Northwood dominates Bolsa Grande 49-7 and improves mark to 3-1

Northwood quarterback Jaden Piazza led the Timberwolves Friday night.

Northwood quarterback Jaden Piazza threw two touchdowns and an aggressive Timberwolves defense forced eight turnovers to lead Northwood to a 49-7 non-league victory over Bolsa Grande Friday evening at Irvine Stadium.

Northwood won its second consecutive game and improved to 3-1 on the season. The Matadors dropped to 1-3.

“We’re a young team and this is exciting,” said Timberwolves coach Pete Mitchell. “I’m blessed with a great coaching staff and these kids are so coachable. Now it’s time for us to get ready for Cerritos.”

The Timberwolves offensive and defensive started off in a dominant fashion and didn’t let up.  Northwood scored four touchdowns in the opening quarter to take a commanding 28-0 lead after 12 minutes of play.

The Timberwolves took the opening kickoff and marched 50 yards in seven plays to take a 7-0 lead. Nick Demaio capped the drive with a 1-yard TD run.

On the ensuing possession, Northwood defensive back Michael Sarno picked up a fumble in the Matadors’ backfield and raced 29 yards for a touchdown.

Following a Bolsa Grande three-and-out, Piazza tossed a 52-yard TD pass to Seth Locke to up the lead to 21-0. Daniel Kim added a short TD run late in the first quarter and Piazza tossed a 20-yard TD pass to Myles Carter as the Timberwolves built a 35-0 lead halftime lead.

“We prepared hard all week for this game,” Locke said. “We’re winning all of these games and we’re headed into league with a full head of steam.”

The Northwood defense applied heavy pressure on Bolsa Grande quarterbacks George Hernandez and Tim McDaniel throughout the game. The defensive front led by Fayez Kobeissy and Xavier Cousar recorded seven sacks in the first half and held the Matadors offense to under 50 yards.

“I read their offensive line and I was able to go down and under and penetrate,” said Kobeissy, who had three sacks and an interception that he nearly retuned for a touchdown. “We’re happy, this hasn’t happened around here for a long time.”

The Timberwolves also picked off four passes and forced two fumbles in the first half and picked off another two passes in the second half as Northwood’s defense completely stifled the Bolsa Grande attack.

“We played up and lost this week, but give them credit because they executed,” said Bolsa Grande coach Alfredo Silva, who had previously coached with Pete Mitchell at Whittier College. “We didn’t quit and slowly but surely we are going to turnaround this program.”

Piazza completed seven passes for 166 yards and 2 TDs. Mcaine Mould and Darren Shorter added second TD runs for Northwood.

Jaylen Todd led the Matadors with seven catches for 70 yards. He scored the lone Bolsa Grande touchdown on a fourth quarter TD run.

STATS

BG                    00     00    00    07     —     7

NORTH            28      07   14     00      –    49

RUSHING: BG, Todd 5-22; NW, Mould 4-30, Shorter 2-33.

PASSING: BG, Hernandez 7-20-4, 62; NW, Piazza 7-21-0, 166, 2 TDs

RECEIVING: BG, Todd 7-70, Nguyen 2-8; NW, Locke 2-8, Littlejohn 2-21.

-Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone