Northwestern beats Irmo 34-31 to win first AAAAA Division II state title

           Orangeburg – It was a moment Matthew Fish said he had been preparing for his entire career. When the opportunity finally came, he was more than ready.

           “I practiced it every day for the past four years, constantly trying to kick it straight,” Fish said.

           All that work paid off as the Northwestern High School senior placekicker booted a 27-yard field goal as time expired on the final play of his high school football career to give the Trojans a 34-31 victory over Irmo for the first AAAAA Division II state championship on Saturday on Willie E. Jeffries Field at South Carolina State University’s Oliver C. Dawson Stadium.

           The championship is the sixth in school history and the first since 2016 for NHS, which finished the season with a perfect 14-0 record.

           When the Yellow Jackets tied the game at 31-31 with 1:43 remaining in the contest, the option of Fish kicking a game-winning field goal immediately came to mind. He had connected on 10 of 12 field goals entering the contest and was 73 of 73 on extra point attempts, so he was battle-tested in that regard.

           Still, it was the matter of doing it with a state championship, an undefeated season and – for that matter – a lifelong memory on the line. Northwestern head coach Page Wofford had full confidence in Fish. After quarterback Finley Polk had completed 5 of 5 passes for 64 yards to set up a first down at IHS 16-yard line, Irmo was penalized five yareds for having too many players on the field. Polk then kept the ball for one yard, setting the ball in the middle of the field, and Wofford let the clock run down until one second remained.

           “I was fully confident in Matthew,” Wofford said. “If that would have been a 45-yard attempt instead of a 27-yarder, we would have kicked it.”

           Fish lined up twice for the kick only to have Jackets head coach Aaron Brand burn his final two timeouts. Once those were out of the way, Fish drilled it through the uprights, setting off a wild celebration that saw pretty much all of the Trojans run around the field.

           “I was definitely nervous,” Fish said. “I mean they iced me twice. But it obviously didn’t do much brecause I made it. I mean they put me in the middle right where I like it, and Coach Wofford knew I had it in me.”

           Polk, who had a phenomenal game, knew that Fish would answer the call if given the opportunity.

“I just said, ‘Let’s go,’ “ Polk said. “I knew we had enough time to get down the field and get in field goal range for Matthew Fish. He’s a great kicker. He’s got to go somewhere (to play collegiately). I knew he was going to make the kick.”

Wofford, who just finished his sixth season as head coach, was confident a game-winning drive awaited his team.

“We had plenty of time,” he said. “They left too much time on the clock. We didn’t need that because we ran the clock down at the end and called the timeout.

“We knew we were going to throw the ball down the field, get it to our playmakers. We didn’t change our game plan. We knew what we were going to get when they got in different formations.”

While it all came down to Fish’s leg on the final play, the rest of the game revolved around the passing of Polk, both the passing and running of IHS star quarterback AJ Brand and the receivers to whom they could distribute the ball.

Polk completed 33 of 39 passes for 427 yards and four touchdowns. NHS wide receiver Jayden Nichols had the most receptions, 13 for 150 yards. Wide receiver Kameron Vance had 11 catches for 164 yards and two touchdowns, and wide receiver TaDarrian Knox had six catches for 81 yards and two scores.

Brand, the Virginia Tech signee, completed 12 of 17 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns while carrying the ball 21 times for 168 yards and two touchdowns. His star wide receiver, Donovan Murph, who will announce between South Carolina, Clemson and a couple of other schools on January 2, had eight catches for 123 yards and the two TDs.

Their abilities were on full display on scoring drives for both teams prior to the field goal.

With the game tied at 24-24, Northwestern started at its 20 following an Irmo punt. Polk was 6 of 7 on the drive with the big play a 47-yarder to Vance. The junior wide receiver caught a short pass, broke an immediate arm tackle, ducked under another would-be tackler and took off for a first-down-and-goal situation at the Yellow Jackets 10. On third and goal from the 8, Polk zipped a pass into the end zone that Vance went up and grabbed to make it 31-24 with 4:05 remaining in the game.

“Honestly, I needed to make a play. I’m not trying to be cocky, but I’m a dawg,” Vance said excitedly with a laugh about the 47-yarder. “I knew I had to make a dawg play, which I did.”

So what did that make the touchdown catch on which he positioned himself to outfight a defender for the ball.

“That was a bear play,” Vance said. “Coach believed in me to make a play, which I did.”

Wofford said nothing that Polk and his teammattes did on the field came as a surprise.

“The things he can do on the field in our offense is tremendous,” the head coach said. “He knows the offense. We give him a little heads up here and there. The touchdown there to Kam Vance toward the end was a play that we never practiced, never ran, but we saw it was going to be open. When you’ve got guys like Finley Polk and Kameron Vance and other receivers, you can put stuff together on the fly.

“I’m just happy that it happened on this stage so other people can see it too.”

The Yellow Jackets responded by watching Brand drop back to pass, tuck the ball and take off for a 49-yard run to the Northwestern 30. After a 3-yard loss, Brand went up top to Murph, who went up and made the grab in the left corner of the end zone. Placekicker Tucker Williams added the PAT to tie the game at 31-31 with 1:43 to go.

Coach Brand was almost apologetic when talking about what he thinks of his son, AJ.

“He’s the best, he’s the best,” the head coach said. “He played a great game, he had a great career. And the future is so bright for him.”

With his performance on Saturday, AJ went over 2,500 yards passing and 2,000 yards rushing for the season.

“I don’t know, but I can’t imagine that has happened very often,” Coach Brand said.

