By Marny Hendrick
sports@salisburypost.com
LANDIS — As a rule, high school football games are not supposed to be played at 10 a.m. Yet that is when they teed it up at South Rowan Saturday morning in a non-conference battle against Northwest Cabarrus. The visiting Trojans got the wake-up call first by using a three-touchdown burst in the second quarter to dump the winless Raiders 34-11.
Friday night was washed out by the violent electrical storm that roared through the Piedmont about an hour before kick-off. To avoid expected rain Saturday night and Monday, all parties agreed to the rare brunch battle at Donnell Stadium.
“It wasn’t much different” Raider quarterback Nathan Lambert said of the early start. “You still have to be ready to go. Its the same game, just a different time.”
Lambert, a junior, had a decent game with 122 yards in the air and 41 rushing yards but it would have been a much brighter morning if Trojan defensive end Weston Smith had decided to stay home in bed. Yes, the same Weston Smith who throws 90 mph fastballs for the South Rowan Legion team in the summer is a stud defender for the Trojans in the fall. Smith made Lambert’s morning tough as he sacked him twice and batted down two passes.
The crusher came late in the second period when Lambert attempted a screen pass to an open receiver. Smith stretched high, tipped the pass to himself for an interception at the 16, and ran to the one. Tailback John Edmond scored on the next play.
The sequence capped a three touchdowns in three minutes spurt for the Trojans (now 2-0) as they turned a 3-0 deficit into a 21- 3 lead.
“I just tried to rely more on reaction and do a lot less thinking” Smith understated of his stellar performance.
South fell to 0-3 on the season despite a sizable statistical advantage and some early momentum in a fog-shrouded first half. They embarked on a 14-play drive behind the running of workhorse tailback Ricky Sherrill to reach the NWC 11. Sherrill, who had 25 carries for 122 yards, ran to the six but an incomplete pass in the end zone stalled the drive. South still cashed in as Abel Betancourt booted a 23 yard field goal for the 3-0 lead.
“I thought we had the momentum and the ability to stop their next drive, “Raider Coach Jason Rollins said. “ But we just didn’t do it.”
What happened instead was what winning coach Rich Williams termed a ”wake upcall.” Edmonds capped a six- eight-yard burst for the first NWC lead at 7-3. One minute later, they were back in the end zone when South receiver Dominique Garlan fumbled a screen pass at the 15. NWC quarterback Colby Williford then lofted a pass into the end zone where E.J. Rhinehart out-jumped the defense for a 14-3 margin. That set the stage for the defensive interception gem by Smith just three plays later.
“That field goal woke us up a little bit,” said Williams. “We were sleepwalking before that but then we started executing a lot better.”
South missed a golden chance to get back in the game on their next drive as Lambert scrambled and hit tight end Josh Medlin for a 68 yard rumble down to the NWC 12. Lambert hit Sony Pope for an apparent TD pass but a holding penalty ended the threat. The Trojans also had a touchdown pass negated by a penalty just before the half.
The visitors then put the game away by scoring two times to open the third period. A 38-yard strike from Williford to Will England made it 27-3. The defense then struck again as Rhinehart made a leaping interception of Lambert’s deep pass and returned it 20 yards to the South 26. Edmonds logged his third TD of the game with 5:24 left in the quarter for the 34-3 edge.
South gained a measure of respect by racking up a 12-play drive in the 4th period as Sherrill scored from the 5. Lambert ran the option keeper for a two point conversion to make the margin 34-11 but South never got the ball back after that.