Falcons KO Conley

WINTERVILLE — At halftime of the football game between South Central and D.H. Conley on Friday, determining a potential winner could have been tough.

But by the end of the third quarter, a clear-cut winner had emerged.

South Central dominated after halftime in a 62-6 victory, outscoring the Vikings 28-0 in third quarter.

“We thought we were trying to do things too fast in the first and second quarters, so we talked about getting back out there and executing,” SC coach Walt Davis said of what he told his players at halftime. “We got a few breaks and things turned our way.”

South Central will be the No. 3. seed from the Coastal Conference in the upcoming 3-A state playoffs. Conley finished the season at 0-11.

“They executed really well in the passing game in the second half,” DHC coach Ken Whitehurst said. “And we are kind of limited in some areas. ...We have a lot of kids who have a lot of heart and we're going to have to really get to work here and physically hold each other accountable to get better.”

D.H. Conley scored on a 43-yard pass from Chad Hardin to Jake Ross late in the second quarter to cut the Falcons lead to 20-6.

But it was all SC (8-3, 4-2) from there.

In the third quarter, South Central scored on all three of its offensive possessions, got a 44-yard punt return touchdown from Jaquelle Cherry, forced and recovered a Conley fumble and limited the Vikes to no first downs and 18 offensive yards.

“We were just trying to play our base defense, play our assignment and we have some kids now that have bought into our system,” Davis said. “They did a good job and I thought the offense did a really good job of coming out in the second half and setting the tone on the first drive.”

South Central received the second half kickoff and had a four-play drive capped by a 15-yard touchdown run from Jason Robinson to extend its lead to 27-6. Conley went three-and-out on the ensuing drive and Cherry then broke the game open with his 44-yard punt return to paydirt.

The Vikings only had one first down in the second half and had to punt eight times in the game.

Robinson had 16 carries for 135 yards and two scores. Monty Hood also found the end zone twice.

South Central now enters the playoffs on a three-game winning streak and has allowed fewer than 10 points in four of its last five games.

“I hope that we're looking toward the playoffs and being excited about the playoffs, not just happy that we made the playoffs,” Davis said. “I'm hoping that we're looking at playing some games in the playoffs and if some things go our way, things could go good for us.”

Contact Ronnie Woodward at rwoodward@reflector.com or (252) 329-9592.

DHC SC

4First downs18

37-55Rushes-yards43-263

74Passing104

3-7-0C-P-I8-11-0

8-32.5Punting2-35.5

4-3Fumbles-lost1-0

1-5Penalties5-25

DHC 0 6 0 0—6

SC 6 14 28 14—62

Scoring Summary

SC — Darian Gunter 14 pass from Ethan Cochran (Kick failed), 8:12, 1st.

SC — Cochran 1 run (Mike Anderson kick), 9:52, 2nd.

SC — Monty Hood 4 run (Anderson kick), 4:50, 2nd.

DHC — Jake Ross 43 from Chad Hardin (Run failed) 1:52, 2nd.

SC — Jason Robinson 15 run (Anderson kick), 10:12, 3rd.

SC — Jaquelle Cherry 44 punt return (Anderson kick), 8:03, 3rd.

SC — Hood 5 run (Anderson kick), 6:31, 3rd.

SC — Robinson 5 run (Anderson kick), 3:30, 3rd.

SC — Quadarius Newkirk (Anderson kick), 2:13, 3rd.

SC — Cole Phelps 13 run (Anderson kick), 9:36, 4th.

SC — Newkirk 24 run (Anderson kick), 2:45, 4th.