HPCA blasts Cannon
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — High Point Christian made key plays when it needed to and earned its secondstraight berth in the state championship game.
The top-seeded Cougars steadily moved the ball on offense, connecting on a couple big strikes through the air, and held firm on defense to beat fourth-seeded Cannon School 25-0 in the semifinals of the NCISAA Division II football playoffs Friday at the High Point Athletic Complex.
“We’re excited about the win,” HPCA coach Scott Bell said. “I don’t think we played our best football. Still too many mistakes and penalties, and we didn’t force any turnovers — which has been a concern for me this year. “But it’s a great win for the seniors, a great win for the program and a great win for the team. And knowing that we’ve moved up a division and are playing for a state championship is very exciting.”
Lance Boykin ran for 102 yards and scored two touchdowns — one rushing and one receiving — for the Cougars (9-1), who won last year’s Division III championship. De’Shaun Taylor completed 12 of 22 passes for 247 yards and two TDs — including a 72-yarder to Chance Clency — and ran for another TD. Dre Davis also had 88 yards receiving as HPCA outgained Cannon 449-85 in total yardage.
The Cougars will host secondseeded Christ School (10-1) in the state championship Friday. Cannon, which is coached by former Ledford and Carolina Panthers standout Brad Hoover, finished the season 6-6.
“We’re so blessed,” said Taylor, a senior quarterback. “Last year winning the Division III championship and this year moving on to the Division II championship — it’s just amazing. It’s a much different season this year. We’ve had a lot more injuries, and it shows how much adversity we’ve fought through. “We started off pretty slow, but we just kept grinding,” he said, pinpointing the key to winning Friday night’s game. “Our offensive line just kept working, our wide receivers kept getting open, and I kept delivering. And when you’re a passing team, that’s just the equation.”
HPCA started a little sluggish, scoring only once on its four first-half possessions. Taylor stepped up like he was going to run, but then handed off to Boykin as he came around from the right side and raced through the line 17 yards for a touchdown with 4:07 left in the second to lead 7-0 into halftime.
Midway through the third, the Cougars pieced together a nine-play, 82-yard drive that culminated in a touchdown pass to Boykin, who caught the short toss and eluded the defenders, with 2:07 left in the third. Then, on the first play of the fourth, Taylor hit Clency in stride down the right sideline for a 72-yard score.
HPCA tacked on one final score — a 13-yard run by Taylor — in the final three minutes to seal it. The Cougars’ defense held Cannon, which was led by Jordan Johnson with 50 yards rushing, to only two plays longer than 10 yards, forced nine punts and never allowed it to get closer than the HPCA 49-yard line.
“That’s one great thing about our team — we have so many guys who can make plays,” Bell said. “You don’t know any given Friday night who the playmakers are going to be. We try to get the ball to guys in space and let them make plays. And we have four or five guys who do a very good job of doing that.
“I think we prepared well for them defensively. We felt confident we knew what they were going to do. They’re a good running team, but they haven’t had a lot of success passing. So, we were able to shut down the run and force them into passing, and that was to our advantage.”
mlindsay@hpenews.com
336-888-3526
@HPEmichael
HPCA 25, CANNON 0
SCORING SUMMARY
CANNON 0 0 0 0 — 0
HPCA 0 7 6 12 — 25
SECOND QUARTER
HPCA — Lance Boykin 17 run (Austin Hendley
kick), 4:07
THIRD QUARTER
HPCA — Boykin 17 pass from De’Shaun Taylor
(Hendley kick), 2:07
FOURTH QUARTER
HPCA — Chance Clency 72 pass from Taylor
(pass failed), 11:48
HPCA — Taylor 13 run (pass failed), 2:40
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — High Point Christian made key plays when it needed to and earned its secondstraight berth in the state championship game.
The top-seeded Cougars steadily moved the ball on offense, connecting on a couple big strikes through the air, and held firm on defense to beat fourth-seeded Cannon School 25-0 in the semifinals of the NCISAA Division II football playoffs Friday at the High Point Athletic Complex.
“We’re excited about the win,” HPCA coach Scott Bell said. “I don’t think we played our best football. Still too many mistakes and penalties, and we didn’t force any turnovers — which has been a concern for me this year. “But it’s a great win for the seniors, a great win for the program and a great win for the team. And knowing that we’ve moved up a division and are playing for a state championship is very exciting.”
Lance Boykin ran for 102 yards and scored two touchdowns — one rushing and one receiving — for the Cougars (9-1), who won last year’s Division III championship. De’Shaun Taylor completed 12 of 22 passes for 247 yards and two TDs — including a 72-yarder to Chance Clency — and ran for another TD. Dre Davis also had 88 yards receiving as HPCA outgained Cannon 449-85 in total yardage.
The Cougars will host secondseeded Christ School (10-1) in the state championship Friday. Cannon, which is coached by former Ledford and Carolina Panthers standout Brad Hoover, finished the season 6-6.
“We’re so blessed,” said Taylor, a senior quarterback. “Last year winning the Division III championship and this year moving on to the Division II championship — it’s just amazing. It’s a much different season this year. We’ve had a lot more injuries, and it shows how much adversity we’ve fought through. “We started off pretty slow, but we just kept grinding,” he said, pinpointing the key to winning Friday night’s game. “Our offensive line just kept working, our wide receivers kept getting open, and I kept delivering. And when you’re a passing team, that’s just the equation.”
HPCA started a little sluggish, scoring only once on its four first-half possessions. Taylor stepped up like he was going to run, but then handed off to Boykin as he came around from the right side and raced through the line 17 yards for a touchdown with 4:07 left in the second to lead 7-0 into halftime.
Midway through the third, the Cougars pieced together a nine-play, 82-yard drive that culminated in a touchdown pass to Boykin, who caught the short toss and eluded the defenders, with 2:07 left in the third. Then, on the first play of the fourth, Taylor hit Clency in stride down the right sideline for a 72-yard score.
HPCA tacked on one final score — a 13-yard run by Taylor — in the final three minutes to seal it. The Cougars’ defense held Cannon, which was led by Jordan Johnson with 50 yards rushing, to only two plays longer than 10 yards, forced nine punts and never allowed it to get closer than the HPCA 49-yard line.
“That’s one great thing about our team — we have so many guys who can make plays,” Bell said. “You don’t know any given Friday night who the playmakers are going to be. We try to get the ball to guys in space and let them make plays. And we have four or five guys who do a very good job of doing that.
“I think we prepared well for them defensively. We felt confident we knew what they were going to do. They’re a good running team, but they haven’t had a lot of success passing. So, we were able to shut down the run and force them into passing, and that was to our advantage.”
mlindsay@hpenews.com
336-888-3526
@HPEmichael
HPCA 25, CANNON 0
SCORING SUMMARY
CANNON 0 0 0 0 — 0
HPCA 0 7 6 12 — 25
SECOND QUARTER
HPCA — Lance Boykin 17 run (Austin Hendley
kick), 4:07
THIRD QUARTER
HPCA — Boykin 17 pass from De’Shaun Taylor
(Hendley kick), 2:07
FOURTH QUARTER
HPCA — Chance Clency 72 pass from Taylor
(pass failed), 11:48
HPCA — Taylor 13 run (pass failed), 2:40
