South Point football earns measure of revenge vs. Ashbrook. Here's how
· Yahoo Sports
BELMONT — As the clock dwindled to zero at Lineberger Stadium in Belmont, South Point quarterback Cayden Rumph decided to do something different.
The Red Raider senior clutched the game ball as long as he could before handing it off to a ball boy, the moment indicative of a significant weight being lifted off he and his teammates shoulders.
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South Point ended a three-game losing skid to Ashbrook, the Red Raiders taking a 38-27 victory in both teams’ Big South 5A/6A opener on Friday, Sept. 18.
The Red Raiders upped their record to 5-0 while Ashbrook dropped to 2-3.
This one had its share of fireworks, particularly early on.
Ashbrook drew first blood, needing 10 plays to move 68 yards for an A.J. McClain 10-yard touchdown pass to top target Braylon Smith. South Point answered with 17 consecutive points of its own; Wilson London booting a 40-yard field goal through the uprights, a 14-yard Kaveaun Pless TD scamper and a Jent Miller 25-yard interception return for a TD.
The Green Wave finished the half with a flourish, a pair of quick strikes from McClain to Smith — one a 76-yard pass, the other going 75 yards — sandwiched around a 16-yard TD run by South Point’s Pless, leaving it with a 24-20 margin going into halftime.
South Point seized control to start the second half, a nine-play, 65-yard drive which took nearly five minutes off the game clock capped by Rumph’s 21-yard TD pass to Gray Gathings, giving the Red Raiders a 31-20 advantage. Again Ashbrook refused to go quietly, going 72 yards in nine plays with freshman running back Messiah Patterson punching it in for a 4-yard TD.
However, as had been the case much of the night, South Point’s “Redbone” rushing attack was not to be denied. The Red Raiders answered with another lengthy scoring drive — this one going 71 yards in 13 plays — punctuated by Pless’ third TD of the game.
Coming in, Ashbrook’s McClain had yet to throw an interception this season. Against South Point, the dynamic Green Wave quarterback threw three — two of which led to South Point scores, his last effectively putting a bow on their Week 5 matchup.
Next week, South Point travels to Gastonia for a matchup with Hunter Huss. As for Ashbrook, it hosts winless North Gaston.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: South Point football earns measure of revenge vs. Ashbrook. Here's how