Published: Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009 / Updated: Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009 06:52 AM

South Pointe 39, Richland Northeast 0

Special teams make special plays -- on special teams.

The South Pointe Stallions turned in an extra-special effort in the first step of their Class AAAA Division II state championship defense. Three special teams touchdowns ignited a 39-0 victory against the Richland Northeast Cavaliers at District Three South Stadium on Friday.

South Pointe (9-3) travels to face Wren (10-2) in the second round.

The outburst came at a most opportune time. Stallions coach Bobby Carroll said his team didn't get much practice time outdoors this week because of inclement weather, and that affected the offense.

“I had a wise coach tell me once that, ‘Boy, you would have won some more games if you had better special teams,'” Carroll said. “We work hard on that, and it's a good thing special teams paid off tonight. We just didn't have enough time outside.”

The Stallions threatened on their opening drive, marching to the Cavaliers' 11-yard line before Richland Northeast defensive back Steven Benitez came up with the first of his two interceptions at the goal line.

The Cavaliers (5-7) were forced to punt, however, and that's when Raphael Ratliff kick-started the ìspecialî night. The senior fielded the punt on the hop at his own 42-yard line before faking right and darting toward the left sideline. Ratliff followed two downfield blocks and waltzed untouched into the end zone for a 7-0 lead with 1:29 left in the first quarter.

“We know where we have to be, and we know where to follow the blocks,” Ratliff said. “That helped turn the momentum in our favor.”

South Pointe limited Richland Northeast and live-armed quarterback Kersean Wilson to just one total yard in the first quarter, and the defense set up another special-teams breakdown by the Cavaliers.

Gerald Dixon blocked Wilson's quick-kick attempt on a third-and-25, which Trey Mackey scooped up and took into the end zone. A clipping call negated the touchdown, but junior kicker Landon Ard stepped in to provide the first of back-to-back gems.

Ard nailed a 46-yard field goal to give the Stallions a 10-0 lead, and on the next drive he pinned the Cavaliers on their own 1-yard line with a 44-yard punt.

“Landon was frustrated because he missed a field goal against Rock Hill last week and he missed a few in practice this week,” Carroll said. “We had a friend help him this week..... I won't say who. But Landon's a coachable kid, and he kicked the fool out of the ball tonight.”

Richland Northeast went three-and-out after Ard's punt, and the Stallions delivered another blow on the ensuing punt attempt. The Cavaliers attempted a fake, but Darius Paulk was tackled for no gain. South Pointe's Quinten Darby scored on a 2-yard run on the next play for a 17-0 lead that stood until halftime.

If the first-half barrage wasn't enough, the Stallions made their point with back-to-back stunners to start the second half.

Darby fielded the opening kickoff at his own 4-yard line. Much like Ratliff, Darby bee-lined to the left sideline and followed a wall of blocking all the way to the end zone. South Pointe faked the two-point conversion, which Ronnie McMullen rushed in for a 25-0 advantage.

“We practice special teams plays like we practice our real plays,” Darby said. “We have to be patient, let it set up, let the defense flow and run right into it.”

The Stallions weren't finished. After another defensive stop, Wilson attempted another ill-fated punt from the Richland Northeast 16-yard line. Timario Gayton zeroed in for the block, and Lee Yard recovered in the end zone for the third ó and final ó special teams score of the game.

Darby tacked on his third touchdown -- a 10-yard run ó in the fourth quarter. The senior finished with seven carries for 43 yards. South Pointe also limited the Cavaliers to 111 total yards.

Now it's time to prepare for Wren, which beat James Island 49-42.

“It's going to be a challenge because we haven't seen this team,” Carroll said. “We'll switch films, come in and practice and eliminate some of the mistakes we made this week. Hopefully the weather holds up, too.”

SOUTH POINTE 39, RICHLAND NORTHEAST 0

Richland Northeast.....0.....0.....0.....0.....--.....0

South Pointe.....7.....10.....15.....7.....--.....39

SCORING SUMMARY

SP -- Raphael Ratliff 58 punt return (Landon Ard kick)

SP -- Ard 46 FG

SP -- Quinten Darby 2 run (Ard kick)

SP -- Darby 96 kick return (Ronnie McMullen 2-point conversion)

SP -- Lee Yard fumble recovery in end zone (Ard kick)

SP -- Darby 10 run (Ard kick)

TEAM STATISTICS

.....RNHS.....SPHS

First downs.....9.....8

Rushes-yards.....34-65.....22-63

Comp-Att-Int.....9-20-0.....5-11-2

Passing yards.....46.....41

Fumbles-lost.....2-0.....0-0

Penalties-yards.....5-35.....3-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Richland Northeast: Kersean Wilson 20-20, Darius Paulk 11-45..... DeJuan Williams 2-5, La'Derrick Cohens 1-(-5)..... South Pointe: Darby 7-43, Corey Rawls 8-3, Ratliff, 2-16, Ce-Ce Jones 2-2, Ta Hicklin 3-(-1)

PASSING -- Richland Northeast: Wilson 9-20-0-46..... South Pointe: Rawls 5-11-2-41.

RECEIVING -- Richland Northeast: Williams 5-23, Jeremy Posey 3-19, Paulk 1-4..... South Pointe: Hicklin 3-28, Montay Crockett 1-10, JaRyan Jennings 1-3.

RECORDS: South Pointe 9-3, Richland Northeast 5-7