South Pointe got off to a strong start against South Florence, then things fell apart

South Pointe couldn’t have asked for a better start Friday night.

The Stallions offense scored touchdowns on its opening two drives, gaining 143 yards on 11 plays. The defense held South Florence to a turnover-on-downs and a punt in its first two possessions.

However, as the game progressed, things slowly started to fall apart for South Pointe.

After taking the lead, this is how South Pointe’s next four offensive possessions went:

• punt
• end of half
• pass intercepted in the end zone and returned to the South Pointe 42
• punt

South Pointe’s defense did its part to hold off South Florence. It allowed only two touchdown drives, and one of those came on a short field after the Stallions’ first interception.

South Florence had a late-game drive, which took more than nine minutes, to seal the game’s out come.

But South Pointe forced a turnover-on-downs thanks to a fourth-down pass dropped in the end zone.

South Pointe took over at its own 27-yard line with three minutes left. And on the first play of the drive, the Stallions threw a pick-six to give South Florence a 22-13 lead.

Head coach Bobby Collins said the key to his game is an efficient offense backed by a stout defense.

“Started off the game exactly how we wanted to on offense, 13-0,” Collins said. “Defense held a good offense like this to 14 points. We threw two interceptions, one of them for a pick-six and that’s tough in the end. In the fourth quarter, we couldn’t get off the field defensively to give the offense a chance, and when we did, we threw a pick-six.”

South Pointe made a run late: Malachi Marshall threw a touchdown pass to Xavier Preston with under two minutes to go to make it 22-19.

However, South Florence recovered the ensuing onside kick and held on for the victory.

South Pointe quarterback Malachi Marshall threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns, while Stallion running back/wide receiver Mason Pickett-Hicks had 145 yards rushing.

South Pointe ends its non-region schedule 3-2, and has a bye next week.

Collins said the team has some very clear things to clean up before their first region game.

“Turnovers and tackling,” Collins said. “Don’t turn the football over and we got to tackle better.”

“We enter the region at 3-2 right now,” the coach said. “We just got to clean it up.”

The Stallions next game will on the road in their region opener against Catawba Ridge on Sept. 29.

This story was originally published September 15, 2023 at 9:54 PM.