| SF picks right time to strike at Tigers | | Posted: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 1:03 pm
| A touchdown 52 seconds into the game had South Fulton off to a good start.
Another score 57 seconds before the end of the first half pretty much finished off Halls.
J.P. Fowler tore off on a 62-yard run at 11:08 of the first period to give South Fulton a lead it would never lose, and then he plunged in from a yard out with 0:57 showing on the first half clock to put down a Halls uprising in SF’s 39-20 win Friday night at the Red Devils’ field.
The win was South Fulton’s second in a row and put the Redmen at 2-3 overall and 1-1 in District 14A. Halls, meanwhile, has the exact same record with its third consecutive loss.
SF head coach Kelly Spivey says his squad had a different look in Friday’s win.
“We played on a different level than we have been all year,” Spivey said. “Offensively, we clicked. We moved the chains, we completed passes and took care of our responsibilities. Defensively, we were able to hold them a lot of times. We locked down when we had to. I was really pleased with the play of our linebackers.”
Fowler and backfield mate Cody Tatum led a Red Devil ground attack that put up 267 yards, averaging 7.2 yards per carry.
Fowler scored five touchdowns on his 18 carries, gaining 145 yards, while Tatum added a TD on his way to 107 yards on 13 tries.
Quarterback JaQuay Garmon, meanwhile, was efficient in completing five passes to four receivers for 90 yards.
Ryan Moore followed up last week’s solid return to the lineup with a team-best 11 tackles, while Ryan Prince had nine stops, Kendall Greer added eight total tackles and Fowler made seven stops.
Fowler’s game-opening score was a team effort from start to finish, according to Spivey.
“We had some good blocking on the right side of the line to spring J.T.,” Spivey pointed out. “That side did an excellent job, and then wide receivers blocked well downfield.”
SF led 12-0 at the end of the first period after Tatum scored on a 13-yard run, but the Tigers followed with a safety and then a scoringpass to pull within 12-8 with 9:43 still to play in the second quarter.
Halls’ first score of the game came on a safety as Tevin Giles made a tackles in the end zone rushing in off the end at 11:49 of the second period.
The Tigers added six points to their total just over two minutes later when Mikey Pittman hauled in a 25-yard pass from Zach Harris at 9:43.
The Redmen kept Halls at bay the rest of the half and then made that defensive effort pay off when Fowler scored on a seven-yard run at 7:14 and then put the exclamation point on a game-breaking 10-play, 92-yard drive with a one-yard run with just 57 seconds to play in the first half.
“That was a key drive,” Spivey said. “We were able to score right there with less than a minute to go, and that really helped us going into the half. That was big for us.”
That score sent SF into the locker room with a 26-8 lead, and the Redmen then added six points to that margin at 6:34 of the third quarter with a four-yard run by Fowler.
Two fourth-period TDs by Halls got the Tigers within 32-20, but Fowler ended his big night with a 10-yard scoring run at 3:01.
Halls’ first of those two scores came on a four-yard run by Emmit Henning at 11:14.
Harris then connected with TJ Reed on a 17-yard pass at 8:17.
Henning finished with 87 total offensive yards, 56 rushing on 14 carries and 31 receiving on three catches.
Harris completed half of his 18 pass attempts for 123 yards. | | | | |
