PHOTOS: Northwood’s Adam Harper stars but gets a lift from teammates in win over Beckman

Northwood’s Adam Harper dives in for one of his three touchdowns Thursday night. (Photos courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone).

Northwood senior running back Adam Harper was the star of the show again Thursday night, scoring three touchdowns to lead the Timberwolves past Beckman 33-14 in a non-league game at Tustin.

But Harper had a very good supporting cast too, featuring quarterback Eugene Miyata, who passed for two touchdowns and receiver Andrew Penrod, who had seven catches, to help Northwood improve its record to 4-1 overall.

Northwood Coach JC Clarke pointed out the Timberwolves’ offensive line, featuring players who have replaced injured starters, was also instrumental in the win.

“I’m really proud of our line and our defense,” said Miyata, who passed for 189 yards. “We did well against their run and Andrew Penrod had a great game. Adam did his thing and the line was good.”

Penrod had seven catches for 111 yards including a 12-yard TD catch in the third quarter that put Northwood ahead 33-7.

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Harper, who rushed for 210 yards, scored on touchdown runs of 1, 6 and 65 yards and Kaden Carter also hauled in a 33-yard TD catch in the second quarter that put Northwood ahead 13-0.

“He’s as good an athlete as I’ve had, and I coached in the Moore League for 15 years,” Clarke said of Harper. “He plays very hard and doesn’t want to come out of the game and he gets mad when I take him out on defense, he’s an excellent defensive player.”

Harper’s second TD run helped Northwood take a 21-0 lead at halftime and the Timberwolves were in control after that.

Harper also credited the linemen.

“The younger guys stepped up and they’re falling into their roles,” Harper said. “They’re a good group of little guys, they’re feisty, they will go and hit you, they do their job and I just do the rest,” Harper said.

Beckman (2-2) was led by Jonathan Sandoval who rushed for 138 yards and scored a 6-yard TD run in the third quarter.

Quarterback Nick Molina connected with Dominic Thompson on a 4-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter for the Patriots other score. Molina passed for 190 yards and Thompson had 10 catches for 137 yards.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com