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Southern looks ready with EOAC title on the line

Southern Local’s Bradly Sloan (4) gets an escort fom Dylan Milhoan as he returns the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown Friday. (Morning Journal/Patti Schaeffer)

SALINEVILLE — When Friday’s contest between Southern Local and Wellsville kicked off it looked like the Indians were going to run away with the victory. But, Wellsville refused to back down and forced the Indians to fight their way to the 44-29 win.

Southern improves to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference, one game behind Columbiana. The Indians will host Columbiana next Friday in a game that will decide the league title.

“We had a good week at practice. A better week of practice and we’ve got some big games ahead of us” Southern coach Rich Wright said.

The scoring started when the Tigers kicked the ball off towards the Indians’ Bradly Sloan, who wasted no time finding the end zone, returning the kick 85 yards for the touchdown.

Jayce Sloan dumped the ball to Mark Soukup for the two-point conversion to give Southern a quick 8-0 lead.

After forcing the Wellsville offense into a quick three-and-out, Cam Grodhaus returned the punt 70 yards for the score. Dylan Milhoan ran in for the extra two points and without ever sending their offense onto the field Southern had the 16-0 lead.

The Tigers (2-6,1-4) didn’t hold their heads down though and on their next possession they put together a series that resulted in Derrick Suggs running 38 yards into the end zone. With the extra point by Casey Lemasters the score was 16-7.

“I’m very proud of my team tonight,” Wellsville coach Moose Ramsey said. “We gave up two big plays right off the bat. They didn’t get to run an offensive play and we were down 16-0. I told our kids to never give up your heart. They just kept playing and I’m very proud of them.”

Southern finally put its offense on the field with 6:32 remaining in the first quarter and once again an Indian found the end zone. This time it was on a 37 yard pass from Jayce Sloan to his brother Bradly.

“It’s always tough to play your rivals and Wellsville played us extremely hard. Wellsville never gives up. That’s a prideful town and we knew that coming in,” Wright said.

Up 22-7 with 4:18 left in the first the Indians’ defense failed to stop the Tigers’ trick play which saw their lead once again reduced. Wellsville quarterback Troy Carter handed the ball off to Justin Sarge who then handed the ball right back to Carter. Carter then went deep and found Darien Suggs for a 64-yard touchdown pass. Following Lemasters’ extra point the score stood at 22-14 in Southern’s favor.

Milhoan had the only second quarter score with his 6-yard run. He also scored the two-point conversion, making sure the Indians went into the locker room with a 30-14 lead.

After watching their offense turn the ball over on downs at the Southern 25-yard line, the Wellsville defense went out looking to make a big play and Darien Suggs did just that making a one-handed interception at the 50. Suggs took the Grodhaus pass back to the Southern 28-yard line before being brought down.

Not to be outdone the Indians defense also came up with a big play, an interception by Jayce Sloan on the goal line with just under a minute left in the first half. Jayce Sloan returned the ball 30 yards before the Tigers caught him. Carter was shaken up on the play and wouldn’t return for precautionary measures.

When the second half started it once again seemed like Southern was going to dominate as the defense chased Wellsville freshman quarterback Valen Kryzston. Kryzston’s first drive under center resulted in only 3 yards before a fumble pushed them back 10 yards and forced a punt.

“That’s a freshman, 14 years old, and scared to death at halftime. After the first couple series he settled down and I’m very proud of him tonight,” Ramsey said.

But the Indians offense couldn’t capitalize as Jayce Sloan’s pass was intercepted by Darien Suggs. This time Darien Suggs was able to take the ball all the way, 47 yards for the score.

Southern didn’t waste its next possession methodically controlling the clock for just about six minutes. The clock eating possession ended when Grodhaus ran 14 yards for the score. Soukup scored in the first minutes of the fourth quarter on a 4-yard run to give the Indians their final score of the game.

Wellsville still refused to go away quietly. Taking over with 4:55 left in the game Kryzston overcame four straight incompletions to hit his first touchdown pass. With 3:13 remaining he found Darien Suggs on a 35-yard scoring pass and Derrick Suggs ran in for a two-point conversion.

“Hats off to Coach Wright and his team tonight they played a great game but, I’m proud of our Tigers for not giving up,” Ramsey said.

For the Indians Jayce Sloan was 3-of-8 for 80 yards with a touchdown and interception. Leading the Southern rushers was Milhoan with 103 yards on 13 carries while Bradly Sloan was the top receiver with three catches for 80 yards.

The Tigers were led by Darien Suggs with 134 yards on three catches and Derrick Suggs with four catches for 67 yards. Derrick Suggs was also the leading rusher with 52 yards on 14 carries. Carter was 7-of-13 for 188 yards, one touchdown and one interception before leaving the game right before halftime. Kryzston went 2-of-7 for 52 yards with a touchdown.

Wellsville will host Leetonia on Friday.

WELLSVILLE: 14-0-7-8–29

SOUTHERN: 22-8-8-8–44

SCORING

S–Bradly Sloan 85 yard kickoff return (Mark Soukup pass from Jayce Sloan)

S–Cam Grodhaus 70 yard punt return (Dylan Milhoan run)

W–Derrick Suggs 38 yard run (Casey Lemasters kick)

S–Bradly Sloan 37 yard pass from Jayce Sloan (pass fail)ed

W–Darien Suggs 64 yard pass from Troy Carter (Lemasters kick)

S–Dylan Milhoan 6 yard run (Milhoan run)

W–Darien Suggs 47 yard interception return (Lemasters kick)

S–Mark Soukup 4 yard run (pass fail)

W–Darien Suggs 35 yard pass from Valen Kryzston (Derrick Suggs run)

——

W S

First downs 7 13

Total Yards 317 350

Rushes-yards 27-77 41-270

Passing 240 80

Comp-Att-Int 9-20-2 3-8-1

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 0-0

——

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING–Wellsville, Derrick Suggs 14-52; Southern, Dylan Milhoan 13-103.

PASSING–Wellsville, Troy Carter 7-13-188, Valen Kryzston 2-7-52; Southern, Jayce Sloan 3-8-80.

RECEIVING–Wellsville, Darien Suggs 3-134, Derrick Suggs 4-67; Southern, Bradly Sloan 3-80.

INTERCEPTIONS–Wellsville, Darien Suggs 2; Southern, Jayce Sloan 2.

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