Adam Harper picks up a gain for Northwood in Friday’s non-league game. Photo courtesy Mark Bausman/For OC Sports Zone)
Northwood bounced back from last week’s opening season loss to Irvine defeating University 49-2 Friday night at University.
Northwood came into the game after losing several key starters with injuries last week while University was also hit hard by injuries.
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The Timberwolves started fast and moved out to a 28-0 halftime lead. Sophomore Adam Harper was the star of the game for the Timberwolves, scoring five touchdowns.
Northwood Coach Michael Stewart said the entire offensive lined stepped up.
Harper had four rushing touchdowns, one punt return for a touchdown, one two point conversion pass and one interception and more than 200 yards total offense. He was also in on numberous tackles.
Nate Maloney had numerous catches and one interception and quarterback Andrew Penrod “managed the offewnse and made great decisions,” Stewart said.
“I was so proud of the kids tonight,” Stewart said. “They battled back from a tough loss and played so hard. They bought in this week at practice and it made a difference. Uni is very well coached and their kids played hard the whole game. Injuries have been so hard on both our programs. We need to be well prepared for a tough and well coached Portola squad.
University fell to 0-2 overall. The Trojans came in shorthanded and suffered more injuries, according to Coach Chris Hernandez.
“Earlier in the week I considered cancelling the game because we lost four linemen last week and we had only 10 on the team,” Hernandez said. “We converted a few running backs to O-line to try and give our seniors an opportunity to play another game. Looking at it now, cancelling the game would have been the right call as we had more injuries occur tonight which will impact whether or not we can play next week (vs. Beckman).
“Despite the outcome, I’m proud of a number of players who sacrificed and played hard this week. I just want some of the seniors who have worked so hard to change the culture of the program, like captains Julio Baron and Brian Bush to get some positive results for all their hard work.”
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