HPCA pounds Wake Christian, 40-14
BY MICHAEL LINDSAYENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — High Point Christian finally came alive to advance in the playoffs.The third-seeded Cougars, after falling behind early, scored the final 40 points of the game — including a 33-point onslaught over the middle two quarters — to roll past sixth-seeded Wake Christian 40-14 on Friday at the High Point Athletic Complex in the first round of the NCISAA Division II football playoffs.
“It was a little bit of a roller-coaster ride at times,” HPCA coach Scott Bell said. “We’ve started out slow in a lot of games this year, which has been irritating. But we stepped it up and came back, particularly in the second and third quarters. The fourth kind of got away from us — we made a lot of substitutions and had a little bit of sloppy play. But overall it was a good win for us.”
John Saunders Jr. finished with 112 yards and a touchdown receiving and 61 yards and a touch-down rushing to lead the Cougars (8-3), who advanced to face Metro-lina Christian next week. Jackson Powell also had 67 yards and a touchdown receiving, while David Butler followed with 57 yards and a touchdown receiving.Luke Homol, returning to the lineup after several weeks out, completed 9 of 16 passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns with one interception as HPCA quickly regrouped to lead 27-14 at halftime, following a 14-point out-burst in 17 seconds dur-ing the final minute of the second, and 40-14 after three quarters.
“I thought we played really well,” said Saunders, who also completed three passes for 45 yards on offense and made two interceptions on defense. “We just got our quarterback back — that was pretty big. Coach Bell gave us a really good halftime speech that got us fired up — like, we can’t have this be our last game. We came out and kept fighting. That’s all it was.
“We were able to start throwing the ball down the field. When Luke came in and moved me out to receiver, that gave us an extra threat at receiver. We stretched it out and threw it down the field. Jackson Clark scored a touchdown, David Butler — we had four people score a receiving touchdown tonight. ... It was big. That was what we needed to see in the playoffs, fighting from behind.”
Gavin Kuld also completed three passes for 43 yards and a touchdown, while Jackson Clark caught a touchdown pass and Johnathan Medlin kicked two field goals to key the Cougars, who also got 15 tackles from Chase Cox, 14 tackles from Wistar Allen and 13 tackles from Colby Cox.HPCA outgained the Bulldogs in total yardage for the game 404-237 — including a 265-208 advantage through the air as Wake (5-6) started hot with a several long connections in the first quarter but fizzled in the second half, throwing 10 straight incomplete passes in one stretch in the second and third.
“We had to stay resilient,” Saunders said. “We had to make sure we locked down on them after they jumped on us early.”Added Bell: “It was a concern early on, giving up some long passes. We knew they’re a passing team that likes to throw the ball over the top. We felt good about what we were trying to do. Giving up some long passes early was nerve-racking. So, it was good to see the defense step it up a notch.”Penalties (14 for 141 yards) hampered the Cougars, particularly during two drives near the end zone in the second that led to field goals. But Wake lost two fumbles and threw three interceptions — including one inside the final minute of the second that set up a touchdown on HPCA’s next play.
The Cougars, who had been without Homol about six weeks, will next face second-seeded Metrolina Christian (7-3) on Friday in Indian Trail near Charlotte in the semifinals. The Warriors, who got a first-round bye, beat HPCA 24-14 on Oct. 25 to end the reg-ular season.
“We outgained them in rushing and passing, but we lost that game on special teams,” Bell said. “We turned the ball over four times, had two 5-yard punts — one of them was blocked. We had a ball snapped over our head on punt team that gave it to them on the 10-yard line. We gave them a lot of opportunities, so we’ve got to play a much clean-er game.”
mlindsay@hpenews.com@HPEmichael
BY MICHAEL LINDSAYENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — High Point Christian finally came alive to advance in the playoffs.The third-seeded Cougars, after falling behind early, scored the final 40 points of the game — including a 33-point onslaught over the middle two quarters — to roll past sixth-seeded Wake Christian 40-14 on Friday at the High Point Athletic Complex in the first round of the NCISAA Division II football playoffs.
“It was a little bit of a roller-coaster ride at times,” HPCA coach Scott Bell said. “We’ve started out slow in a lot of games this year, which has been irritating. But we stepped it up and came back, particularly in the second and third quarters. The fourth kind of got away from us — we made a lot of substitutions and had a little bit of sloppy play. But overall it was a good win for us.”
John Saunders Jr. finished with 112 yards and a touchdown receiving and 61 yards and a touch-down rushing to lead the Cougars (8-3), who advanced to face Metro-lina Christian next week. Jackson Powell also had 67 yards and a touchdown receiving, while David Butler followed with 57 yards and a touchdown receiving.Luke Homol, returning to the lineup after several weeks out, completed 9 of 16 passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns with one interception as HPCA quickly regrouped to lead 27-14 at halftime, following a 14-point out-burst in 17 seconds dur-ing the final minute of the second, and 40-14 after three quarters.
“I thought we played really well,” said Saunders, who also completed three passes for 45 yards on offense and made two interceptions on defense. “We just got our quarterback back — that was pretty big. Coach Bell gave us a really good halftime speech that got us fired up — like, we can’t have this be our last game. We came out and kept fighting. That’s all it was.
“We were able to start throwing the ball down the field. When Luke came in and moved me out to receiver, that gave us an extra threat at receiver. We stretched it out and threw it down the field. Jackson Clark scored a touchdown, David Butler — we had four people score a receiving touchdown tonight. ... It was big. That was what we needed to see in the playoffs, fighting from behind.”
Gavin Kuld also completed three passes for 43 yards and a touchdown, while Jackson Clark caught a touchdown pass and Johnathan Medlin kicked two field goals to key the Cougars, who also got 15 tackles from Chase Cox, 14 tackles from Wistar Allen and 13 tackles from Colby Cox.HPCA outgained the Bulldogs in total yardage for the game 404-237 — including a 265-208 advantage through the air as Wake (5-6) started hot with a several long connections in the first quarter but fizzled in the second half, throwing 10 straight incomplete passes in one stretch in the second and third.
“We had to stay resilient,” Saunders said. “We had to make sure we locked down on them after they jumped on us early.”Added Bell: “It was a concern early on, giving up some long passes. We knew they’re a passing team that likes to throw the ball over the top. We felt good about what we were trying to do. Giving up some long passes early was nerve-racking. So, it was good to see the defense step it up a notch.”Penalties (14 for 141 yards) hampered the Cougars, particularly during two drives near the end zone in the second that led to field goals. But Wake lost two fumbles and threw three interceptions — including one inside the final minute of the second that set up a touchdown on HPCA’s next play.
The Cougars, who had been without Homol about six weeks, will next face second-seeded Metrolina Christian (7-3) on Friday in Indian Trail near Charlotte in the semifinals. The Warriors, who got a first-round bye, beat HPCA 24-14 on Oct. 25 to end the reg-ular season.
“We outgained them in rushing and passing, but we lost that game on special teams,” Bell said. “We turned the ball over four times, had two 5-yard punts — one of them was blocked. We had a ball snapped over our head on punt team that gave it to them on the 10-yard line. We gave them a lot of opportunities, so we’ve got to play a much clean-er game.”
mlindsay@hpenews.com@HPEmichael
