By Adam Crocker/Sports Correspondent
The atmosphere was strong at Barney Hood Stadium on Friday night (Sept. 30) as Southside lost a close one to No. 4 Oxford, 24-21, in a Class 6A, Region 7 game.
The Panthers (4-2, 1-2) started the second half off strong in scoring on their first possession.
Southside started the drive off with runs from Alaric Williams, Baylon Fry, Kenneth Bothwell Jr., and quarterback Tristan Shaw. Williams capped off the series with a 23-yard blast down the right side. Freshman kicker Nolan Johnson’s kick was good to mke it 21-14 in favor of the hosts.
With 1:30 left in the third quarter, Oxford senior kicker Keaton Borrelli nailed a 32-yard field goal that cut the Panther lead to 21-17.
After a Panther fumble a short time later, the Yellow Jackets (7-0, 4-0) added yet another score, off a five-yard run from Tyetus Smith Lindsey. Borrelli’s PAT was good, and the visitors took the lead for good with 10:11 left in the game.
“Our focus was that we felt like we had a lot of things we could do against [Oxford] on both sides of the ball,” said Southside head coach Ron Daugherty. “The big focus is, as always, executing and taking care of the football and not making little mistakes. That’s what comes to hurt us.”
Southside started the game off with a quick three-and-out, and the visitors took over at midfield. It didn’t take long for the Yellow Jackets to light up the scoreboard.
Peoples started the drive off with a 32-yard run. Lindsey added eight yards before Peoples punched in a 10-yard score. Borrelli’s PAT was good, making it 7-0 with 8:22 remaining in the first period of play.
The teams punted back and forth until the 8:30 mark of the second. The Panthers punted from their own 11-yard line to set their opponent up with great field possession on the SHS 34. Lindsey ran it for 33 yards, setting up Peoples for the one-yard scoring punch. Borrelli’s kick was good, making it 14-0 with 8:13 left on the clock.
Southside got the ball back with 8:13 left in the half and ran 6:03 off the clock on a 10-play, 72-yard scoring drive.
The Panthers took over on their own 27 and started off strong with quick runs from Bothwell and Shaw for a combined 11 yards.
A seven-yard pitch play to Williams around the right side set up two pass plays for Shaw, one to Jacobs and another to Austin Winningham.
On first and goal at the 9, Fry added six yards on the ground to set up a second and goal. Williams punched it in from three yards out with 2:50 remaining in the half.
Johnson’s kick was good, making 14-7.
The Yellow Jackets took over at Panther 44, only to fumble off a pass play. The ball was recovered by the panthers for a touchback. A seven-yard dash by Williams set up a 38-yard halfback pass from Bothwell to Winningham.
A couple of pass interference calls later, Williams punched it in from three yards out. The point-after was good, making it 21-14 with 8.3 seconds left in the half.
Williams carried the ball 17 times for 107 yards and three scores. Fry ran nine times for 61 yards. Shaw was 2 for 7 in passing for 39 yards.
Southside travels to Somerville this week to take on region foe A.P. Brewer.