High School Football: Providence Day gets statement win in historic game vs. Northwestern
In some ways, Saturday was the biggest high school football game in Providence Day’s school history.
Yes, the Chargers have won the past two N.C. Independent Schools state championships and yes, the Chargers have been blessed with a wealth of talent in recent years and played in their fair share of big environments.
But for a team still trying to establish itself as a true national power, Providence Day knew that Saturday presented an enormous opportunity: playing nationally ranked Rock Hill-Northwestern in front of a regional television audience, a regional radio audience and a big crowd at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium.
No high school football team had ever played there before. It’s where the Carolina Panthers play their home games.
And, playing on the biggest of stages, the Chargers started slow, showed some nerves, but eventually they picked up plenty of steam. Providence Day ran out to a pair of 21-point leads and held on for a 42-35 win over the No. 1 ranked 4A public school team in football-mad South Carolina.
Providence Day is legit.
And Northwestern is plenty good, too.
“We knew going in, their front four is really good,” Chargers coach Chad Grier said, “and, scheme-wise, they really would try to come at us, and clearly we had some cramping issues. We had to go deep in a roster that’s not very deep.”
That’s because Northwestern would not let up.
Boston College-bound running back Turbo Richard — the focal point of the Chargers’ defense — did a little bit of everything: running kicks back, catching passes, running the ball. He had nearly 200 yards total offense. Receiver Jaylen Burris had a pair of touchdown catches, and Northwestern’s infamous “Air Raid” offense caused Providence Day plenty of headaches and created several big plays and a few more that could’ve been.
But on this Saturday, Providence Day’s athletes and scheme were a little too much.
Just a little.
“I’m so proud of our kids and the way they competed,” Grier said. “We talk about it all the time, a big part of playing football is delayed gratification. Eight months these guys worked and trained. You’ve got to fight adversity. We had things pretty comfortable, and we talked about it before the game. We said, ‘Look, we gotta win on the last play of the game.’ There were some things that made it more interesting than it needed to be, but the fact is that we overcame. Our kids found a way to win and I’m incredibly proud of them.”
Northwestern also played with a heavy amount of pride.
Down all game, the Trojans kept pushing. Trailing 42-21 in the fourth quarter, they drove and scored on Burris’ second touchdown catch. Then, Northwestern got an onside kick recovery.
That gave the Trojans the ball in Providence Day territory with about 3:40 left. A roughing the passer call, on an inbounds tackle, extended the game and the drive on fourth and 10 with 50 seconds left.
Northwestern scored its third fourth-quarter touchdown on the next play, when sophomore Kameron Vance scored on a 12-yard pass from quarterback Finley Polk. That closed the lead to 42-35.
Providence Day recovered the onside kick to end what had been a pretty entertaining game, and a pretty big statement from the Chargers.
“We just made too many mistakes against a good football team,” Northwestern coach Page Wofford said. “You can’t turn the ball over three times and have a mistake in the kicking game. When they went two tight ends and we manned up on their Division I wide receiver No. 1 (Jordan Shipp) and Division I wide receiver No. 2 (Channing Goodwin) and a Division I quarterback (Jadyn Davis) throwing them the ball, that’s going to be tough on anybody. It’s good for us to have a chance to see...what we can improve on and (correct) the mistakes that we made.”
First half highlights
In the first half, the teams didn’t score in the first quarter, but combined for 28 points in the second.
Providence Day’s UNC-bound receiver, Shipp, had a monster quarter, scoring two touchdowns on pass receptions from Michigan bound quarterback Davis.
Shipp’s second scoring catch, near the end of the first half, gave the Chargers a 14-0 lead.
But Northwestern got right back into it, though, when quarterback Polk appeared to try a misdirection run, before he stopped, pulled up and hit a wide open Jaylen Burris for a 75-yard touchdown.
Burris scored with just over a minute to play in the first half. Providence Day coach Grier figured he had enough time, and after a few Davis throws, the Chargers moved down the field. Once in range, Providence Day ran Shipp across the field and he drew a lot of defensive attention.
Chargers receiver Jaylen Himes ran free behind all that action, and he scored on an easy touchdown pass with just seconds left in the half, giving his team a 21-7 halftime lead.
Three who made a difference
▪ Finley Polk, Rock Hill Northwestern: Junior QB was 26-of-41 for 410 yards and four touchdowns. He connected with Burris for six catches, 115 yards and two scores.
▪ Jordan Shipp, Providence Day: UNC-bound receiver had 13 catches for 234 yards and two touchdowns. Fellow receiver Channing Goodwin, a Michigan recruit, had five catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns.
▪ Jadyn Davis, Providence Day: the reigning Mr. Football in North Carolina, a senior Michigan recruit, completed 24-of-35 passes for 456 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.
Worth mentioning
▪ Providence Day defenders had three interceptions, including one in the end zone
▪ Due to injuries and cramping, Grier had to rely on some different players. He said senior Chase Jackson was playing his first meaningful football game, and Jackson had some key minutes and key plays on the defensive line. Senior Gage Fragale who normally mainly plays defensive line had to go both ways. Grier praised his play, too.
▪ Longtime Panthers punter JJ Jansen was the color analyst for the game, which was broadcast over-the-air to a regional market and simulcast on a Charlotte and a Rock Hill-based radio station.
▪ Providence Day center John Stephens is 6-foot, 185 pounds and was matched up with some of Northwestern’s best and most menancing defenders all game, and he did a good job.
▪ New Chargers running back Ian Cline, a 5-9, 203-pound junior, ran 13 times for 73 yards and a score Saturday. At his old school in West Virginia, Greenbrier East, he ran for nearly 3,000 yards and 35 touchdowns in his first two seasons, setting multiple school records.
PHOTOS: Providence Day vs. Northwestern
Game Summary
Rock Hill Northwestern 0 7 7 21 — 35
Providence Day 0 21 14 7 — 42
Second Quarter
PD: Cline 6 run (Baggett kick)
PD: Shipp 17 pass from Davis (Baggett kick)
NW: Burris 75 pass from Polk (Fish kick)
PD: Himes 18 pass from Davis (Baggett kick)
Third Quarter
PD: Goodwin 86 pass from Davis (Baggett kick)
NW: Arnold 2 run (Fish kick)
PD: Shipp 24 pass from Davis (Baggett kick)
Fourth Quarter
NW: Nichols 28 pass from Polk (Fish kick)
PD: Goodwin 18 pass from Davis (Baggett kick)
NW: Burris 11 pass from Polk (Fish kick)
NW: Vance 12 pass from Polk (Fish kick)
This story was originally published August 19, 2023 at 9:54 PM.
