It was not the prettiest game played this season. But win's do not come with style points. South hung on in the last seconds of the game to hold off Bethel for a 15-7 win. At times South seemed determined to hand over the game to the Bee's with mistimed penalties - one that negated a hook and ladder play to the 2 yard line and several that took away field position when South got a hand on a punt and got the ball at the Bethel 35. That series actually took the Panthers backward with 2 penalties. But South was able to find the endzone twice and the defense fell on a Bethel fumble in the last minute to end Bethels efforts at a tie and overtime.
There was plenty of pink on the field as South hosted a cancer awareness night. The cheerleaders released balloons and gave flowers to breast cancer survivors in a pregame ceremony. The pass was not kind to TVS against Bethel. At one point in the first half South had dropped back to pass 6 times. The result was 4 scrambles as the quarterback was chased out of the pocket, one incomplete pass, and one interception. There were 3 interceptions thrown in the first half by my count. But the running game got traction, particularly in the second half when they seemed to grind down the Bethel defense. Joe Webb was churning out chunks of yardage in between the tackles. But when you give up offensive penalties it puts you in long yardage situations where you have to chuck the ball up in the air.
South's first score was set up by a Bethel offsides on 4th down. South was in a punt formation and an over eager Bethel defender jumped to give South a fresh set of downs and they continued their drive to the 2 yard line where Wes Cole drove it in for the lead. The extra point snap was muffed and South did not get their extra point.
South had a frustrating drive that began when Jordan Burns recovered a Bethel fumble at the Bethel 38. Then Cole was sacked and a penalty put the Panthers into long yardage. South successfully ran the hook and ladder play with Burns getting all the way to the 2 yard before being drug down. But another hold penalty took away all the yardage. South was then intercepted when they took to the air again and Bethel promptly drove the ball into the endzone for their touchdown. So a drive that South should have scored on, instead handed the ball to Bethel where they drove instead for the lead. Bethel made their extra point and had a 7-6 lead that they took into the locker room at half time.
Darren Brown gave South a shot at another score when he got a hand on a punt and South got the ball at the Bethel 35. But Bethels defense make a vigorous stand and South had to turn over the ball on downs after 4 plays. This time of year with the warm days and cool nights, dew will form on the grass in the evening. So although there was no rain the conditions were slick on the field as the teams entered the last quarter. A bad Bethel snap put the ball into the endzone where the ball was booted out of the endzone to give South a safety. Then a few series later a bad snap on a punt gave South the ball in good field position. Cole scored on a 6 yard run to give South a 15-7 lead.
Bethel had one of their best drives of the night with about 4 minutes left in the game. They combined the pass and run to keep South off balance and moved the ball down to about the 4 yard line. There was a little over a minute left in the game. They ran an option and the pitch to the halfback fell to the ground. And a Panther defender was able to fall on the ball and end the Bethel attempt at a tie and over time. Although there was some confusion towards the end and it seemed that South's offense would never run out the clock for the win.
South improves to 5 and 2 on the season. Bethel is 2 and 5. South goes thru the 3 heavy weights of the CCC to end their season - Covington, Miami East, and TCN. All three teams have been dynamos this year. They need to be able to knock off at least one of these teams to have any kind of shot at the playoffs and a winning season.
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