South Falls Under Wednesday Night Lights by Dan O’Neal

BOSTIC, NC (August 30, 2017)…Hurricanes and other major storms have an annoying way of making for certain quick changes in our routines. Sadly, we recently have witnessed the devastation that Harvey has lashed out on the Houston, Texas metropolis in the form of deluge. Many prayers and love go out to the families of those who lost their lives in this dreadful tragedy as well as those who have been abruptly displaced.

Residents in Western North Carolina were affected by the tail end of this storm, but in no way compares to the Southeast Texas impact. Yet, hard rain resulting from storms make for quick changes where athletic competition is concerned. Hence, South Caldwell played their second game of the 2017 football season this past Wednesday night at East Rutherford with a 6:30pm kickoff. Sidebar here friends: should you be traveling on 74A through Forest City, and if you like Asian cuisine, by all means stop over at the China and Hibachi; it’s very reasonably priced, along with most excellent food and service.

The Spartans entered the contest coming off of a season opening loss to 3A powerhouse Kings Mountain. East Rutherford, from the Southwestern Athletic 2A Conference, came into the game with two very convincing victories over South Stanly and North Gaston. For any teams facing the Cavaliers this season, know they bring much speed and quickness to the table so to speak.

South started the game on a positive note, moving the football for seventy-two yards on fourteen plays and controlling the game clock in the frame for seven minutes. Unfortunately for the Spartans, the drive stalled on the Cavaliers 8 yard line on a fourth down attempt.

The Spartans defensive unit also began with solid play, forcing the Cavaliers on a three and out. This made for a scoreless first period, giving South some motivation going into the next frame.

However, as the second quarter began, it would be all Cavaliers. Junior tailback Demetrius Mauney recovered from being shaken up earlier in the game with a twenty-one yard sprint making for the game’s first score. Mauney would score again on the Cavaliers next drive from fifteen yards out. He capped off his 230 yard rushing performance with an eighty-eight yard run to the house. Also, Cavaliers quarterback Cameron Simmons connected on four of six passing for 110 yards along with with two touchdown strikes to Jordan Harris, who caught all four East Rutherford passes, pacing them to a 47-7 win.

The coaching staff knows the lack of maturity with adversity the Spartans are facing right now. While they acknowledge their good start in this contest, watching film and learning from mistakes will be crucial for their next nine games. It did not help  matters for South in that the East quarterback, also defensive back Simmons had his pick six highlight reel from twenty yards out. The season is early, and certainly the players can learn much from watching film, listening to the coaching staff and be confident in knowing the Spartan Nation is fully behind them and what they seek to achieve.

With game performance on the Spartans side of the football, Harley Sullivan ran the ball for 102 yards and a touchdown. Spence Piercy also contributed to the effort with forty-three yards rushing and quarterback Jesse Connor ran the ball for 42 yards. Though Connor was sacked twice, he continued to bounce back the entire game.

South continues their season on the road as they travel to Lenoir to face county rival Hibriten. The Caldwell Cup is once again at stake and the Spartans hope to get that back to their trophy case. Kickoff is set for 7:30pm this Friday, September 8th unless another storm makes another “quick change” in scheduling.

Scoreboard

SC 0 0 0 7- 7

ER 0 26 21 0- 47

Scoring Summary

ER-Mauney 21 run, kick failed, 9:07 2nd

ER-Mauney 15run, kick failed, 7:35 2nd

ER- Mauney 88run, Roderick kick, 2:10 2nd

ER-Whitesides 20 int return, Roderick kick, 2:05 2nd

ER-Simmons 38 pass to Harris, Roderick kick 10:57 3rd

ER-Simmons 8pass to Harris, Roderick kick 5:56 3rd

ER-Mull 2run, Roderick kick, 1:03 3rd

SC- Sullivan 4run, Maysonet kick, 7:19 4th

Yardsticks

First Downs: SC 11  ER 8

Total Yards: SC 234 ER 411

Rushing Yards: SC 41-218 ER 32-301

Passing Yards: SC 16 ER 110

Comp-Att-Int: SC 4-13-2 ER 4-6-0

Penalties: SC 6-60 ER 6-55

Time of Possession SC 29:27 ER 18:33

Punting: SC 20.1 ER 44.1

Individual Stats

SC- Rushing: Sullivan 19-102,TD, Piercy 9-43, Connor 5-42, Raynor 3-7, Herman 2-6, Martin 1-2, Kirby 1-9, Faro 1-7; Passing- Connor 3-8-1 10, Raynor 0-1-0, Martin 0-3-1, Piercy 1-1-0 6; Receiving- Raynor 2-7, Piercy 1-6, Craig 1-3

ER- Rushing- Mauney 13- 230, 3TD, Jones 7-28, Mull 6-27,TD, Simmons 1-3, Littlejohn 4-4, McDowell 1-9; Passing-Simmons 4-6-0 110, 2TD; Receiving- Harris 4-110,2TD