By David Shaw

For the Salisbury Post

LANDIS — East Rowan won the game but lost the race Friday night.

The race, that is, into the South Piedmont Conference basement. That distinction goes to South Rowan after the host Raiders dropped a late-season, 37-20 decision —  extending their losing streak to eight games. East prevailed for the first time since last Oct. 22.

“It’s always worth it,” winning coach John Fitz said with a warm, post-game smile. “Winning is what this job is symbolized by. If you win, you’re good. If you don’t, you’re supposedly not very good. But this is a good football team. I don’t care what the record is. They have never given up in a single game this year and played their tails off tonight.”

East (1-8, 1-4 SPC), limited to 100 points over its first eight matches, busted out with a five-touchdown night. Its offense burned with cohesion and efficiency — dredging up 405 yards, including 235 on the ground —  while its defense forced four turnovers. Junior quarterback Gavin Walker completed 15 of 22 passes for 170 yards and tossed a key, 28-yard touchdown to receiver Evan Porter midway through the first period. Linebacker-turned-running back Blake Hill was a man of the soil, plowing through the turf for 206 yards and three TDs. Porter and teammate AJ Goodman each had six receptions. Defenders Jaden Reid and McCall Henderson each had an interception and fumble recovery.

“There’s no better feeling than winning,” Walker blurted while his teammates danced in a jovial celebration. “It took a big effort from all of us to win this game.”

For South (1-8, 0-5 SPC), it was another maddening defeat in a season full of them. The Raiders never led after East’s Carter Honeycutt opened the scoring with a 37-yard field goal before the game was three-minutes old. It was 16-0 late in the first period, after Josh Roman-Soto blocked a punt and teammate Logan Leon returned it 10 yards for a touchdown.

“That was a tough one,” explained second-year South coach Chris Walsh. “We’ve got a good group of young guys who are learning how to compete and play four quarters of football. But I was proud of them today. They got off to a slow start but still had some fight in them in the end.”

South received an illuminating performance from first-year quarterback Brooks Overcash — a sophomore who broke his leg on the first snap he took as a 2021 jayvee freshman. His learning curve has taken him from bad-to-better. Against East he completed 17 of 27 passes for 236 yards and two TDs. He also scored on a 2-yard scamper in the final quarter, helping the Raiders cut the deficit to 30-20

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“We look around and love the things our seniors have given us this year,” Walsh said. “But at the same time, the younger guys are helping us grow this thing. Brooks is really playing his first season of football. We’ve got freshman linemen, sophomore linemen. Our center got hurt so we had a jayvee guy playing all night. But that’s a good thing. We say we’re gonna build it, but we can get younger at the same time.”

East was the better team in the first half and shuffled off the field with a 17-point halftime advantage. South responded with a 6-play, 69-yard scoring drive late in the third quarter and inched within 23-14 when Overcash lobbed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Dalton Young (7 receptions, 87 yards). The Mustangs then used nearly three-and-a-half minutes of game clock and 11 plays to navigate 63 yards, reasserting themselves and moving two scores ahead when Hill bulldozed 7 yards into the end zone with 8:46 to go. He added an insurance TD when he scored from 4 yards out with 1:21 remaining.

“I credit the offensive linemen,” Hill said. “They all deserve it for doing their jobs so well. We ran right, we ran left, we ran through that line. And Gavin, he’s thinking a lot more than he used to. He works the game.”

Walker also praised the secret-service protection he received. “I can’t thank them enough,” he said. “They gave me plenty of time to make good reads and get off good throws. When we ran the ball, they flipped (South’s) D-line like the Red Sea. We ran simple plays, but executed perfectly.”

For Fitz -— the sixth-year coach who has endured consecutive nightmare seasons — it felt like all the nagging, all the complaining and all the effort finally paid off.

“(Walker’s) composure in the fourth quarter is what we needed,” he offered. “He let us possess the ball for most of it. That’s what we wanted him to do. And Blake, he’s just a hard runner. We were running counter and power — that’s running between the tackles and you’ve got to be tough to do that. He got us yards when we needed them, held onto the ball and gave us exactly what we needed.”

What they needed to win a game, not a race.

NOTES: East scored on both of its fourth-quarter drives and maintained possession for more than nine minutes. … Porter (70) and Goodman (57) combined for 127 yards receiving. South’s Hunt (3-88), Young (7-87) and Nacier Parker (7-76) were the game’s top pass catchers. … South was held to 56 yards rushing. It has turned the ball over 29 times in nine games. … Juniors Jamie Klassette and Zion Jackson each had an interception and fumble recovery for SR. … The Mustangs have beaten South on seven straight occasions since the Raiders won 28-14 in November, 2014. … Both teams close the season with conference road games next Friday. East plays at West Rowan while South visits Carson.

 

East Rowan      16     7     0     14 — 37

South Rowan     6     0     8      6 — 20

ER — Honeycutt FG 37, 9:37 1st

ER — Porter 28 pass from Walker (run failed), 5:25 1st

ER — Leon 10 blocked punt return (Honeycutt kick), 3:10 1st

SR — Hunt 45 pass from Overcash (pass failed), 1:40 1st

ER — Hill 6 run (Honeycutt kick), 0:56 2nd

SR — Young 9 pass from Overcash (Richards run), 0:18 3rd

ER — Hill 7 run (Honeycutt kick), 8:46 4th

SR — Overcash 2 run (pass failed), 5:55 4th

ER — Hill 4 run (Honeycutt kick), 1:21 4th

 

Team Stats            ER            SR

First downs            21             13

Rushes-yards      38-235       29-56

Passing                 15-22-2      18-29-1

Passing yards       170              262

Penalties               3-35              5-48

Punts                     3-38             5-37

Fumbles-lost         3-2               3-3

 

Individual Stats

Rushing — ER: Hill 25-206; Porter 5-15; Walker 8-14. SR: Hunt 5-49; Rucker 10-18; Richards 9-8; Overcash 5-(minus 19).

Passing — ER: Walker 15-22-2, 170. SR: Overcash 17-27-1, 236; Parker 1-2-0, 26.

Receiving — ER: Porter 6-70; Goodman 6-57; Eagle 2-37; Hill 1-6. SR: Young 7-87; Parker 7-76; Hunt 3-88; Furr 1-11.