Sep 30, 2008
By his own admission Southern Durham’s Alan Lea had a terrible first half Friday night.
But the Spartan quarterback shrugged off his early struggles against Hillside, and with the game on the line, he called his own number.
Lea’s 2-yard TD run on fourth and inches gave the Spartans a 12-9 lead with 1:52 to play, and Southern’s defense halted the Hornets’ last-gasp drive to hang on for the three-point win.
“I just trusted my o-line to make my blocks for me,” Lea said. “I just wanted the ball. I just wanted to make it happen. First half, I felt like I let my team down. I had to come back strong.”
Lea threw two interceptions and lost a fumble in the first half, and he threw a third interception on the Spartans’ first drive of the second half. But he rebounded nicely and finished the night 10 for 18 for 118 yards, and he had nine carries for 53 yards.
On the game-deciding play, Lea walked over to the sideline and told coach Adrian Jones to put the game in his hands.
“I didn’t want to go into overtime, and Alan came to the sideline and said, ‘Coach, give me the ball.’ The offensive line was ready to block for him,” Jones said. “It was fourth and inches, so we had to go for it.”
Neither team had much success offensively throughout the night, a testament to both defenses. Southern had 295 total yards, and Hillside finished with 251.
But there were a number of self-inflicted wounds, too.
Southern (3-2, 1-0 in the PAC 6) had four turnovers, and Hillside had two. The Hornets (3-1-1, 1-0) also had a punt blocked, and they certainly didn’t help themselves with three snaps that sailed over quarterback Corey Gattis’ head for losses of 17, 19 and 24 yards, respectively.
Nevertheless, Hillside coach Ray Harrison had few complaints with the end result, considering many didn’t give the Hornets a chance.
“I’m very happy with the game,” Harrison said. “Most people thought we probably couldn’t hang with them because of our out-of-conference schedule and everything. I told the guys I’m not disappointed at all.”
Hillside’s first three drives of the night ventured into Southern territory but didn’t yield any points. The Hornets finally broke through early in the second quarter when Gattis scored on a six-yard run.
Hillside nearly went up two scores on its next possession, but Gattis fumbled the snap on first and goal at the 1-yard line, and Southern’s A.J. Marshall recovered it in the end zone.
Southern almost found the end zone right before halftime. Defensive end Sherman Ragland III recovered a fumble at the Hillside 25 with seven seconds left in the second quarter. Lea found receiver Quentin Lloyd over the middle for a 23-yard gain on the next play. The Spartans got one last play off with 2.2 seconds on the clock, but Lea’s pass sailed out of the end zone.
Southern finally got on the scoreboard late in the third quarter when Alonzo Hedgepath scored on a one-yard run. But the extra point was no good, leaving the teams tied 6-6.
After struggling offensively all night, Hillside responded with a 12-play drive that yielded Narcisse Mwanza’s 25-yard field goal and a 9-6 lead with 9:13 to play.
But Southern turned around with a long drive of its own. Lea’s 2-yard touchdown run capped a 13-play, 70-yard drive that ate 7:15 off the clock.
Hillside had one last chance. Thanks a Southern unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the kickoff, Hillside started its final position at the Southern 47. On fourth and 1, Sherman Ragland Jr. burst through the line and smothered Hillside running back Brandon China for a five-yard loss to end the game.
“It’s great to win this first conference game,” Jones said. “We lose this here and it’s hard to bounce back. I’m just so proud of these guys for sticking with us, doing what the coaches say and playing hard tonight.”
Contact Tim Candon at 821-8697 or tcandon@wral.com.
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