Lake Norman rallies to beat Marvin Ridge in Iredell County game of the week
Even when Lake Norman went down by three touchdowns to Marvin Ridge, Wildcats head coach Jonathan Oliphant wasn’t thinking the game was out of reach.
Neither were Lake Norman’s players, who rallied in the second half to defeat the previously unbeaten Mavericks — No. 16 in The Observer’s Sweet 16 — 23-21 Friday night.
Mozes Morris ran for a game- and season-best 126 rushing yards and quarterback Haines Robitzer threw for 149 yards and one score for Lake Norman, which is now off to its second 4-0 start in a row.
However, Friday’s win was the Wildcats’ biggest turnaround this season after Marvin Ridge bolted out to a 21-0 halftime lead behind three passing TDs from Mavericks quarterback Evan Medders.
“I tell these guys all the time, ‘You can see a lot of things on Hudl, but you can’t see heart,’ ” Oliphant said. “We found it at camp this summer. These guys love each other, and that’s something you can’t see on film. If we continue to work and love each other, we’ll play for a while.”
Medders had put Marvin Ridge (3-1) ahead with scoring passes of 24 yards to Cole Searight in the first quarter, and TD passes of 15 yards to Jake Schumacher and 20 yards to Mark Arthur in the second. Dawson Jones also went 3 for 3 on extra-point kicks.
But Lake Norman began its second-half turnaround on the opening play, recovering a Mavericks’ fumble. That set up a short drive that led to a 1-yard TD run by Trae Sechrest with 8 minutes, 40 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Wildcats’ defense then came through with a safety early in the fourth quarter to cut Marvin Ridge’s margin to 21-9. A fake punt then set up another Lake Norman score, a 35-yard TD pass from Robitzer to Antonio Griffiin with 3:35 left.
Now down 21-16, the Wildcats took advantage of a short Marvin Ridge punt to set up their game-winning drive, a 9-yard keeper by Robitzer with 1:32 left, followed by Michael Buck’s third extra point kick of the night, to put Lake Norman ahead 23-21.
The Mavericks had one last chance, driving to the Wildcats’ 14-yard line with seven seconds remaining to set up Jones’ 31-yard field-goal attempt. But Jones’ kick went wide right, setting off a celebration by Lake Norman’s players after running out the clock.
“They kept playing, and we got complacent,” Marvin Ridge head coach Aubrey Carter said. “Give them all the credit in the world — they had opportunities, and they made plays. They could’ve easily shut down at halftime, but they didn’t.
“We need to learn from what we did. We did some stuff well early, and we need to learn from what we didn’t do well in the second half to get better. But I know this team is going to rally around each other.”
Three who made a difference
Mozes Morris, Lake Norman: The 5-foot-10 sophomore back had his biggest game of the season at the right time for the Wildcats. Of his 14 carries, six went for 10 or more yards, including a 33-yard dash in the first half. He also had a key 21-yard pass completion to Tate Smith on the fake punt that set up Lake Norman’s second touchdown.
Haines Robitzar, Lake Norman: Another sophomore starter for the Wildcats, he completed 16 of 21 passes — with no interceptions, a key for Lake Norman — and the touchdown to Griffith.
Evan Medders, Marvin Ridge: The senior quarterback more than doubled his passing touchdowns this season, entering Friday’s game with only two. He went 15 of 25 with the three TDs.
Worth mentioning
▪ Carter, who is in his ninth season as Marvin Ridge’s head coach, spent 12 years as an assistant coach at Lake Norman before taking the Mavericks’ job in 2015. He was the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator from 2012-2014, and the defensive coordinator from 2010-2011.
▪ A surprising, and somewhat embarrassing moment occurred late in the fourth quarter when the sprinkler system on Lake Norman’s field suddenly turned on. However, it took just a minute to shut things down.
What’s next?
Marvin Ridge closes out its nonconference schedule with a rare Thursday night game against Myers Park in Charlotte. Meanwhile, Lake Norman has an off week before opening Greater Metro 4A conference play against A.L. Brown in Kannapolis on Sept. 22.
SCORING SUMMARY
MARVIN RIDGE 7 14 0 0 — 21
LAKE NORMAN 0 0 7 16 — 23
MR — Cole Searight 24 pass from Evan Medders (Dawson Jones kick).
MR — Jake Schumacher 15 pass from Medders (Jones kick).
MR — Mark Arthur 20 pass from Medders (Jones kick).
LN — Trae Sechrest 1 run (Michael Buck kick).
LN — Safety, MR Luke Wakefield tackled in end zone.
LN — Antonio Griffin 35 pass from Haines Robitzer (Buck kick).
LN — Robitzer 9 run (Buck kick).
PHOTOS: Marvin Ridge at Lake Norman
This story was originally published September 8, 2023 at 11:05 PM.
