KINGS MOUNTAIN — It isn’t wise to doubt South Point football, particularly as the season winds into its latter stages and games ramp up in importance.
Considered an underdog ahead of a Week 9 matchup at Kings Mountain, the Red Raiders played spoiler in their opponents’ pursuit of a Big South 5A/6A crown with a 34-13 victory at John Gamble Stadium.
The win is South Point’s third in a row over Kings Mountain, and 11th victory in the teams’ last 14 meetings. More importantly, it keeps the Red Raiders in contention for at least a share of a league championship, remaining a game behind rival Crest in Big South 5A/6A.
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“I’m super proud of this team; everyone knows to win these type of games it takes everyone,” said South Point football coach Adam Hodge. “We had a great week of practice and our guys worked really hard. It really showed (Friday night).”
Kings Mountain drew first blood, going 73 yards in 10 plays with freshman quarterback Jordan Jenkins scoring on a 2-yard touchdown run. At the time, it looked as if it would be business as usual for a Mountaineer squad which averaged 46 points during a six-game win streak.
Such wouldn’t be the case against a South Point defense which bent much of the night, but didn’t break.
“(Jenkins), that kid is going to be phenomenal,” Hodge said. . “But we just asked our guys to ‘move on to the next play.’ Don’t let the previous play beat us twice; our guys put in a team effort and we were able to make things work in our favor.”
South Point outscored Kings Mountain 34-7 the rest of the way.
Tied 7-7 at the break, South Point took its opening possession of the second half 73 yards in 13 plays, with quarterback Cayden Rumph giving his team its first lead of the night on a 3-yard TD run. After Kings Mountain’s first possession of the third quarter ended with a turnover on downs — albeit controversially as Mountaineer coaches and players protested that an Xavier Hutchens’ catch was inaccurately ruled incomplete — standout running back Kaveaun Pless fully shifted momentum to the Red Raider sideline with a 66-yard TD run to give his team a 21-7 advantage.
It was Pless’ second TD run of the game, the South Point fullback also scoring on a 2-yard scamper in the second quarter. South Point wasn’t done though, particularly Rumph who added TD runs of four and 33 yards,
“You know, there was a lot of energy in the building tonight, and we just wanted to play good team football,” Hodge said. “Don’t worry about the scoreboard, just play. I wanted them to give me six seconds at a time, and our guys did that. I’m mighty proud of them.”
South Point moves to 8-1 overall (4-1 Big South 5A/6A). The Red Raiders cap their regular season with a trip to nearby Forestview on Oct. 23. As for Kings Mountain (6-2, 3-1), it must regroup ahead of a road matchup against Hunter Huss.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Second-half surge pushes South Point football past Kings Mountain