Stallions dominate second half
in 39-14 victory over Cummings

By DAN BISER
Sports Editor

VINEGAR HILL – Andrae Jacobs said he had never carried a football so far in his life.

Jacobs, South Columbus High’s standout senior linebacker, had been inserted at fullback in the Stallion offense midway through the third quarter to convert a fourth-down and less-than-a-yard play at the SCHS 47.

Jacobs took the handoff from quarterback Justin Duncan and not only easily picked up the first down, but he stepped out of a pair of tackles and broke free for a 53-yard touchdown run that upped the Stallion lead to 25-14 and put the unbeaten SCHS squad well on its way to a 39-14 victory over the visiting Cummings Cavaliers of Burlington in the third round of the state 2A football playoffs.

“I was running as hard as I could, but I kept waiting for somebody to catch me,” the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Jacobs said. “I don’t have a whole lot of speed, so I was kind of surprised when I made it all the way to end zone.”
Earlier in the quarter, Jacobs had scored the Stallions’ go-ahead touchdown on a one-yard run. Burlington Cummings, the defending state 2A champion, became the only team to hold a halftime lead over SCHS with a 14-13 edge at the midway point.

South Columbus, which improved its season record 14-0, scored 19 points in the third quarter and held Cummings to its second lowest point total of the season. The Stallions took over the final two quarters of play with a power running attack that featured the talents of Rashawn Grate, Justin Smith, Dominique Betts and Buster James. The Stallions rolled up 323 yards rushing and Duncan completed four passes for 102 yards.

The 14-0 mark is the best-ever single season record ever for an SCHS team.

Cavalier starting quarterback Omar Stewart had to leave the game early in the third quarter with a rib injury. Coach Steve Johnson’s Cavaliers closed their season with an 8-6 record, including road playoff victories over Elizabeth City Northeastern and West Bladen.

Freshman Bryson Leath stepped into the Cummings quarterback spot for the rest of the game.

Cummings, which has made of tradition of advancing deep into the state playoffs on an annual basis behind its no-huddle Run-N-Shoot passing offense, jumped to first-half leads of 7-0 and 14-7.

“We don’t ever see an offense like they have and we came out kind of ‘big-eyed’ in trying to keep up with it at first,” said South Columbus head coach Joey Price, “Cummings was hitting on all cylinders with their passing game early on. The only choice we had was to get more aggressive and start making some stops.

“Our defense really settled down and played hard after the second touchdown,” Price added. “Anytime you beat Burlington Cummings, you have to be pleased.”

South Columbus, the top-seeded team in East playoff bracket, held the Cavaliers to a net 36 yards rushing, including four quarterback sacks and several other stops for minus yardage.

South Columbus’ first possession of the night appeared to be another spectacular one as Duncan connected with a wide-open Rashawn Grate for 35 yards and apparent TD. But the score was called back by an illegal motion call and the Stallions ended up having to punt the ball away.

Cummings’ first possession resulted in an 80-yard scoring drive that took eight plays. Stewart ripped off a 19-yard run and threw 33 yards to Dominique Pass to highlight the set. Stewart drilled an eight-yard pass to a diving Tony Tuck for the Cavalier touchdown with 7 minutes, 49 seconds left in the first quarter. Julio Lopez kicked the extra point.

On South Columbus’ next possession a 34-yard run by Grate and a face mask penalty against Cummings set up a 34-yard touchdown pass from Duncan to Dakota Piver. Piver had sprinted behind the Cavalier coverage and made the catch right before stepping into the end zone. It was Duncan’s ninth touchdown pass and Piver’s fourth TD reception in the Stallions’ three playoff games. Donovan Watts’ extra point kick tied the score at 7-7 with 6:25 left in the opening quarter.

Cummings scored again on the second play of the second quarter with Stewart passing 15 yards to Kendrick Sellars to cap a 37-yard drive. Lopez’s PAT made the score 14-7 with 11:15 left in the first half.

Once again, South Columbus answered with a touchdown of its own, driving the ball 65 yards in eight plays behind three first-down runs by Justin Smith and 24-yard pass to Buster James. Dominique Smith got the touchdown on a seven-yard sweep with 7:54 left in the half. Watts’ extra point was off the mark and Cummings retained its 14-13 lead.

On its first play of the second half after forcing a short Cummings punt, Smith took a handoff and bolted 26 yards to the Cummings 14. Smith carried to the one on the next play and Jacobs scored on the next play. A pass on a two-point conversion attempt fell incomplete and South Columbus led 19-14 with 10:37 remaining in the third quarter.
Cummings moved the ball to the SCHS 26-yard line on its next possession but was stopped on a fourth-down play. That was the final Cummings’ scoring threat of the night, and Jacobs broke loose on his 53-yard, fourth-down scoring jaunt moments later.

The third SCHS score of the third quarter came on a 53-yard march with Betts getting his second touchdown of the night on a nine-yard run on third down with 10 seconds left in the period.

A 66-yard drive on the Stallions’ first possession of the final quarter produced the final points. A 24-yard fourth-down pass from Duncan to Grate gave SCHS the ball at the Cummings one-yard line. Smith carried over on the next play and Watts’ PAT made the final score 39-14 with 6:33 left in the game.

Grate finished the game with 104 yards on 12 carries, and Smith carried 16 times for 102 yards.
South Columbus had opened the playoffs with a 33-7 victory over Clinton.

Jacobs, Piver, T.J. Richardson, Jonathan Buffkin, Michael Hansen and Lee Hemingway led the SCHS defense.
Chris Richmond was the leading rusher for Cummings with 38 yards on 12 carries.

Coach Johnson said that his Cummings squad had been worn down by the Stallion running game in the second half as it was playing its third straight playoff road game.

“We executed our game plan well for the first 15 minutes or so,” Johnson said, “but South Columbus started getting things going their way right before the half and they made some big plays in the third quarter.”
Johnson said that without Stewart at quarterback, the Cavalier offense was not nearly as effective in the second half. Stewart was the starting quarterback for last year’s state champion.

“He took a helmet to the ribs in the first half, and then hurt it again going after a fumble,” Johnson said.
Cummings had previously taken state playoffs wins over South Columbus in 1995 and 2003.

C – Tony Tuck 8 pass from Omar Stewart (Julio Lopez kick).
SC – Dakota Piver 34 pass from Justin Duncan (Donovan Watts kick).
C – Kendrick Sellars 15 pass from Stewart (Lopez kick).
SC – Dominique Betts 7 run (kick failed).
SC – Andrae Jacobs 1 run (pass failed).
SC – Jacobs 53 run (run failed).
SC – Betts 9 run (Watts kick).
SC – Justin Smith 1 run (Watts kick).