| Redmen too late in rally vs. Vikes | | Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2011 6:05 am
| South Fulton played well enough in the second half on Friday night to win a game. That effort was not, however, good enough to beat Humboldt’s first half
The Vikings scored all 21 of their points before the intermission and then held off a late charge by the Red Devils for a 21-13 win at Barker Memorial Stadium.
While there is no column for “almost” in a team’s record, SF head coach Kelly Spivey feels better about his team’s chance for a win very soon.
“We’re going in the right direction,” Spivey said. “We had a good week of practice, and our defense played well. We had more total yards than they did (241-228), and that’s with our defense on the field a lot in the first half.
“I was pleased with several areas. We gave ourselves an opportunity to win in the second half. More importantly, we didn’t fold in the second half.”
South Fulton, now 0-3, would like nothing better to get into the win column this week as state-line rival Fulton City crosses the border to play the Red Devils. The Bulldogs ended a 14-game losing streak on Friday with a 54-0 win over Jackson Prep.
Spivey would like to take his team’s effort in the second half against the Vikings and see it in play for a full game.
The Redmen trailed 21-0 heading into the fourth quarter when the offense, which had begun to make some noise after intermission, finally got on the scoreboard.
Starting at its own 14 with 11:28 to play in the game, South Fulton needed just six plays to cover the distance, finishing with J.P. Fowler’s four-yard TD run at 7:04.
Chance Hamlin’s point-after kick cut the deficit to 21-7.
That margin would be cut even more less than six minutes later when Harrison Hawks — one of two players to join the squad last week — pulled down a 40-yard pass from JaQuay Garmon for a TD with 1:37 remaining.
SF missed the point-after and was then unable to grab an onside kick try, allowing Humboldt to hold on for the win.
Spivey said his offense used small but effective gains to soften up Humboldt for some bigger strikes.
While 29 yards marked the longest ground gainer for the Devils, that by Fowler, Garmon made the most of his five completions as four went for 25 yards or more. He finished 5-of-13 for 144 yards, Fowler catching four totaling 104 yards.
Humboldt gained just 61 yards in the second half.
Humboldt scored at 6:42 of the first quarter when Chris McLeary took off for 30 yards and then scored twice in the second period — a four-yard run by CC Moody at 5:53 and a 60-yard punt return by Antonio Brooks at 2:54.
Moody finished with 109 yards on 17 carries.
Published in The Messenger 9.5.11 | | | | |
