BOONE, NC (November 4, 2016)…South Caldwell entered Friday evening’s contest riding a two-game win streak and with a win tonight would qualify for the post season. Throughout the 2016 season, these young men have shown improvement, especially in finishing on offensive series in the latter part of the season and the defense made a solid showing against Fred T. Foard last Friday.
With Pioneers tailback Evan Suggs rushing for over 200 yards and an acrobatic interception of Spartans quarterback Jason Martin resulting in a pick-six, South came up considerably short on the scoreboard as Watauga used their spread option to secure the victory, 63-21. Even though the Spartans defense played as hard-nosed as they could, they, like other Pioneers opponents, had difficulty in stopping the off-tackle sprints by their backfield. As head coach Sean McMenomy commented after the game, “this was the best team we faced all season. They had no weaknesses tonight”. As a result, South will miss the playoffs and complete their season with a 2-9 record.
Though Watauga won by a considerable margin, it was not as if they were completely satisfied with their overall defensive performance. The Spartans finished the game on the offensive side with 318 total yards, senior Tyler Goins leading the charge with 153 yards on the ground and their twenty-one points on the scoreboard. Kudos also to placekicker Carlos Maysonet, who has connected very well on extra points. Goins completes his season on another outstanding note with 1,531 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns. There will be another article to highlight the other individual statistics.
All in all, Spartan Nation, once again, you guys have an outstanding group of young men who gave their all for their school. Kudos as always to the Cheer Corps for bringing their A-game for both home and away contests. We were always impressed by the Spartan Regiment and know they will represent their community well as they travel to Chicago for Thanksgiving. Enough also cannot be said about the crew in the press box. There is no greater hospitality in the state than the faithful ones who make everyone feel welcome and no one goes ever away hungry.
Coach Mac’s outlook for 2017 goes something like this: Lots of work; lots of blood, sweat and tears. The race for starting quarterback between Jesse and Jason will be highly competitive”. With that said, we now move on to the Winter Sports seasons. As always, Herrrrrrrrrrrrrre Come Your Spartansssssssssssssssssssssssss!! (Coach Tomberlin, you make South football games very entertaining).
Yardstick (South Caldwell stats only)
First Downs-12
Rushes/Yards- 29-187
C-A-I 16-26-3
Passing Yards- 131
Total Yards- 318
Return Yards- 80
3rd Down Conv- 5-10
4th Down Conv 1-2
Penalties 4-30
Punting Avg. 3-32.9
Time of Poss- 27:22
Individual Stats: Rushing- Goins 24-153, 2TD, Hilton 1-4, Connor 2-25, Sullivan 1-11, J. Martin 1- -6; Passing- J. Martin 14-23-2, Connor 2-2-0 19, Hilton 0-1-1; Receiving- Hilton 6-77, R.Martin 4-40, Raynor 4-10, Goins 1-4