Staff report

LANDIS —  Too much heat, too many injuries and too many penalties, but the bottom line was an opening night victory by South Rowan’s football team.

South prevailed 36-22 against Union Academy Charter, a 1A Monroe school that put up a good fight, especially in the second half.

A red “JE” at midfield honored South art teacher Jackie Elliott, who passed away earlier in the week.

Brooks Overcash threw three touchdown passes for the Raiders and was 11-for-16 for 185 yards.

Marshal Faw and Jadon Moore caught two TD passes each, and Faw also threw one.

“Those three guys were locked in tonight,” Walsh said.

Tight end Alex Furr added three catches for 69 yards.

Zion Jackson and Ty Jones made plays in the secondary for the Raiders.

South played without top running back Landon Richards, but Bryson Frieze and Conner Richards combined for 135  yards on 30 carries.

“We ran the ball better in the second half,” South head coach Chris Walsh said. “We have some guys injured, but hopefully nothing major. We got some good games from a lot of reserves. The plan was to be 1-0 after the first game, and we’re 1-0.”

The UCA Cardinals yielded rushing yardage grudgingly in the first half, but South was able to move the ball relatively easily through the air.

The Raiders made it 7-0 right away when Overcash hit Marshal Faw on a 46-yard scoring pass.

South was stopped on a possession later in the first quarter, but UCA roughed the punter rather forcefully, and the drive was re-started. After the 15-yard penalty was walked off,  Walsh reached deep into the playbook for a halfback pass, and the Raiders executed.

Faw took a pitch from Overcash and spotted Jadon Moore behind the defense. Faw threw a strike for a 29-yard score and a 14-0 lead.

South took a three-TD lead at the break after Faw sold UCA’s defense on a post route and instead made a cut to the corner. Overcash hit him in stride.

Still, it turned out to be a competitive game in the second half.

UCA scored the first two touchdowns of the second half  to put some pressure on the Raiders.

South responded to the second TD with a kickoff return to the UCA 30. Then Overcash threw a touchdown pass to Moore to restore some momentum to the Raiders.

UCA wasn’t finished, scoring its third TD and adding a 2-point conversion.

South got its first rushing touchdown when Conner Richards plowed into the end zone from the 3 for a 33-22 lead. That was the clincher.

Moore, who had a do-it-all night, catching passes, punting, kicking and returning kicks, booted a 41-yard field goal late in the game for the final margin.

The 36 points were the most scored by the Raiders since they flattened West Davidson 48-28 in 2018.

South Rowan hasn’t started a season 2-0 since 2009, but the Raiders will have a good chance to do that next week when the  play at South Stanly (0-1).