South Pointe stiff-arms unbeaten Blazers

South Pointe dealt Ridge View its first loss of the season Friday night, a 46-21 scoreline reminding the up-and-coming Blazers which team was still the top dog in Region 3-4A.

Ridge View opened the season with five straight wins, the Blazers’ best start in nine years. But all of their positive momentum crashed to the grass with a thud Friday night, slammed to the turf by a relentless Stallions pass rush.

“They’re a really good football team. You gotta’ feel good when you score that many,” said South Pointe coach Strait Herron. “We made some mistakes but always they played really, really hard.”

There were 23 total flags and the two teams decided against shaking hands after the game following some altercations in the fourth quarter.

“That’s why we got the game over as soon as possible, got into the locker room,” said Herron. “It’s football, but like I told our players, ‘man, don’t hurt the game of football. Football’s too important.’ Hopefully we learn from it and get better.”

South Pointe (5-1, 1-0 Region 3-4A) led 23-7 at the half, a smothering defensive effort negating the impact of two Stallion interceptions. Jonathan Muhammad caught two touchdown passes, the second a 46-yard catch and run to give the Stallions a 20-7 lead.

The first half had an interminable feel, largely because of 17 combined penalties. Potter missed a 49-yard field goal as time expired, but got another shot thanks to more penalty flags. The junior smashed the kick through for a 16-point South Pointe lead at the break.

South Pointe could have made a three-score game but punted and the Blazers’ Dinichie Ashe returned it to the Stallions’ 21-yard line. Latheron Rogers-Anderson scored two plays later and Ali Kelley punched in the 2-point run to make it 23-15 with 7 minutes, 32 seconds left in the third quarter.

Turning point

Ridge View got the ball back and could have leveled the scores. But the Stallions let their pass rush loose and got consecutive sacks from Bryson Cooper and Eli Adams to force a punt. Voshon St. Hill scored on a 29-yard run a few plays later to stretch the lead, and South Pointe continued its harassment of Ridge View QB Jalen Smith on the next drive, Cort Neely and Deedric Cousar producing big hits to force a punt. A 21-yard field goal pushed the Stallions lead to 33-15 and they weren’t worried any further from there.

Critical

Ridge View’s lack of a punter helped South Pointe flip the field and reclaim control of the game in the third quarter with 10 straight points to stiff-arm the visitors. A 20-yard punt resulted in St. Hill’s 29-yard TD run the very next play, before another punt, an 11-yard effort into the South Pointe sideline, led to a Stallions’ 21-yard field goal two seconds into the fourth quarter.

Star contributions

St. Hill and Muhammad led the Stallions’ passing attack. Muhammad had six catches total in the first six games, but the senior produced a big first half with four catches for 103 yards and two scores. He finished with the exact same numbers.

St. Hill caught four passes for 99 yards and a touchdown, and was extremely dangerous in the screen game. South Pointe’s offensive line would invite rushing Blazers into the backfield, QB Derion Kendrick would dump the ball over top of them and St. Hill would take off downfield. St. Hill added 60 yards rushing and another touchdown, and wasn’t impacted by the chippiness that lingered throughout the game.

“I was good,” he said. “Everybody liked me.”

Potter has emerged as a real weapon for the Stallions. He kicked eight kickoffs for touchbacks and hit the two field goals. It wasn’t clear Friday night, but it’s highly likely that the junior’s 49-yard field goal to end the first half was a school record.

Cooper led a relentless South Pointe pass rush with two sacks, while Jamari Currence had a second quarter interception for the Stallions.

Ridge View senior Rogers-Anderson showed his ability, scoring on both of the two offensive touches he had in the game.

On deck

South Pointe stays at home for the third straight game, hosting Westwood. Ridge View plays York at home.

South Pointe 46, Ridge View 21

This story was originally published September 30, 2016 at 10:35 PM with the headline "South Pointe stiff-arms unbeaten Blazers."