Northwood’s Jaden Piazza picks up yardage during the Timberwolves win over the Warriors.
Northwood’s football team came away with a 21-8 victory over visiting Saddleback Valley Christian at Irvine Stadium on Friday night.
The Timberwolves jumped ahead early with the help of a bad snap by SVC that sailed over the punter’s head and out of the end zone resulting in a safety. The Timberwolves never looked back.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo
“I’m really proud of the kids. They played really hard. We made some mistakes, but we over came them and its a great win for us.” Northwood Coach Pete Mitchell said.
While the Timberwolves (1-0 ) led the entire game, the SVC Warriors battled it out until the end. They had a safety of their own before Jack Sweeney scored a 10-yard touchdown as time expired in the third quarter.
The Warriors (0-1) had a chance to stage a comeback in with 4:30 left in the game, but a sack by the senior corner Cody David on fourth down forced a turnover and all but sealed the victory for Northwood.
Northwood defensive back, Trey Littlejohn helped keep the Warriors from scoring by intercepting two passes as well.
“It was the first game and that’s what the first game is all about.” SVC Coach Brendan Chambers said. “It’s kind of figuring out what those mistakes are and seeing what we did well. We saw some bright spots.”
The Timberwolves featured a tandem quarterback offense with Tanner Buck and Jaden Piazza. While Piazza took most of the snaps, Buck made the best of his opportunities. Both threw for over 100 yards and Piazza ran for 59 yards which led the team.
“It’s not common but it is nice. We both show good sportsmanship coming in and out.” Piazza said. “We like to give each other high fives and celebrate when one of us scores.”
“Whatever works for the team is all I care about,” Buck said. “If me and him are both doing well, that’s perfect.”
Buck threw the longest pass of the game to receiver Seth Locke to pick up 37 yards and set up a touchdown drive.
STATS
SVC 00 00 08 00 – 8
NW 02 11 08 00 – 21
Rushing: SVC Jack Sweeney, 6-32; Evan Spry, 8-29
Northwood, Jaden Piazza, 13-59
Passing: SVC Mason Allen, 6-21-2, 112 Passing yards
Northwood Tanner Buck, 8-11-0, 119 Passing yards; Jaden Piazza, 11-21-0, 111 Passing Yards
Receiving: SVC Jack Sweeney, 1-56, Cade Carter, 2-23
Northwood, Seth Locke, 9-143, Travis Arena 5-43
-Kyle Smith, For OC Sports Zone
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