... - Sports - Columns - Barry Byers

Friday, Oct. 03, 2008

Stallions run past Trojans

South Pointe hands Northwestern first loss

To beat Northwestern, it's best to keep the ball away from the Trojans' "Air Raid" passing offense, led by quarterback Justin Worley.

So what happens on the opening kickoff in the South Pointe Stallions' biggest game ever on Thursday night at District Three Stadium? The Stallions fumbled away the football and before they could run a play, Northwestern led 7-0.

After that, though, the Stallions shut down the Trojans for the 28-7 win.

"Our goal was to shut them out," said South Pointe coach Bobby Carroll, who spent 18 seasons as an assistant at Northwestern under coach Jimmy Wallace. "But I have to take my hat off to my defensive coaches. We locked down after that and every time Northwestern reached the red zone, our guys came up with a big play."

The Stallions and Trojans went into the game 5-0. Northwestern is ranked second in Class AAAA, South Pointe third.

South Pointe's offense was far from shabby after a slow start and exploded for 21 points in the final quarter. Stallions quarterback Stephon Gilmore ran for 138 yards on 19 carries and three touchdowns as assistant coaches from Clemson, Georgia and South Carolina looked on from the packed stands.

He also passed for 104 yards.

"I wanted to go out and play some defense; try to tackle Stephon and help our team," Northwestern's Jarrett Neely said. "They have a good team, but I have a feeling we'll meet again in the playoffs."

South Pointe's Pat Burris fielded the kickoff at his 8-yard line and found a seam. Up at the 25, Burris was hit hard and fumbled. Northwestern's Kentrell Hines recovered at the 27, giving the Trojans a golden opportunity with only 20 seconds gone off the game clock.

South Pointe's defense, playing standing up at the line of scrimmage to keep an eye on Worley, had Northwestern looking for a first down on fourth down from the 18.

The Trojans tried to draw the Stallions offsides, but Worley called time out with three seconds left on the play clock. He trotted to the sideline to talk with his coaches and was sent back out.

Worley handed off to Jarrett Neely, who carried for four yards and a Northwestern first down. Three plays later, he connected with Cordarelle Patterson on a slant play from the left for a 10-yard touchdown. Shawn Ferguson nailed the kick and the Trojans led 7-0 .

But hold on. The Stallions were not about to let one play ruin their big night. South Pointe lined up for its first play at the 15 after the kickoff. They drove down the field in nine plays and scored when Gilmore broke away for a 22-yard TD run. Graham Tuttle converted and tied the game.

"It's obvious that No. 5 (Gilmore) is a great player," Wallace said. "He did a good job running and throwing. The differences were we didn't play well in the second half and South Pointe took control in the fourth quarter."

Folks in the press box at District Three Stadium were asking aloud if the game could possibly turn into a scoring battle.

No. The rest of the first half was a defensive standoff, with the teams going into the break tied 7-7.

That was fortunate for Carroll and his team. Northwestern's LeCary Dickerson and Chris Long intercepted Gilmore passes. Long's was his fourth this season. And the Stallions came up short on a fourth-down play early in the second quarter.

Each team fumbled the ball away in the third quarter as they fought to a 0-0 draw. South Pointe fumble at the Trojans' 6. Northwestern lost a fumble on fourth down at the Stallions' 11.

A Northwestern fumble, recovered by Brandon Hinton, set up South Pointe's second scoring dive. It spilled over into the final quarter and ended with Gilmore's second TD, a 1-yard run.

On Northwestern's next possession, a Worley pass was picked off by Pat Burris. The ball was tipped by DeVonte Holloman and landed in Burris' hands. He returned it to the Trojans' 33.

Six plays later, tailback Quinten Darby dove over the left side of his line for a 1-yard touchdown.

"I fumbled in the third quarter and had to go back on the field and make some plays," Darby said. "When we got near the goal, I had to punch it in. The only way to do that was to go over the top, so that's what I did."

After a 3-yard punt from Northwestern's 21, South Pointe scored its final touchdown with 3:51 remaining. It was Gilmore's third, a 15-yard run.

Worley ended up with 190 passing yards. But he earned all of them after working hard to find an open man.

South Pointe dropped eight and nine defenders into coverage most of the game, forcing Worley to search for an open man. The result was Northwestern's big four of Patterson, Neely, Labris Adams and Julian Patton were unable to run wild.

The Trojans were led in catches by Sanbobis McCleod and Patterson, with five.

"That was our plan, to not rush but two or three people and try to confuse Justin," South Points linebacker Pete Roseboro said. "This was a big win, the last time I'll play in this stadium because I'm a senior. Winning this game is the best feeling I've ever had."