Weddington rallies past Ardrey Kell 30-13
After trailing by two scores after three quarters, Weddington exploded for four touchdowns with a safety sandwiched in between to take a 30-13 non-conference win over Ardrey Kell Friday night at Warrior Stadium.
The first half was a defensive struggle with both teams having several long drives, but no scoring until the Knights got good field position with four minutes left and put together a five play, 31-yard drive that was capped by quarterback Bryce Maginley’s seven-yard scamper into the end zone. Maginley set up the another Ardrey Kell touchdown with a bruising 47-yard run around left end and the Knights only needed a four-yard run by Merrick Haston to push the lead to 13-0 with 4:07 left in the third stanza.
Weddington took the ensuing kickoff and drove 80 yards in 13 plays with fullback Nick Patterson blasting over from five yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 13-7. After holding the Knights to a three-and-out, the Warriors put together another long drive, going 85 yards in ten plays with Joe Bensch catching a 33-yard strike from Grayson Willingham to give Weddington its first lead.
A snap over the punter’s head and two interceptions later, the Warriors had put up 16 more points to complete the fourth quarter scoring onslaught.
Quote: “We came back and beat a good football team tonight. What that tells us is that we can play with the 4A schools.
Records: Weddington 1-0, 0-0. Ardrey Kell 0-1, 0-0
Worth mentioning: Weddington running back Christian Sanchez did most of his damage on the ground in the second half, finishing with 108 yards on 19 carries. Ardrey Kell and Notre Dame defensive end recruit Julian Okwara was ejected late in the game, but Coach Joe Evans stated he will send the film to the NCHSAA office in hopes of getting the call reduced to a disqualification
What's Next: Weddington travels to Forest Hills next week, and Ardrey Kell hosts Myers Park.
This story was originally published August 21, 2015 at 11:18 PM with the headline "Weddington rallies past Ardrey Kell 30-13."