MACON —
Mount de Sales struck early, often and quick.
After falling behind 7-0 to the Southland Raiders, the Cavaliers scored 36 straight en route to a 50-14 win Friday night.
Chris Swain rushed for 170 yards to lead MdS as he had more rushing yards than the entire Raider offense.
“They whooped over us pretty good,” said coach Tim Goodin. “We moved the ball a little bit against them — pretty much all night — but we just couldn’t stop them. We didn’t tackle well in the open field, and they get a lot of credit for that. They have a lot of athletes who run well in the open field.”
Southland had one big offensive play, and it was the first one of the game. Wes Downs hit Anthony Dunning on a halfback pass for 41 yards to the MdS 12, setting up a Kevin Greene 7-yard touchdown run.
MdS, however, scored the first five times it touched the ball with the drives consisting of 3, 6, 3 and 5 plays, not including a 63-yard punt return for a score by Josh Abrams.
Goodin said getting behind early changed the game plan in a hurry.
“They have more speed probably than anybody else (in the GISA) and more size,” he said. “They have some weaknesses. We felt like we could have scored maybe 30 on them. If they hadn’t scored as much, I think we would have. We tried to run wide and throw more because we got down so quick. We onside kicked a couple of times, and that gave them good field position.”
Ahead 21-7, MdS quarterback Bradley Smith found Brandon Sartin and Abrams for a pair of touchdowns on plays of 56 and 24 yards.
“They were such a threat to throw; we had to cover the pass the whole night,” said Goodin. “They blocked us well in the secondary. Their big running back (Swain) had ran some inside; they wouldn’t have beaten us just running inside. They ran wide, and they ran a kickoff and punt back for long gains. All night they big-played us to death, and we didn’t tackle well in the open field.”
The Raiders had four penalties in the game, including two on the final drive of the first half. They failed to score before the half ended, and Goodin said not scoring was a difference maker.
“We would have had some momentum and something to build on from last year’s game with them,” he said, referring to last year’s game when Southland rallied from a 27-7 deficit to win 28-27. “I think if we would have scored right there and had been 14 down, I’m not saying we would have won, but it would be a different game.”
Southland had 231 yards of offense compared with 353 for MdS. Collin Holloway had 52 yards rushing, and Greene scored both Southland touchdowns.
Luke Alexander and Lawton Williams led the Raider defense with 12 and 11 tackles, respectively.
It’s the first time since 2000 that MdS has won its first two games to start a season. Despite scoring 84 points in the first two games, Goodin isn’t quick to tag them as the GISA favorites.
“They definitely have the best open field athletes that I’ve seen in the GISA,” he said. “I don’t think they’re going to win a state championship, but they have a good enough team. They have some great athletes and have a chance to win a state championship. I don’t know who is good in the GISA, but the Deerfields and Tattnalls and some of those guys will tackle them better on defense than we did.
“We’re young and have got to grow up. It shows on defense. We didn’t have the skilled people to match up with them.”
Local Sports
Related Photos
-
Southland’s Kevin Greene works for yards against the Mount de Sales defense Friday night. Greene scored both touchdowns for the Raiders, but they lost 50-14 to Cavaliers. Andy Shivers / For the Times-Recorder
-
Southland’s Andrew Alexander (42) is joined by a host of Raider tacklers in tackling Mount de Sales’ Chris Swain. Andy Shivers / For the Times-Recorder
Big plays sink Raiders
- Local Sports
-
-
Eagles land two on All-Region Team, have four honorable mention
Two members of the Marion County baseball team were named to the 2012 All-Region Second Team for Region 4-A recently and four other players received honorable mention. The group of Eagle standouts was lead by Dylan McClellan and Jake McTaggert, who each represent Marion County on the Second Team.
-
Southland star signs with GSW
Alex Lindsey will be continuing her softball career at the college level, and she will not have to move very far to accomplish that feat. Lindsey, the superstar pitcher for the Southland Academy Lady Raiders softball team, signed with the Georgia Southwestern State University Hurricanes on Tuesday.
-
Wildcats’ baseball season comes to an end
Last Tuesday the Schley County Wildcats traveled to Charlton County to take on the Indians in the Class A state quarterfinals. The two teams were the final two public schools left in the Class A playoffs.
-
McKenzie selected to take part in Future Stars Game
Staley Middle School eighth grade quarterback Emory McKenzie is no stranger to success. Even McKenzie said he was taken aback, however, when he learned that he was chosen to represent his state in the Future Stars Game on June 16th.
-
Blue team holds off late charge from Gold team in Americus-Sumter’s 2012 spring football game
In the first Americus-Sumter football action of the 2012 year, the Blue team survived a late charge by the Gold team to earn the victory in the Panthers’ 2012 Spring game. After taking an early 13-0 lead, the Blue team had to sack Gold team quarterback Jonathon Thomas late in the fourth quarter to preserve a 13-6 win and earn bragging rights until next spring.
-
Former GSW and SGTC coach Dawson named head coach at Central Georgia Technical College
Another former Georgia Southwestern assistant basketball coach will be the head coach of another program next fall. Reco Dawson, who was an assistant coach on Mike Leeder’s staff at GSW during the 2011-2012 basketball season, recently accepted the head coaching position at Central Georgia Technical College in Macon, Georgia.
-
GSW's Griffin secures top 10 finish at Nationals
He started the tournament with a birdie. He ended the tournament with a birdie. In between, Georgia Southwestern golfer J.P. Griffin continued to play some terrific golf at the three-round, three-day NCAA Division II National Championships. Griffin finished at 4-under par and tied for ninth place in the 108-player field.
-
GSW club fishing team to compete in National Tournament
Georgia Southwestern has a long history of being successful in athletics. From boasting the 2002 NAIA Player of the Year in baseball player Paul Bush, to winning the school’s first Division Championship in the NCAA-era with a Western Division Championship in the 2011 basketball season.
-
Americus-Sumter dominates All-Region soccer team
The Region 1-AAA All-Region team was recently announced, and the Americus-Sumter Panthers won numerous awards from the head man all the way down to a freshman. After having an amazing year in which the Panthers finished with a 12-5 record and won the school’s first ever Region Championship in soccer, the Americus-Sumter soccer teams and head coach were recognized for all of their hard work with numerous post season awards.
-
Panthers spring football game set for Friday
Local football fans that are foaming at the mouth waiting for August to roll around can get a taste for the upcoming season this Friday night as the Americus-Sumter Panthers will be hosting their annual Blue-Gold spring game. The Panthers, who finished as the Region 1-AAA runner up in 2010 and 2011, will see how their team has progressed through their spring practices and evaluate their positions for the upcoming 2012 season.
- More Local Sports Headlines
-