The first big play of the game came on the second offensive play of the game. That’s when Brand laid the football on the ground thanks to Northwestern defensive lineman Andre Pickett with defensive back Tamarion Watkins recovering at the Yellow Jacket 24-yard line.

           The Trojans needed just four plays to get into the end zone with Polk throwing an 8-yard touchdown pass to Knox. Fish added the extra point to make it 7-0 with 10:33 still remaining in the first quarter.

           IHS would not be deterred by the initial error. It responded with a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive that took 6 minutes, 14 seconds, off of the clock.

           On the second play of this possession, Brand broke off a 25-yard run to the Irmo 46. A pass interference call against NHS gave the Jackets a firsts down at the Northwestern 29.

It looked as though the drive had stalled out when Brand threw an incompletion on fourth down and 11 yards to go. However, a 10-yard holding penalty against the Trojans made it fourth and one, and Brand got a first down on a 1-yard run. After a 12-yard run by running back Amir White, Brand threw a 7-yard scoring pass to Murph. Williams added the PAT to tie the game at 7-7 with 4:19 left in the quarter.

AJ Brand said he wasn’t deterred by the early mistake.

“Nobody let me get my head down,” he said. “Utimately, I knew if we had a chance to win this game I had to bounce back from that. My teammates rallied behind me, my coaches rallied behind me, rhe fans supported us.”

NHS returned the favor on the turnover when Nichols coughed up the football after a 12-yard catch. Irmo linebacker Kyle Mitchell recovered at the Yellow Jacket 40. IHS got as close as the Northwestern 26 but was unable to capitalize.

The offensive explosion that was expected didn’t begin to happen until right at the end of the first half. Northwestern went 78 yards in five plays and just 1:18 to score with 2:26 remaining in the second quarter. Polk had a 35-yard completion and a 22-yard completion to Nichols to set up an 8-yard toss to Knox to make it 14-7.

Irmo responded by driving down the field thanks to a few penalties on NHS and a couple of completions from Brand to Murph. The Yellow Jackets ran out of time though and had to settle for a 26-yard field by Williams on the final play of the first half to make the score 14-10.

The Trojans received the second-half kickoff and Polk connected with Knox for a 37-yard gain to the IHS 35. They drove to a first and goal at the 8, but could get no closer than the 3. NHS had to settle or a 20-yard field goal from Fish to make it 17-10 with 9:13 to go in the third quarter.

Irmo answered with a 9-play, 68-yard scoring drive. Brand has runs of 16, 13 and seven yards to set up an18-yard scoring run. Wiliams’ PAT tied the game at 17-17 with 4:51 remaining.

The Trojans were on the move on the ensuing possession, reaching the Yellow Jacket 29. That’s where they faced fourth down and one and Polk threw a short pass to Nichols. However, he was immediately met by safety Jamar Grissett and didn’t pick up the first down.

IHS took its first lead of the game with a 6-play, 71-yard scoring drive. Wide receiver Maleek Miller had a 15-yard catch and an 18-yard run on the first two plays for a first down at the NHS 38. Irmo was facing fourth and 1 at the 29 when Brand ran a keeper around right end and outran the defense to the end zone to make it 24-17 with 11:08 remaining in the fourth quarter.

That lead held up for all of 1:50. Polk connected with Vance on second down for a 55-yard gain to the Yellow Jacket 18. Polk was then sacked for an 8-yard loss that helped set up fourth and 15 from the 23. Polk connected with wide receiver Daniel Caldwell for 18 yards and a first down and then went to Vance for a 5-yard TD to tie it at 24-24 with 9:18 left in the game.

           Polk congratulated his teammates on the success he enjoyed on Saturday.

           “I felt comfortable,” Polk said. “I knew the offensive line (tackles Matthew McLellan and Bean Chantley, center Chris Coleman and guards Noah McCoy and Nasir Hannah) was going to block for me. I didn’t have much pressure at all. I knew the receivers were going to catch for me and I knew (running back) Zymeir (Gordon-Miles) was going to move the ball. They were going to make holes and he was going to get through them.”

           Gordon-Miles rushed for 67 yards on 12 carries and caught two passes for 14 yards.

           Defensive lineman DJ Knox-Dowling had a huge game for the Trojans. He had 11 tackles, five of them being tackles for a loss. Watkins had seven tackles and three TFLs, and linebacker Will Massey had nine tackles.

           Grissett, defensive tackle Ethan Gamble and cornerback Darius Goodson had eight tackles apiece to lead Irmo.

The Yellow Jackets finished with a 12-2 record. AJ Brand said he and his teammates will choose to look at the whole body of work as opposed to one game.

“One loss doesn’t define what kind of team we are, what caliber of coaches we have or anything,” he said. “It’s just a lesson.”

Brand’s dad agreed.

“I know they hurt and I hurt also,” Coach Brand said. “We’ve got a bunch of winners. We’ve got a bunch of playmakers and our playmakers made plays. Unfortunately, we didn’t get enough stops and that early turnover …

“Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you, and tonight was not our night and they got us at the end. There's something to be said about going perfect all year. It is what it is. I don’t want to take anything away from them, but I wish we could get a couple of those drives back.”

           Wofford admitted winning the state title was a bit surreal.

           “It feels great, it’s very rewarding,” Wofford said. “It’s kind of surreal. I forgot the last drive; I don’t remember the plays we called. I do remember the kick going through and me hugging one of the coaches. Other than that, I’m happy for the kids, happy for the city and happy for Northwestern High School.”