Saints' offense explodes in 2nd half

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on October 29, 2011 11:05 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- With its postseason future hanging in the balance, Southern Wayne turned a second half full of big plays into a big win Friday evening.

The Saints scored all four of the second-half touchdowns on plays of 40 yards or more and pulled away for a 51-28 victory over Charles B. Aycock at Hardy Talton Stadium.

Leading 17-14 through two quarters, Willie Sutton picked up seven yards on a key fourth down on the first drive of the third quarter. Jamie Dove raced 44 yards to the end zone on the next play as the lead grew to 23-14. Dove's 75-yard touchdown reception from Sam Ferrell pushed the margin to 29-14.

"We had the momentum in the second half and I thought we kept it going," Saints' head coach David Lee said. "Our offense kept the pedal down. I thought our kids responded real well."

Cody Garris' 1-yard score pulled Aycock to within 29-21 late in the third quarter.

Tyshawn Vann's 23-yard run proved to be the key play on Southern Wayne's ensuing drive and Sutton scored from one yard out three plays later. Sutton, a bruising 5-foot-5, 216-pound senior finished with 149 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.

"Willie stepped up tonight," Lee said. "We had a few discipline issues and Willie got a chance to step in there and start, and we know he's very capable. He's just a load. He knows the holes and he's a smart kid and he ran really hard tonight. I'm really proud of him."

The Saints (6-2 overall, 2-4 ECC) recovered a fumble deep in their own territory on the Golden Falcons' next possession. Vann sprinted 80 yards to the end zone to extend the lead to 44-21 with 4 1/2 minutes to play. Vann tallied 117 yards and a score on just four carries. Southern Wayne finished with 378 yards rushing and 477 yards of total offense.

Keith Jones capped the Saints' second half of big plays with a 50-yard fumble return for a touchdown.

Garris scored a late touchdown for Aycock.

After starting the season 4-0, Southern Wayne endured four consecutive losses. The Saints bounced back over the final two weeks of the regular season with two consecutive wins to strengthen its playoff resume.

"We won our first four and we lost our next four to what we thought were four pretty good teams," Lee said. "We were very competitive in every one of those games. We told our guys to keep pushing and to not give up. I think we have responded the last two games. This kids have played as well as they did in the first four games. Hopefully we carry this into the playoffs."

Austin Snowden led the Golden Falcons (2-8, 1-5) with 79 yards rushing and a 17-yard touchdown that capped a 71-yard drive in the first half. The junior finished the season with 1,062 yards and 13 touchdowns.