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South got off to a fast start against Ansonia, striking for
two touchdowns early in the first quarter which forced the Tigers to play catch
up all night long. With a grind it out
type of offense, it makes it tough for a team like Ansonia to overcome a
deficit. Last week against Trail, South
got out of gate slowly and had to rely on a second half rally to come from
behind for the win. But Coach Cates has made it clear that the team needed to focus
on getting that early lead and then sit on the ball by running their own brand
of grind it out offense.
But South’s first scores came via the air. Wes Cole aired it
out on a roll out pass and found Jared Rivers for the Panthers first score - a 31 yard touchdown catch. And then after
Ansonia fumbled on their next possession, South again went for a quick strike
and Cole connected with Josh Cottingim for a 40 yard touchdown catch. South had barely broken a sweat and 3 minutes
into the game they had a 14 point lead.
In the second quarter, both teams settled down and Ansonia
was able to close the gap by capping a drive with a 2 yard touchdown pass to
bring the game back into reach – it was now a one score difference. But Wes Cole responded with a 60 yard touchdown
run and again gave South a comfortable lead going into half time.
South had a critical moment in the 3rd quarter
where Ansonia had ground out the yardage and pushed to the South 23 yard line. A score here would have put the Tigers to
within a touchdown and could have changed the momentum of the ball game. But the tenacious South defense held firm and
forced Ansonia to give up the ball on downs when they failed to complete a 4th
and 9 pass.
Now South needed to put Ansonia away. And in the 4th
quarter, Ansonia muffed a punt and Anthony Augspurger fell on the loose ball to
give the Panthers great field position on the Ansonia 43 yard line. Joe Webb and Cole had a couple of nice
carries on this drive. Augspurger was
able to finish with a 2 yard plunge and extend the Panther lead.
Ansonia was able to come back somewhat with a touchdown, but
it was scored with a little over 2 minutes on the clock. An onsides kick failed, and now South needed
to run out the clock. Sammy Shockey got
a much needed first down and Ansonia started to use their time outs. Jacob Bassler put an exclamation mark on the Panther
victory by passing to Cottingim for the last score of the night. South was off
to a fast start for the season with their third win in a row by a score of 35-15.
Coach Cates, “We made some big plays right away and got a 2
touchdown lead. We did miss some more
opportunities in the first half to make some plays. But Ansonia was getting their grind it out
offense in gear. So we made some half
time adjustments with the defense and make it tough on them in the second half.
They had a good game plan and they
executed it fairly well, but we were able to make some more big plays in the
second half and come out with the victory.”
The Third Quarter Defensive Stand, “This year’s defense has
been of the bend but do not break variety.
We have had teams drive to the red zone, but then our kids step it with
their backs against the wall and make some plays. We got Ansonia into a long situation and with
their grind it out offense, it’s hard to make a first down. They can convert a 3rd and 3 into
a first down every time. But when they
have long yardage – it’s hard for them to make it. “
Arcanum, “They are similar to Ansonia in that they want to
do ball control. Last year we lost a heart breaker to them – I think it was 18
to 16. Our kids are pretty excited about
getting a chance to redeem themselves against them. They run the option and we have to have
discipline on our assignments. Our
players need to focus on their job and not worry about someone else’s job –
when that happens they miss their assignment and now someone is left wide open.
They are pretty big up front and we have to get a big surge out of our
offensive line.”
Defensive Stats -
Tackles: Augspurger 14; Bassler & Aaron Deaton 9; Tristen Sizemore
11; Shockey & Gunter Lautensleger 8.
Int: Augspurger 1
Offensive Stats - Rushing: Cole 8-111; 14-96; Shockey 2-10;
Webb 5-13. Passing: Cole 3-8 76yds 2 TD’s; Bassler 1-1 29yds 1 TD. Receiving: Shockey 1-4; Cottingim 2-69 2TD’s;
Rivers 1-32 1 TD.
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