Turnovers fuel Pointers 41-15 OVC win over Hornets
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, April 3, 2007
COAL GROVE — Not even Santa Claus gives away this many gifts to one house.
The Coal Grove Hornets committed 11 turnovers, seven on their first eight possessions, and the South Point Pointers capitalized on each one of them in a 41-15 Ohio Valley Conference win Friday.
“Coal Grove gave us some opportunities, we took advantage of the opportunities we had, and put some points on the board” South Point coach Dan McDavid said.
“Turnovers were the story of the game.”
All 41 of the Pointers points came off of turnovers.
Coal Grove forced South Point to punt on its opening possession, but gave it right back on the first play when the Hornets fumbled and the Pointers recovered on the Coal Grove 30.
On the first play South Point quarterback Chris Smith found Heath Bridges for a 30-yard touchdown and it was 7-0 with 9:36 to go in the first.
The Hornets’ next drive started at their own 10 and moved to the Pointers 37, but again a Hornet back was stripped.
But on this possession South Point was the victim of a turnover as Coal Grove ended the Pointers drive with an interception in the end zone.
The second quarter started with a long Hornets drive down to the Pointers 30. On second down, Coal Grove quarterback Eric Davidson found tight end Tyler Branch for a 15-yard gain, but the ball came loose after he was hit.
South Point (3-5, 2-1) was forced to punt, but again Coal Grove gave it back when Davidson was intercepted by Beau Weed. The Pointers scored on the next play when Smith ran it in from 15 yards out to make the score 14-0 with 2:33 to go in the half.
Another Hornets fumble gave it right back to the Pointers at the Coal Grove 17.
After two penalties moved it back to the 24, Smith found Weed on a 24-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was no good and the Pointers took a 20-0 lead into halftime.
The second half started just like the first half ended with a fumble on the kickoff and the Pointers took possession at the Hornets 38.
Smith found Weed for a 32-yard gain down to the 6 and Jacob Orlando took it in for the score on the next play to give the Pointers a 27-0 lead with 11:25 left in the third.
Smith finished the game 8-10 for 148 yards, and two touchdowns. He also ran 5 times for 36 yards and another score.
Coal Grove got the ball at their own 38, but on the third play Pointers linebacker Justin Thacker intercepted a Davidson pass and ran it back 45 yards to give South Point a 34-0 lead.
The Hornets finally got on the scoreboard with 6:41 to go in the third when running back Trent Blankenship took it in from 15 yards out and the score was 34-7.
Blankenship finished with 15 carries for 77 yards.
The Pointers forced a turnover on downs but gave it back on the first play when Matt Cooper stripped the ball from Todd Mayo at the 20 and took it down to the 11.
Coal Grove (4-4, 1-2) scored in three plays when Frank Delawder ran in from 5 yards away.
The Hornets converted the two-point try and the score was 34-15 with 11:56 to go in the game.
Delawder finished with 14 carries for 101 yards and a touchdown.
He also caught three passes for 22 yards.
“I was proud of our kids for coming back, and not giving up,” Hornets coach Dave Lucas said.
“We didn’t quit, we just didn’t play well.”
The last score of the game came when Jerrell Dean intercepted a Davidson pass and ran it back for a 46-yard touchdown with 1:03 left.
Weed finished with 3 catches for 60 yards and one touchdown. He also had one interception.