The Warrior football team clinched home field advantage for the first round of the playoffs on Friday, November 4, taking down Kennesaw Mountain 48-13 in the Civil War Classic.

The game started with a bang, as senior Warrior safety Kevin Johnson intercepted the first play from scrimmage, setting up a deep Drew Tejchman touchdown two plays later. The Mustangs punted four plays later, and set up a three play NC touchdown drive capped by a 21 yard screen for six.

Kennesaw Mountain put together a decent drive on their third possession, but still ended up punting the ball down to the Warrior. The two teams traded punts, and the Warriors set up their offense again at their 45 yard line. Seniors Imad Strozier and CJ Cole picked up three consecutive near 20 yard runs and set the ball up inside the one yard line, where the NC offense substituted to give backup senior quarterback Michael Smith (14) a quarterback sneak to increase the lead to 21-0 with 1:13 left in the first quarter.

With the assistance of a Drew Tejchman interception returned for a touchdown, NC entered halftime with a 41-6 lead. The Warriors rested most of their starters the second half, still scoring on its first drive out of the gate and only allowing one touchdown to much of the Mustangs varsity offense in the second half. Sophomore Mustang quarterback Jarrett Guest scored in the third quarter on a double move bomb. The Warriors almost scored another second half touchdown, but a fumbled exchange down on the goal line gave Kennesaw Mountain the ball back on the three yard line.

The game allowed NC a great chance to execute its base plays in a real game and rest its starters heading into the playoffs. The win clinched the second spot in the region and home field advantage for the first round of the playoffs, where NC will host the Tift County Blue Devils.