Messenger file photo by Gary Wells
Courtesy of Sand Mountain Reporter
The Sardis High football team celebrated homecoming by shutting out Crossville, 28-0, last Friday (Oct. 18) in a Class 5A, Region 6 matchup in Sardis City.
The Lions improved to 5-3 overall and finished 4-2 in the Region 6 standings. They clinched the region’s No. 3 seed in the first round of the state playoffs. Crossville slipped to 1-7 overall and 1-4 in region play.
Sardis posted its 11th consecutive victory over Crossville. The shutout is the first for Sardis’ defense in the rivalry since 2007. Head coach Gene Hill picked up the 95th victory of his career.
Senior quarterback Jay Owens’ 3-yard touchdown run with 4:01 left in the first period put Sardis ahead to stay. David Corbalan made 4-of-4 extra points.
Owens (pictured above) threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Temon Wilson on the final play of the first quarter to make it 14-0.
Owens’ 1-yard run extended Sardis’ advantage to 21-0 with 3:31 remaining in the second quarter.
Wilson closed out the scoring by returning the second-half kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown at the 11:45 mark of the third period.
The Sardis defense made three goal-line stands during the contest.
The Lions hosts Sand Mountain neighbor Albertville this Friday (Oct. 25).