by Brian Bohne
SOUTHRIDGE 42 SOUTH SPENCER 7
Baseball fans have probably heard of “Murderers’ Row”.
It was the nickname given to the New York Yankees’ powerful line-up in the late 1920s, which featured Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig among others.
Well, the South Spencer football team has played a Murderers’ Row kind of schedule this season.
But there’s a reason.
They’re hoping that playing a tough regular season schedule pays off with post-season success.
Simply put, it’s a tough, but potentially beneficial process.
And that process continued last weekend against perennial power Southridge.
The Rebels took a few lumps but also made some progress even though they dropped a 42-7 decision to the Raiders last Friday night at Fred Ayer Field in Reo.
South Spencer coach Jeff Daming tried to put his squad’s tough slate in perspective.
“It’s tough. You know it’s going to be tough. Six months ago when you look at the schedule, you know that,” explained the Rebel boss. “It is what it is. Southridge is obviously a great opponent. You win the game or you lose the game, but it’s something we hope pays off in the long run. You play the game, do your best, learn from it and move on.”
The Rebels will move on after seeing some positive steps against the Raiders.
Even though the scoreboard showed Southridge scored 42 points, not all of that came because of the defense.
In fact, South Spencer’s defense did a solid job even though the Raiders were able to rush for 283 yards and three touchdowns.
“We played much better this week, especially defensively. We made strides,” confirmed Daming. “A lot of that had to do with getting some guys back we were missing. We lost one, but we got two linebackers back [Braydon Hughes and Ethan Fuqua]. Even though they’re sophomores, they’re special. Those guys made a huge difference.”
A huge difference in the game early on was Southridge’s ability to make big plays.
The Raiders jumped ahead 14-0 in the first quarter courtesy of a 28 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Hudson Allen to Carter Harris and a Harris 51 yard interception return for a score.
Southridge then added a 17 yard TD run from Ryan O’Curry to go ahead 21-0 at the half, before O’Curry broke off a 29 yard TD scamper in the third quarter for a 28-0 Raider advantage.
Later in the contest, Southridge capped their scoring with another long interception return for a touchdown.
Starting signal caller Ty Brown and backup QB Garin Kenney each threw one pick.
