BARIUM SPRINGS — West Rowan’s speedster could do nothing but look on as South Iredell’s raced up and down the field.
Falcon sophomore Joe Jackson made it out to Friday night’s opener, but only to watch from the sidelines in his No. 27 jersey. He said he’ll miss the entire season thanks to the collapsed lung he suffered in a four-wheeler accident this summer.
Tommy Martin, the fleet-footed South Iredell star in the making, was the picture of perfect health — except when he was catching his breath. Martin ran for touchdowns of 78 and 29 yards, caught a 43-yard TD pass and a two-point conversion — and even had a long punt return for a score called back on a penalty in South’s 21-14 victory over the Falcons.
“Tommy Martin had a great game,” Vikings head coach Kent Millsaps said. “We did a good job setting the block on the end. The fullback picked up the linebacker. Once that crease opens, Tommy is a quick and slithery individual. He runs extremely hard for a guy who weighs 150 pounds.”
Martin’s 174 yards on 15 carries nearly doubled West’s rushing output, but not because Jackson wasn’t in the backfield.
“We can’t blame it on the fact that Joe Jackson was absent,” said Falcon senior Ben Hampton, who split time at quarterback and tailback. “We have to come out and play harder, play with more heart. I could tell when I got on the bus today that we weren’t fired up enough.”
Martin made sure West’s players didn’t get a full head of steam behind them. On the game’s third play, he galloped 78 yards down the left sideline after a quick cut at the line of scrimmage.
The Falcons moved the ball all game, racking up 13 first downs. The passing game of Hampton to Horatio Everhart proved especially effective, with the senior wideout pulling down six catches for 108 yards in the first half alone.
But West drives ended in the first half on a missed fourth down conversion inside the South 5 — when Martin jumped across to snuff an option play; on another failed fourth-down play at the South 35; and on Steven Meseroll’s missed 43-yard field-goal attempt.
Compounding matters were several penalties for the little kinds of mistakes that drive coaches crazy — too many men on the field on special teams, jumping offsides, lining up in the neutral zone.
“We made way too many mistakes. We looked poorly coached,” Falcon head coach Scott Young said. “I’m going to take that upon my shoulders to get it right.”
Despite everything that went wrong in the first half, West still trailed only 7-0 at halftime. The defense, after Martin’s 78-yarder, allowed just 48 yards over the final 23 minutes.
Hampton started West’s comeback immediately after halftime. He returned the kickoff 80 yards, to the Vikings’ 8, and LaGrande Andrews powered the ball in two plays later.
Meseroll’s kick tied it at 7-all and the see-saw affair kicked into high gear.
Martin returned a punt 52 yards for a score only to have a clipping call behind the runback keep the score tied. But on the very next play, Martin scored anyway. QB William Murdock rolled left, lured the defense up and lofted a floater to Martin, who raced untouched for a 13-7 lead when the PAT was blocked.
“That was maybe the turning point because we kept moving forward,” Millsaps said. “That play worked in a summer league game against West Rowan, 7-on-7 at the West Iredell Jamboree.”
The missed extra point looked big later in the quarter, though, when Hampton scored from 4 yards out and Meseroll hit the PAT to give West a 14-13 edge heading into the fourth quarter.
The Falcons simply had no answer for Martin. He returned the ensuing kickoff 47 yards to midfield and, after a 17-yard screen pass to Scott Gustin, darted through a narrow gap to dance into the end zone from 29 yards out.
On another Murdock roll out, Martin dove to grab the two-point conversion and restore the one-touchdown advantage.
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Contact Steve Hanf at 704-797-4287 or shanf@salisburypost.com
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