OXFORD -- Northwood needed a play, and Donyea Rhodes delivered.
His team having already given up a touchdown on the opening possession of overtime, Chargers coach Bill Hall called on a point-after-touchdown block that they had been working on in practice and Rhodes knocked down Corey Phillips' extra point attempt.
On their possession, Northwood's Shannon Peppers scored from 10 yards out and Josue Pena converted on his extra-point opportunity, giving the Chargers a stirring 21-20 victory over South Granville to advance to the third round of the 2-AA playoffs.
"That block is something we work on every Monday and Thursday in practice," Hall said. "I'm glad it finally paid off for us."
The Chargers avenged a 27-7 loss to the Vikings earlier in league play.
The game, played in Oxford on Webb High School's campus, was scoreless until Sam Griffin hit A.J. Farmer, who out jumped a Vikings defender, gathered himself, and raced 68 yards to give Northwood a 7-0 lead in the second quarter that they would take into halftime.
South Granville (9-3), however, found its offensive rhythm in the second half, particularly star tailback Ian Bosley. The senior accounted for 74 yards on an 11-play, third-quarter drive that culminated in a Josh Thorpe 11-yard touchdown pass to Cory Hicks to tie the score 7-7.
Northwood (12-1) won despite turning the ball over three times and committing eight penalties.
Bosley ends his career with 5,986 yards rushing, which is an all-time record at South Granville.
