SE Halifax drops Spring Creek

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on September 3, 2011 11:37 PM

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SEVEN SPRINGS -- Turnovers and penalties.

No matter how they are explained, the two problems cost Spring Creek an equal amount in a 43-0 loss to Southeast Halifax on Friday night at "The Swamp."

The Gators committed eight penalties and turned the ball over four times in the defeat.

"Those are the two things we have to fix if we want to win a few games this season," Spring Creek head coach Aaron Sanders said. "There is no way to beat a good team like Southeast Halifax if you continue to shoot yourself in the foot."

After getting a defensive stop on the Trojans' first possession, the Gators took over the ball at their own 25-yard line. A false start penalty and three negative plays later the Trojans forced a safety and took a 2-0 lead.

Southeast Halifax took the free kick at midfield and marched the ball 43 yards on five plays and scored a touchdown on a Malik Hinton scamper.

Spring Creek went three plays and out on its ensuing possession and punted the ball back to the Trojans. A roughing the passer penalty got the ball moving for the visitors and Wimante Hendricks capped a nine-play drive with a 19-yard scoring run.

At the end of the first quarter the Trojans held a 16-0 lead.

"It is hard to dig out of a hole like that," Sanders said. "We settled down and moved the ball a little better as th game went on, but it was too late by the second half."

At halftime the Gators had negative two yards of total offense and trailed 23-0 on the scoreboard.

Spring Creek's offense picked up in the second half, but it never mounted a comeback. The Gators finished with 44 yards of offense on the night. Chad Spurgeon led Spring Creek with seven yards on one carry and completed four passes for 20 yards.

"Chad is a young guy but as a freshman he has done a pretty good job," Sanders said. "He is learning as the season goes on and I want him to keep improving with each game."

Southeast Halifax tallied 210 yards on the ground and 87 yards though the air. Eight different players toted the football, led by Hinton's 76 yards on seven carries.

Spring Creek (0-3 overall) will be the guest of East Carteret on Sept. 9.