Stallions Trample Redhawks

Trinni Fegget (85) is brought down from behind by Cort Neely. (Photo/Ross Burton)

Trinni Fegget (85) is brought down from behind by Cort Neely. (Photo/Ross Burton)

ROCK HILL (Nov. 7, 2016) – The Westwood Redhawks’ season came to a difficult end in Rock Hill Friday night where they were handed a 57-7 defeat at the hands of the South Pointe Stallions, the number one ranked team in the state.

The loss dropped the Redhawks to 2-8 on the season, 0-5 in 4A Region III. South Pointe, meanwhile, finishes at 9-1 overall, 5-0 and tops in Region III.

“They’re where they’re at for a reason,” Westwood head coach Dustin Curtis said. “They’re extremely fast and they’re really well coached. They’ve got a lot of good players, and they play hard. That’s a statement and testament to their coaching staff and what they continue to do on year to year basis.”

The explosive Stallion offense put up points on their first drive via a 3-yard pass from junior quarterback Derion Kendrick to senior tailback Voshon St Hill. Kendrick caused headaches all night for the Redhawks’ defense, and he ended the night with three passing touchdowns, and an additional three rushing scores.

“You try to get your box six to play the run and you try to play the pass with the back five,” Curtis said. “Sometimes special athletes, just like we played against Jordyn Adams, him this year too, and those guys just have a knack for making plays and he’s one of the best in the state.”

It would not take long for Westwood to answer back. Elijah Heatley hit Kaden Briggs on an 81-yard breakaway touchdown to tie the game up, but turnovers prevented Westwood from mounting any momentum.

South Pointe picked the ball off four times, and recovered a fumble inside the Westwood 20. Junior defensive back Jamari Currence had three of the team’s four interceptions.

“It’s not a secret we’ve had trouble with turnovers,” Curtis said. “That’s something in the offseason that we’ve really got to address and become better at, but you know we got down there and had a little momentum and turned the ball over a couple of times and put our defense in a bad spot. When that happens in a football game things typically kind of spiral, especially against dudes like that.”

The plus-four turnover differential sparked a 50-point run for the Stallions. Marice Whitlock began the scoring avalanche at the end of the first quarter with a 30-yard touchdown scamper.

Kendrick and the Stallions applied more heat with a 27-point second quarter. Kendrick had three total touchdowns in the period, and by halftime the Redhawks were down 41-7.

The second half opened much in the same way the first had ended, and that was with South Pointe in the end zone. Kendrick scored on an easy 10-yard rush just one play into the drive.

Currence collected his third interception on the next Redhawks’ possession and returned it for a score, but the touchdown was called back by a hold on the return. It would not matter, because on the ensuing drive Kendrick ran the ball in for another 10-yard rushing touchdown.

Westwood continued running into roadblocks on their next drive. They attempted a punt from their own 21-yard line, but the punt was blocked and went out of the back of the end zone for a safety that turned out to be the last score of the night.

South Pointe’s season continues in two weeks then they host Greenville in round one of the 4A playoffs.

The loss concluded a rough season for the Redhawks. Aside from the 2-8 record, they lost their last seven games, but four of those games they lost by just eight points or less.

“If you write anything in this paper, I hope that you write about how hard these kids played every week regardless of the circumstances,” Curtis said. “I know when I came here they’re used to winning and they expected to win. We did have some injuries and some things that maybe hampered us a little bit, but these kids never quit and they have the highest character of anybody I’ve ever coached and we’re really going to miss these seniors and the impact they had.”

 

WHS: 7-0-0-0 – 7

SPHS: 14-27-16-0 – 57

 

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

SPHS – Voshon St Hill 3 pass from Derion Kendrick (B.T. Potter kick). 10:13.

WHS – Kaden Briggs 81 pass from Elijah Heatley (D.J. Fields kick). 5:00.

SPHS – Marice Whitlock 30 run (B. Potter kick). 3:30

Second Quarter

SPHS – D. Kendrick 4 run (B. Potter kick). 11:39.

SPHS – J.P. Pendergrass 37 pass from D. Kendrick (kick failed). 4:38.

SPHS – Dezmond Good 17 pass from D. Kendrick (B. Potter kick). 3:46.

SPHS – V. St Hill 20 run (B. Potter kick). 1:28.

Third Quarter

SPHS – D. Kendrick 10 run (B. Potter kick). 10:02.

SPHS – D. Kendrick 10 run (B. Potter kick). 3:52.

SPHS – Team Safety. 3:52.

 

TEAM STATS

 

WHS                                      SPHS

First Downs                        8                                              12

Rushes/Yards                    24-25                                     32-205

Passing Yards                     197                                         258

C-A-I                                      14-27-4                                 14-22-1

Fumbles/ Lost                   3/1                                         0/0

Penalties/Yards                 3-15                                       8-72

 

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING: WHS – Bradlee Nelson 4-5, Elijah Heatley 4-(-2), Joshua Heyward 8-24, Victor Smith 3-2, Rashawn Greene 1-(-1), Jair Kelly 3-(-3), D.J. Fields 1-0. SPHS – Derion Kendrick 8-74, Marice Whitlock 9-57, Voshon St. Hill 4-41, Joe Ervin 6-30, Tahleek Steele 5-3.

RECEIVING: WHS – Kaden Briggs 7-107, Trini Feggett 3-52, Jaylan Graham 2-29, Jaquavius Howard 1-6, Jalier Freeman 1-3. SPHS – Dezmond Good 2-63, Jonathan Muhammad 3-40, Quinest Bishop 1-51, J.P. Pendergrass 2-42, Derion Kendrick 1-28, Voshon St. Hill 2-11, Steven Gilmore 1-9, Scott Robinson 1-9, Bo Taylor 1-5.

PASSING: WHS – Elijah Heatley 14-27, 197 yards, TD, 4 INTs. SPHS – Derion Kendrick 12-19, 225 yards, 3 TDs, INT; Quinest Bishop 1-1, 28 yards; Tahleek Steele 1-1, 5 yards; JP Pendergrass 0-1.

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