Mason Rudolph's big night was key to Northwestern's season-opening victory.
Photo by Troy Cherry
began the season with high expectations, starting out at No. 22 in the
Xcellent 25.
On Friday night, the Trojans looked every bit the part of a nationally-ranked team, as they dismantled defending state champion
Gaffney (S.C.), 51-19, thanks to six total touchdowns by quarterback
Mason Rudolph.
Rudolph passed for five touchdowns and rushed for another to help Northwestern cruise to an easy victory.
A 35-yard touchdown pass to Quandarius Fair kicked off the scoring, giving Northwestern a 7-0 lead. Gaffney answered back to make it 7-6.
In the start of the second quarter, Northwestern scored twice to extended the lead to 21-6. The teams traded touchdowns late in the second quarter and Northwestern led 28-12 at half.
The second half was all Northwestern, as it outscored Gaffney 23-7 thanks in large part to Rudolph.
At one point, according to various reports on Twitter, the Oklahoma State-bound Rudolph completed 22 of his first 23 pass attempts.
Rudolph chose Oklahoma State in June over Virginia Tech and LSU. Entering his senior season, he had amassed over 6,500 career passing yards and 65 touchdowns.
Northwestern travels to take on Charlotte Catholic next weekend while Gaffney will look to rebound against Clinton.
View full game recap from Qwixcore.
