Chapel Hill Tigers ruin Northwood’s claim of Big 8 football share

Chapel Hill’s players sloshed through a two-hour-plus mud bath, but none of that mattered to the Tigers after upsetting The News & Observer’s No. 15-ranked Northwood 19-17 Friday night on the Chargers’ field.

“This was sweet,” said Chapel Hill two-way lineman Hudson Price, his No. 62 white jersey obscured by mud. “It was hard to get your footing; you had to keep a wide base.”

With the win, Chapel Hill (6-5, 3-3 Big 8 3A) salvaged a winning season and locked up a playoff spot. But for Northwood (6-5, 4-2), the loss cost the Chargers a share of the league title.

Northwood entered the night in a three-way tie in league play with No. 8 Southern Durham (8-3, 5-1) and No. 5 Orange (10-1, 5-1). Orange finished its regular season last week with a win over Chapel Hill.

Chapel Hill was opportunistic after trailing 7-6 at halftime. The Tigers recovered a fumble at Northwood’s 39 and scored six players later. Quarterback Connor Stough’s 25-yard TD pass to Connor Korfas was good for a 12-7 lead with 5:26 left in the third quarter.

The Tigers forced a three-and-out and scored four plays later. Ricki McDowell broke off a 44-yard touchdown run up the middle with 2:53 left in the third period.

Turning point

Chapel Hill mounted so much pressure in the Tigers stalled Northwood’s second-half attempts to drive the ball. Chapel Hill recorded 10 tackles for minus-47 yards.

They said it

“We were showing a lot of different pressures and a lot of them connected. Sometimes they left a linebacker or a lineman open.” -- Price on the number of tackles for a loss in the second half.

Three who mattered

Montel Goods, Northwood: The senior carried 30 times for 155 yards with one touchdown.

Michael Queen, Northwood: The senior caught balls on both sides with three catches for 52 yards and one interception. He scored on a 42-yard fake-punt TD pass from quarterback Kyle Jones.

Connor Stough, Chapel Hill: The senior quarterback scored on a 1-yard run with four seconds left in the first half. He set up the score with completions of 9, 15 and 19 yards.

Career total

Goods finished the regular season with 1,775 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns. He entered the season with 1,029 yards in two varsity seasons in a pass-oriented offense.

This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 10:15 PM with the headline "Chapel Hill Tigers ruin Northwood’s claim of Big 8 football share."