By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Southern Alamance has reached the halfway mark of the football season in good position after recovering from a rough beginning.
They used a combination of a few sustained scoring drives and a harassing defense to defeat host Eastern Alamance 28-15 on Friday night in Mebane.
“We got our confidence back up,” senior linebacker Ryan Norris said.
Sincere Thompson ran for two first-half touchdowns as part of a 163-yard rushing performance and C.J. McAdoo intercepted two passes.
Southern (3-2 overall, 2-0 Mid-Carolina Conference) has won three straight games.
“It’s coming back, for sure,” first-year coach Jonathan Hester said. “Just worrying about doing your individual job.”
The Patriots also received 83 rushing yards and a touchdown from running back Jacob Alexander.
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So the two-game blip from August seems long in the past.
“We finally picked up some energy,” Alexander said. “Started playing as a team, that’s what we needed to get going. … Just the grind and just wanting it.”
Lessons learned during losses to Eastern Randolph and Patrick Henry (Virginia) might be paying off for Southern.
“We could have played easier games, but it wouldn’t prepare you for games like this,” Hester said.
Both of Eastern’s touchdowns came on pass plays from Zack Merchel to Devontia Clark. The Eagles (2-3, 1-1) needed a few more chunks of yardage.
“We felt we had to capitalize on some of the opportunities we had because we knew they were going to eat some clock,” Eastern interim coach John Kirby said.
Southern limited the Eagles to 45 yards on the ground.
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Following McAdoo’s first pick-off, the Patriots went 64 yards on eight plays, with Thompson scoring on an 18-yard run.
After an Eastern punt, Southern needed to navigate 50 yards for its next touchdown, with Thompson, who carried 25 times in the game, plowing in from 1 yard out.
Eastern responded quickly with a 73-yard march capped by Merchel’s 12-yard strike to Clark. It was 14-7 at halftime.
Alexander scored on a 17-yard run to cap the first possession of the second half. With an offsides infraction called against Eastern as the teams lined up for the conversion, the Patriots opted to go for two and Thompson ran in for a 22-7 edge.
Eastern got clicking again and Merchel hooked up with Clark for a 15-yard TD play on the first snap of the fourth quarter. Jamez Cochran ran in on the two-point play.
That was followed by a Southern drive that consumed more than eight minutes. The big play, Hester said, came following a personal foul penalty when the Patriots faced second-and-22. Alexander ripped off 25 yards, and six plays later quarterback Tustin Johnson was in the end zone on a 1-yard sneak. Eastern’s Trinity Totten blocked the extra-point kick.
McAdoo’s second interception thwarted Eastern’s final possession.
