scrimmage, Redhawks defensive end Joseph Washington recovered a fumble at the 26.
That play set Westwood up at its own 29-yard line. The Redhawks then marched 71 yards on nien plays for Deshawn Boyd to rumble in from one yard out for the first score of the game.
RNE answered with a 26-yard Ty’Sean Osby field goal early in the second, and got the ball back on an onside kick.
The Cavaliers drove deep into Westwood territory on that possession, and looked to at least add another field goal on the scoreboard.
That’s when T.J. Blanding stripped the ball from Daniel Montgomery around the Redhawks 30-yard line and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown at the 7:30 mark of the second.
That score settled the game down in Westwood’s favor. Three minutes later, Ahmon Green found Cortes Braham in the end zone from 16 yards out to give Westwood a 21-3 lead.
Green struck it big twice with Horn in the second half. First, he found him for 20-yard TD pass midway through the third.
After David Strother chipped in a 24-yard field goal to start the fourth, Green connected with Horn for a 53-yard catch and run with 5:56 to go in the game.
“The second half was a little bit smoother. Hopefully we can build off this,” Curtis said. “Next week’s big.”
The South Aiken game was postponed earlier in the season because of Hurricane Florence. Senior Night will have greater implications.
“We need it so we can have a good showing to get that at-large bid. We’re not out of the playoffs,” Curtis said. “We feel good about where we are right now. There are lots and lots of teams that have had four losses and they go a long way. We know we’re capable of doing that.”
SCORING
RNE – 0-3-0-0 – 3
WHS – 7-14-7-10 – 38
First Quarter
WHS – Deshawn Boyd 1 run (David Strother kick) 7:28
Second Quarter
RNE – Ty’Sean Osby 26 field goal 11:54
WHS – T.J. Blanding 70 fumble return (Strother kick) 7:30
WHS – Cortes Braham 16 pass from Ahmon Green (Strother kick) 3:51
Third Quarter
WHS – Christan Horn 20 pass from Green (Strother kick) 6:20
Fourth Quarter
WHS – Strother 24 field goal 11:11
WHS – Christan Horn 53 pass from Green (Strother kick) 5:56
TEAM STATISTICS RNE Westwood
First Downs 4 14
Rushes-Yards 34-106 20-114
Passing Yards 24 184
Att-Com-Int 8-2-0 22-14-0
Fumbles-Lost 4-3 1-1
Penalties-Yards 4-30 4-45
Punts-Avg. 4-39.5 2-40.5
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: RNE – Jaiden Jeffery 5-5, Twontae Wallace 9-28, Akim Munro 12-59, Isaac Junious 1-2, Daniel Montgomery 1-7, Davon Eddy 2-0. Westwood – Deshawn Boyd 6-36, Ahmon Green 4-25, Kyrie Jamison 8-27, Cam Atkins 2-26.
PASSSING: RNE –Tyheece Buchanan 2-8-0-24. Westwood – Ahmon Green 14-22-0-184.
RECEIVING: RNE –Jaiden Jeffery 1-12, team 1-12. Westwood – Christan Horn 7-105, Deshawn Boyd 1-10, Cortes Braham 2-35, Rashad McCain 1-9, Daquan Wise3-25.
