South Point vs. South Johnston state championship preview

Saturday’s state championship game

South Johnston (14-1)

vs. South Point (13-2)

Class: 3AA

Time: 2:30 p.m.

Site: Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill

Last week: South Point, the No. 7 seed in the 3AA West, jumped out to a 28-0 lead and held on for a 35-21 home win over Anson County in the 3AA West championship. South Johnston, the No. 1 seed in the 3AA East, escaped with a 33-32 triple-overtime win last week against Southern Nash for the 3AA East title.

Series notes: The teams have never met.

State championship history: South Point has reached the state title game for the second time this decade, having won the 3A championship in 2003. South Point is 2-0-1 in state title appearances, having won in 1979 and 2003 and tied Salisbury in 1971 for a co-Western N.C. High School Activities Association title. South Johnston is making its first state championship appearance. In fact, the Trojans had won only one playoff game prior to this season, and that victory came in the 1984 Division II playoffs, a second-tier system created for the conference runners-up who didn’t make the Division I playoffs and therefore couldn’t compete for the state title.

Players to watch: South Point QB Josh Justice rushed for a career-high 226 yards and four TDs last week and also passed for a TD in the win over Anson County. South Point FB Aaron Crumbley is tied for the Gaston County career rushing TD record with 84, and he’ll likely play collegiately at Navy. South Point SE Shane Merrill is Justice’s top receiving target. DE Maurice Falls is among South Point’s defensive leaders and plans to graduate this month and join East Carolina for spring practice. South Johnston’s spread offense is led by QB Patrick Dunigan (3,022 passing yards, 29 TDs) and Shrine Bowl WR Dee Williams (1,485 receiving yards, 24 TDs). RB Anthony Crumity is South Johnston’s top rusher with 884 yards and 10 TDs. LB Tyler Benson (11.2 tackles per game), LB Josh Barbour (11 tackles per game, 4 INTs) and LB Dan Atkins (7 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries lead the Trojans’ defense, which has shut out three opponents.

The buzz: In a year South Point wasn’t even projected to win its conference, the Red Raiders have defied the odds with a youthful lineup that includes only 10 seniors, eight junior starters, six sophomore starters and three other 10th graders that contribute heavily. That and the fact South Point returned only one offensive lineman from last year and had to break in a new quarterback led the coaches to pick the Red Raiders No. 2 in the preseason poll. But Justice has been superb running the triple option and the defense has improved steadily, helping the Red Raiders share the Big South 3A Conference title for their ninth league championship in the last 11 years. This week, South Point will face a potent spread offense led by Williams, a 5-foot-11 target who is averaging almost 100 yards a game. South Point plans to mix zone and man coverage, with several defenders taking turns defending Williams one-on-one. South Point will try to apply pressure in the backfield with a strong pass rush, but Dunigan is known as a mobile quarterback who can throw accurately while being flushed out of the pocket. On the other side of the ball, the good news for South Point is South Johnston has not a faced a triple-option offense, something South Point has perfected to the tune of 36.7 points and 370.3 yards per game during the current six-game winning streak.