HPCA slips past Cannon, 14-7
BY GREER SMITH ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — With its regular starting quarterback out for the season, High Point Christian survived Friday.
The Cougars slipped past Cannon 14-7 thanks to a stout defense, big plays from Lance Boykin on both sides of the
ball and a solid job by firsttime quarterback Chance Clency, who was chosen earlier this week to replace for Caleb Homol, who suffered a knee injury last week against Charlotte Christian.
“If you were a spectator it might not have been fun to watch,” HPCA head coach Scott Bell said. “It was one of those you just had to grind it out. I knew it was going to a low-scoring game.
“Our guys play good defense. If we would have had our quarterback, we would have been able to stretch it
and score a lot more. Going into the game, with the game plan we had, we knew it was going to be low scoring unless our special teams or defense put some points on the board. Not surprised by the scorebut we’re happy to have
more points than they did.”
Boykin figurered in both of the HPCA touchdowns.He outjumped a defensive back to haul in a 23-yard scoring pass
from Clency to break a scoreless tie with 4:45 left in the second quarter and later broke loose on a 66-yard go-ahead
touchdown run with 3:39 left in the third quarter, on HPCA’s fi rst play after Cannon quarterback Chris Nelson ran 10 yards for the visitors only score.
“The first one was a jump ball,” Boykin said. “I told him to throw it to me and I would come down with it. The second one, I had to outrun ever ybody because I just don’t want to lose a single game. I saw the safety was overpursuing and it was history from there.”
Boykin, who rushed for 105 yards, also intercepted two of Nelson’ passes to help lead a defensive effort that
held pass-heavy Cannon in check most of the game.He wore jersey No. 2 instead of No. 1 as a tribute to his friend Dez Woods, the Southwest Guilford basketball player
killed in a traffi c accident Sunday.
HPCA constantly kept pressure on Nelson, who completed just 13 of 47 throws, and bottled up Cannon’s running
game. Copeland Petitfi ls made 14 tackles that included two sacks. Chase Cox had 10 tackles while Theron Ellington and Ty Ragsdale had eight each.
The Cougars alsoturned back Cannon’s two other scoring threats, both early in the third quarter. The first ended in a missed 38-fi eld goal. HPCA fumbled on its first play of the next possession and Cannon recovered on the HPCA 8. Cannon got to the 3 on third down but Nelson was stuffed well short of the goal line on fourth down.
“We felt good about our defense against what Cannon had to offer,” Ball said. “Our defense played a solid game all night long.” Clency, who previously played fullback, finished ran for 66 yards and passed for 60. Ball said he chose Clency because he had a grasp of the offense.
“He did a good job of managing the game,” Ball said. “As time goes on, we’ll be able to do more than we tonight.”
BY GREER SMITH ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — With its regular starting quarterback out for the season, High Point Christian survived Friday.
The Cougars slipped past Cannon 14-7 thanks to a stout defense, big plays from Lance Boykin on both sides of the
ball and a solid job by firsttime quarterback Chance Clency, who was chosen earlier this week to replace for Caleb Homol, who suffered a knee injury last week against Charlotte Christian.
“If you were a spectator it might not have been fun to watch,” HPCA head coach Scott Bell said. “It was one of those you just had to grind it out. I knew it was going to a low-scoring game.
“Our guys play good defense. If we would have had our quarterback, we would have been able to stretch it
and score a lot more. Going into the game, with the game plan we had, we knew it was going to be low scoring unless our special teams or defense put some points on the board. Not surprised by the scorebut we’re happy to have
more points than they did.”
Boykin figurered in both of the HPCA touchdowns.He outjumped a defensive back to haul in a 23-yard scoring pass
from Clency to break a scoreless tie with 4:45 left in the second quarter and later broke loose on a 66-yard go-ahead
touchdown run with 3:39 left in the third quarter, on HPCA’s fi rst play after Cannon quarterback Chris Nelson ran 10 yards for the visitors only score.
“The first one was a jump ball,” Boykin said. “I told him to throw it to me and I would come down with it. The second one, I had to outrun ever ybody because I just don’t want to lose a single game. I saw the safety was overpursuing and it was history from there.”
Boykin, who rushed for 105 yards, also intercepted two of Nelson’ passes to help lead a defensive effort that
held pass-heavy Cannon in check most of the game.He wore jersey No. 2 instead of No. 1 as a tribute to his friend Dez Woods, the Southwest Guilford basketball player
killed in a traffi c accident Sunday.
HPCA constantly kept pressure on Nelson, who completed just 13 of 47 throws, and bottled up Cannon’s running
game. Copeland Petitfi ls made 14 tackles that included two sacks. Chase Cox had 10 tackles while Theron Ellington and Ty Ragsdale had eight each.
The Cougars alsoturned back Cannon’s two other scoring threats, both early in the third quarter. The first ended in a missed 38-fi eld goal. HPCA fumbled on its first play of the next possession and Cannon recovered on the HPCA 8. Cannon got to the 3 on third down but Nelson was stuffed well short of the goal line on fourth down.
“We felt good about our defense against what Cannon had to offer,” Ball said. “Our defense played a solid game all night long.” Clency, who previously played fullback, finished ran for 66 yards and passed for 60. Ball said he chose Clency because he had a grasp of the offense.
“He did a good job of managing the game,” Ball said. “As time goes on, we’ll be able to do more than we tonight.”
