HAGERSTOWN, Md. – The math didn’t add up on Thursday for the South Hagerstown football team.
On this day at School Stadium, four plus four equaled negative 10.
And even worse, it calculated to a 31-13 loss to Francis Scott Key, which was far from what Coach Juwuane Sandridge was figuring.
“We talked about coming out in the second half and winning the first four minutes,” he said. “We didn’t do that. So that was kind of the ball game right there.
“And if you look at it, we looked to win the final four minutes of the first half. And we didn’t do that.”
Actually, the Rebels (0-2) were outscored 10-0 in those combined eight minutes. That turned a 7-0 lead into a 10-7 deficit as South could never overcome the sum of those parts.
Most of it stemmed from a failure to convert on early trips into the red zone.
“It was tough when we left three touchdowns on the field that first half,” Sandridge said. “You know, we would have been just fine. So, it was it was a little frustrating.”
That made South’s 7-3 halftime lead less than satisfying. FSK scored on a 30-yard field goal by Carter Rhodes with :53.6 remaining for the only score in those final four minutes of the first half.
And that made the second half even tougher to swallow.
FSK scored 28 points after halftime, starting with a touchdown in the first four minutes of the third quarter.
What made it worse? The Eagles went to the back pages of the playbook to pull out three gadget plays to swing momentum their way permanently.
After receiving the kick to start the second half, FSK running back Elijah Dawson took a handoff and rolled to the right. With the Rebels closing in for the tackle, Dawson lofted a pass to the Eagles 40 where receiver Alex Gearhart stood all alone.
The play turned into a 65-yard gain to the South 15. Two plays later, Jayden Zepp ran in from the 7 to give the Eagles a 10-7, just 57 seconds into the second half.
“It definitely kind of took the wind out our sails,” Sandridge said. “And then trying to rally back after that is kind of difficult.”
FSK followed by keeping South’s offense off the field with a short, well-placed kickoff, landing on the Rebels 40 and recovering the free ball.
The Eagles drive sputtered at South’s 5 with 6:17 remaining in the third quarter. Still, FSK possessed the ball for the first 5 minutes, 33 seconds of the second half, effectively closing the four-minute window the Rebels hoped to use to climb back into the game.
South’s first possession of the second half ended quickly. On the third play, South quarterback Lucas Semler was picked off by FSK’s Ryan Chaney, giving the Eagles the ball back at the Rebels 15.
Four plays later, Damian Blizzard ran in from the 7 to give FSK a 17-7 lead with 4:30 remaining in the quarter.
“Those were two critical errors for us,” Sandridge said.
It was compounded with South’s first play of the fourth quarter when FSK’s Cayden Flanagan recovered a fumbled snap by Semler at the Rebels 18.
Three plays later, quarterback Brett Ricketts found Rhodes, sliding down the right hash marks for a 16-yard TD catch, making the lead 24-7 with 9:39 remaining.
South ended FSK’s run of 24 straight points with 4:05 remaining when reserve quarterback Cole Stockman scrambled out of the pocket and ran 35 yards for a touchdown to make it 24-13.
But the Eagles had one more trick up their sleeves.
FSK had a fourth-and-2 at South’s 39 and lined up to punt. With coaches warning the Rebels of a possible fake, the Eagles snapped the ball to Dawson, the blocker in front of the punter. He ran 39 yards, straight up the middle, for the final score with 1:27 remaining.
“That’s something we talked about,” Sandridge said. “We kept the defense on the field. We didn’t even go into punt return. We knew that was a possibility of them running a fake punt.
“So, that was a little frustrating as a coach, you know, to be right there, to have the right personnel on the field, and just not execute.”
It all shaded South’s early successes from the first half.
The Rebels were able to move the ball, but just couldn’t get into the end zone.
Drives stalled for both teams in the scoreless first quarter.
South started a drive with 3:06 remaining in the first period that rolled over into the second quarter. The Rebels ate up 7 minutes, 10 seconds with a drive covered 58 yards in 15 plays only to stall at the FSK 6.
After forcing the Eagles to punt, Semler scored on an 11-yard sweep around left end to give South it’s only lead at 7-0 with 6:45 to go in the first half.
“I think the guys knew we missed some opportunities,” Sandridge said. “The score doesn’t really show how the game was like, especially in the first half. We just didn’t tackle well. We have a lot of young guys right now and that’s OK. There’s no excuse. We need to be better. And we’re going to get better.
“We can build off of this. We can build off everything … both wins and losses. It’s still a long season … Week two. We’re going to be OK.”
Other score
Manchester Valley 28, North Hagerstown 7
