WINFIELD — South Carroll put its stamp on the Class 2A West Region seminfinal against visiting Marriotts Ridge on Friday at Parker Field.
The Cavaliers' defense dominated from the first snap as South Carroll shut down the Mustangs in a 21-0 victory. The Cavaliers (10-1) came out looking to stop the run and they succeeded, as Marriotts Ridge was forced to throw more times than it would have liked to.
The Mustangs (8-3) gained just seven first downs in the contest, four of which came on their final drive when the game was already out of reach.
"They've been working hard throughout the season to try to make a statement in the county and really get ready for the playoffs here and they did it again tonight, and that's what we need in the playoffs," Cavs coach Steve Luette said of his defense. "We've got three more good teams we hopefully get to play … and each team is going to be a good team, so our defense has to be able to shut down their offense. They're playing at a very high level right now."
South Carroll posted its second straight shutout, and the defense is allowing 6.6 points per game.
It was also a slow start for the South Carroll offense as it struggled to move the ball on its opening possession of the game, but found success on the ground as the first quarter wound down.
South Carroll started hitting the hole on running plays up the middle gaining up short, but consistent yardage. The drive ended with the first score of the game when the Cavs lined up from the Marriotts Ridge 16-yard line.
Quarterback A.J. Linn pitched the ball out to the left to Jamar Williams who took two steps and made a cut up the middle. Williams weaved his way through the holes made by the offensive line and ran unscathed into the end zone to put South Carroll on the board first.
It would turn out to be the only points the Cavaliers needed as the defense continued to turn up the pressure on the Mustangs offense. South Carroll finished the night with three sacks, and Travis Earp was a part of two of them.
"We talk about gap discipline a lot, it's our No. 1 key," Earp said. "It's great, but I can't give myself all the credit on the sacks, it's my team, everyone else did their jobs and that's how I got to the quarterback."
Steven Baca finished off an 80-yard drive in the second quarter with a run from one yard out with just more than 11 minutes remaining in the first half. Baca didn't bust open a lot of big runs, but he and the rest of the South Carroll backfield chipped away at the defense and it paid off down the stretch.
Baca finished with a game-high 122 yards on 21 carries as the primary ball carrier. The running game combined with Linn's ability to keep the chins moving gave the Cavaliers enough offense to win comfortably.
The final score of the game came in the third quarter when the Cavaliers were faced with a seemingly impossible third down and 24 from the Mustangs' 34-yard line. However, Linn hit Patrick Kelly over the middle and he took it all the way to the end zone, cementing the win for the Cavaliers.
As the No. 2 seed in the 2A West region, the Cavaliers will host Walkersville next week in the regional final and they attempt to get to the state semifinal for the second consecutive season.
"They've worked hard for this and I'm glad Walkersville pulled the upset … it's going to be a smash-mouth game next week with two well-coached teams going at it and I expect it to be a good ball game next Friday night," Luette said.
Marriotts Ridge 0 0 0 0 — 0
South Carroll 7 7 7 0 — 21
SCORING SUMMARY
SC-Jamar Williams 16 run (Kyle Gavin kick)
SC-Steven Baca 1 run (Gavin kick)
SC-Patrick Kelly 34 pass from A.J. Linn (Gavin kick)
UNOFFICIAL STATISTICS
Rushing
MR-Chris Meekins 7-14, Troy Hensh 4-10, Trayvon Delk 2-2, Eli Turner 3-(-4), Tyler Poole 6-(-20); SC-Steven Baca 21-122, Jamar Williams 6-32, AJ Linn 8-24, Joe Malagari 8-23.
Passing
MR-Poole 9-23-0 115, Marcus Lunsford 0-1-0 0; SC-Linn 7-13 113.
Receiving
MR-Meekins 4-53, Lunsford 1-26, Turner 1-22, Chase McCotty 1-13, Hensh 1-12, Gunnar Barnard 1-(-11); SC-Patrick Kelly 3-55, Talmadge Eller 1-25, Brent McPherson 1-14, Williams 1-14, Baca 1-5.
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