Mallard Creek defense dominates in NCHSAA playoff victory over Lake Norman
High school football coaches frequently say games are won or lost in the trenches.
For Mallard Creek head coach Kennedy Tinsley, that was never more true than in Friday’s 34-9 first-round 4A playoff victory over Lake Norman.
The Mavericks’ offensive and defensive lines had their way in a convincing win over their visitors as No. 13-seeded Mallard Creek advanced to next week’s second-round game at No. 4-seeded Watauga.
“Both lines made a huge difference for us tonight,” Tinsley said. “We take a lot of pride in being the more physical team every time we play. And our offensive and defensive lines set the tone for that tonight.”
On offense, a line of Anthony Cook, Savion Best, Darius Battle, Aiden Myers, Jordan Shawn and A.J. Henderson paved the way for 356 yards of total offense, including 341 on the ground.
And they survived having three long touchdown runs nullified by penalties.
On defense, the Mavericks yielded six first downs and a long touchdown pass in the first 18 minutes of the game before their pass rush disrupted virtually everything Lake Norman tried to accomplish the rest of the night.
By game’s end, Mallard Creek had limited the Wildcats to 229 net yards of total offense in 55 plays and sacked freshman quarterback Kaden Craft 11 times for 73 yards while also forcing three turnovers.
Defensive linemen Zion Burden (four sacks, fumble recovery), Chaz Knox (two sacks), Elijah Wiggins (one sack) and Zykeir Stripling (one sack) led the way with Matthew Harris, Christopher Rogers, Nick Griffith, D’Adrian Hilliard and Tyler Bennett also contributing to the sack total.
Three who made a difference
Caleb Knight, Mallard Creek: One of the Mavericks’ three quarterbacks, he rushed 23 times for 154 yards and two touchdowns and completed one pass for 13 yards.
Curtis Clark, Mallard Creek: Rushed 12 times for 122 yards and two touchdowns.
Kaden Craft, Lake Norman: The 6-foot-5, 190-pound freshman quarterback completed nine of 15 passes for 152 yards and a 56-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Riggleman. He also picked up 66 yards on the night’s longest play before finishing with 16 net yards rushing in 19 attempts due to the 11 sacks.
Notable
▪ Since making its first playoff appearance in 2009 as a third-year school, the Mavericks have now won their first playoff game 13 times in 15 overall appearances. And the only losses came in 2018 and 2019 when Mallard Creek received a first-round bye.
▪ Friday’s meeting was the 10th between the teams — and first since Lake Norman’s lone victory (29-24) in the spring 2021 season. Mallard Creek is 9-1 all-time against the Wildcats.
▪ Next week’s game will mark the second straight year the Mavericks have played Watauga in a postseason game.
▪ Mallard Creek, seeded No. 18 a year ago, won its opening-round game at Marvin Ridge 41-7 before losing 20-14 at Watauga in the second round.
They said it
“The defensive line took a little while to get situated. But we were really able to impose our will on them on both lines, especially in the second half.” — Mallard Creek coach Kennedy Tinsley.
GAME SUMMARY
Lake Norman 6 0 3 0 - 9
Mallard Creek 13 0 7 14 - 34
FIRST QUARTER
MC: Curtis Clark 14 run (Pass failed)
LN: Cooper Riggleman 56 pass from Kaden Craft (Run failed)
MC: Samaritan Page 1 run (Ashton Blevins kick)
THIRD QUARTER
LN: Brady Tarbell 38 FG
MC: Clark 29 run (Blevins kick)
FOURTH QUARTER
MC: Caleb Knight 4 run (Blevins kick)
MC: Knight 4 run (Blevins kick)
