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South Point unleashes its offense in win at East Gaston
Total offense: South Point — 431 yards (390 rushing, 41 passing), East Gaston — 274 yards (270 rushing, 4 passing)
Defensive leaders: South Point — Tristan Fogarty (7 tackles, 26-yard interception return), Tyler Bray (6 tackles). East Gaston — Jarren White (9 tackles), Christopher Graham (8 tackles), Rhett Odom (6 tackles). L.J. Isley (5 tackles)
Next week: South Point hosts T.C. Roberson, East Gaston visits East Lincoln.
South Point 20 0 14 7 — 41
East Gaston 0 3 6 7 — 16
First quarter
SP — Patrick Horne 35 run (Dayton Rogers kick), 9:03
SP — Troy Leeper 21 run (Pass failed), 2:31
SP — Leeper 32 run (Rogers kick), 1:09
Second quarter
EG — Richard Sigmon 38 FG, 7:07
Third quarter
EG — Gary Gore 49 run (Run failed), 8:45
SP — Ramon Costner 4 run (Rogers kick), 5:43
SP — Leeper 1 run (Rogers kick), 0:27
Fourth quarter
SP — Mitchell Painter 4 run (Rogers kick), 8:13
EG — Chris McDowell 55 run (Sigmon kick), 7:02
MOUNT HOLLY — Troy Leeper had fewer yards rushing than last week, but the South Point High junior felt a whole lot better Friday night after he helped power the Red Raiders past rival East Gaston 41-16.
“It feels good and it’s feeling much better,” said Leeper, the South Point fullback whose sore ankle kept him out of a season-opening loss to Clover.
Last week, Leeper ran for 253 yards — the fifth-highest single-game rushing total in school history — in South Point’s 43-42 overtime loss to Lincolnton that left the Red Raiders 0-2 for the first time in 14 years.
But with unbeaten East Gaston (2-0) up next on the road, South Point coach John Devine felt confident his team would play with a sense of urgency.
“Well, I told them we were playing East Gaston,” Devine said. “If it takes more than that, they’re in the wrong huddle. If you can’t get excited to play East Gaston, you’re at the wrong school.”
In front of a capacity crowd of 5,000 at Arrowhead Stadium — many of whom arrived more than an hour before kickoff — Leeper and the Red Raiders took charge from the outset.
Using two East Gaston turnovers as assistance, South Point scored on its first three possessions to take a 20-0 lead after one quarter.
Then, after the Warriors’ defense shut out the Red Raiders in the second quarter with dominating play in the interior line, South Point made an adjustment to its “Red Bone” offensive attack to put the game away.
"We just took what they gave us," said Leeper, who rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns in 25 carries. "They gave us the outside so we took it."
The Red Raiders finished with 431 yards behind an offensive attack run by junior Patrick Horne and sophomore Mitchell Painter. Horne had 100 yards rushing and one touchdown in nine carries and Painter added 57 yards and one touchdown in eight carries. Ramon Costner also scored a TD for South Point, which looks to even its record at 2-2 next week at home against T.C. Roberson.
"At 0-2, we were not happy," Devine said. "It was not fun to be at practice this week. But you can be a part of the solution. We chose to be a part of the solution."
For East Gaston, the loss ended the Warriors' best start since 2003.
"Well, they executed a lot better than we did. That's the bottom line," said East Gaston coach Eric Tippett, whose team had 274 yards total offense but was hurt by two first-half fumbles and two second-half pass interceptions.
Chris McDowell led the Warriors with 95 yards rushing and one touchdown in 12 carries. Jarkevius Hopkins added 65 yards in 12 carries. Gary Gore added the other touchdown on an electrifying 49-yard scoring run in the third quarter. And kicker Richard Sigmon, who briefly transferred to Newton-Conover two weeks ago, returned and made a 38-yard field goal, converted his only PAT attempt and averaged 42.3 yards in three punts.
