Northwestern shuts out Laurens, 57-0, in first-round high school football playoff game

Quarterback Finley Polk threw for 124 yards and four touchdowns as Northwestern shut out Laurens, 57-0, in the first round of the 4A state playoffs Friday night.

It was a dominant performance for the Trojans, who performed well in all three phases of the game. Offensively, Northwestern scored touchdowns on eight of its ten drives and only punted once. Zilon Arnold led the rushing attack for Northwestern with 88 yards and two scores, while fellow senior running back Turbo Richard recorded 58 yards on the ground and a score.

“Kids played great,” head coach Page Wofford said. “I don’t know what else to say. They paid attention, they were locked in. We were having great practices, great attitudes. There’s no selfishness going on. Nobody’s thinking me, me, me. It’s all about the team.”

The most impressive part of Northwestern’s performance may belong to the defense and special teams.

Northwestern’s defense held Laurens to negative-5 yards of total offense on the night and racked up 19 total tackles for loss, forcing the Raiders into tough spots.

Senior Jayden Woods, sophomore Caleb Singleton and freshman Zymier Gordon-Miles each recorded an interception.

“We challenged them this week,” Wofford said. “We thought we had a good plan for them, and the kids have been practicing so well. (Defensive coordinator Mario) Donato and his staff put some really good defensive game plans together. We felt like if they came out and did what they had been doing that we’d have a really good chance to slow him down.”

On special teams, the Trojans brought a relentless punt block, stuffing two Laurens punts and forcing an incompletion on a fake punt late in the first half.

Sophomore linebacker Tamarion Watkins was responsible for both of those blocks as he rushed straight through the middle of the Raider punt formation.

“We’ve been working on it all year,” Wofford said. “Special teams, we put more of an emphasis on it this year and have done some things a little bit differently and emphasized a little more. It was good to see.”

Northwestern will take on Greenwood at home in the second round of the playoffs next week.

This story was originally published November 3, 2023 at 10:36 PM with the headline "Northwestern shuts out Laurens, 57-0, in first-round high school football playoff game."