By Thomas Grant Jr.
For the second straight year, Northside Christian Academy opened the season with a hard-fought victory over Greenwood Christian.
While the 41-14 final score may have looked like a comfortable Crusaders’ victory, head coach Dean Howell testified otherwise.
“Our kids persevered,” he said. “Things weren’t going well for us early into the second half as we wasted several opportunities to build a lead. But our defense stepped up with a couple scoring plays and we were able to finish a couple of drives to pull away late.
“Our kids never panicked, though, and they showed a great deal of poise like most experienced teams do.”
After taking a 7-0 lead following the first of three touchdown runs by J.R. Kinard, the Crusaders gave up two touchdown passes by Leland Reed to Bryson Dixon to fall behind 13-6 early in the third quarter.
Northside Christian answered with 34 unanswered points, 12 coming on two touchdowns on both sides of the football by senior Sam Burks. He scored on a 64-yard touchdown run, then returned an interception 81 yards for a score over three minutes later in the second quarter.
Burks finished with 146 rushing yards on 13 carries.
Hunter Shick followed three minutes later with a 20-yard fumble return for a touchdown. Kinard closed out the scoring with two rushing touchdowns for 32 and 74 yards to finish with a team-high 165 yards on the ground.
The Crusaders head on the road this week to face a Calhoun Academy team playing its season-opener. With a region showdown the following week at Wilson Hall, Howell wants to ensure his team is not looking past this Friday’s game.
“They remind me a lot of Greenwood in that they will come right at you on both sides of the ball and play tough every play until the whistle blows,” said Howell about Calhoun Academy. “They have several good players and, of course, an experienced coach in Coach (Matt) Layton who will coach your butt right out of the building if you don’t come in ready to play. It’s a tough environment to play in and they have tradition on their side for sure.”
Photos courtesy of Northside Christian Academy – Northside Christian Academy running back J.R. Kinard rushed for 165 yards and three touchdowns against Greenwood Christian.
