Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

COAL GROVE — Going big to win big.
The Coal Grove Hornets used big scoring plays to beat the South Point Pointers 55-14 in an Ohio Valley Conference game on Friday.
Quarterback Nate Harmon had big play fever as he ran just five times for 108 yards and scored three touchdowns. He also hit 7-of-12 passes for 97yards and a touchdown.
Coal Grove ran 36 times for 398 yards with Austin Stapleton getting 67 yards on six carries and Kyle Sites 66 yards on eight attempts in the balanced running game.
Pointers’ quarterback Brody Blackwell was 9-of-17 passing for 209 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Chance Gunther had four receptions for 140 yards and both TDs while JoJo Burris ran six times for 43 yards and caught two passes for 23 yards.
Harmon ran 59 yards for a touchdown on the Hornets’ first possession of the game and Evan Holmes’ conversion kick made it 7-0 at the 8:51 mark.
South Point (0-4, 0-1) answered with their own long scoring play as Blackwell hit Gunther on a 69-yard touchdown pass play.
Harmon threw 12 yards to Christian Workman for a touchdown as Coal Grove went up 13-7 with 3:59 left in the quarter.
Austin Stormes then came up with the big defensive play of the game as he picked off a pass and ran it back 33 yards for a touchdown with 1:59 left in the quarter and it was 19-7.
Harmon added a 15-yard scoring run with 11:10 left in the half as Coal Grove (3-1, 1-0) opened up a 26-7 lead.
South Point got another big strike score as Blackwell and Gunther teamed up on a 54-yard scoring pass and it was 26-14.
But the Hornets answered with another big play touchdown as Jalen McKenzie ran 21 yards for the score and it was 33-14 with 3:49 left in the half.
Harmon scored his third touchdown on a 26-yard run with 2:15 left in the third quarter and Sites ran for the conversion to make it 41-14.
Coal Grove got two touchdowns in the fourth quarter with their second team offense as Stormes broke free on a 53-yard touchdown run on the first play of the quarter and Trey Hunt had a 1-yard scoring run with 4:48 left.
Clay Ferguson passed to Workman for the conversion to set the final score.
Next Friday, South Point visits Ironton and Coal Grove travels to Chesapeake.
South Point 7 7 0 0 = 14
Coal Grove 19 14 8 14 = 55
First Quarter
CG — Nate Harmon 59 run (Evan Holmes kick) 8:51
SP — Chance Gunther 69 pass from Brody Blackwell (kick good) 6:45
CG — Christian Workman 17 pass from Nate Harmon (kick failed) 3:59
CG — Austin Stormes 33 interception return (kick failed) 1:59
Second Quarter
CG — Nate Harmon 15 run (Evan Holmes kick) 11:10
SP — Chance Gunther 54 pass from Brody Blackwell (kick good) 4:19
CG — Jalen McKenzie 21 run (Evan Holmes kick) 3:49
Third Quarter
CG — Nate Harmon 26 run (Kyle Sites run) 2:15
Fourth Quarter
CG — Austin Stormes 53 run (kick failed) 11:49
CG — Trey Hunt 1 run (Christian Workman pass from Clay Ferguson) 4:48
SP CG
First downs 6 12
Rushes-yards 22-17 36-398
Passing yards 209 97
Total yards 226 495
Cmp-Att-Int 9-17-2 7-12-0
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 4-30 8-101
Punts-average 4-40.8 1-40.0
Individual Leaders
RUSHING — South Point: JoJo Burris 6-43, Maddox McCallister 6-14, Brody Blackwell 7-minus 31, Joel Morrison 1-minus 5, Brenden Dillon 1-minus 1, Trent Moore 1-minus 3; Coal Grove: Kyle Sites 8-66, Nate Harmon 5-108, Austin Stapleton 6-67, Evan Holmes 4-25, Jalen McKenzie 2-21, Austin Stormes 2-63, Christian Workman 1-12, Malichi Wheeler 3-36, Trey Hunt 1-1, Landon Johnson 1-minus 1.
PASSING — South Point: Brody Blackwell 9-17-2 209; Coal Grove: Nate Harmon 7-12-0 97.
RECEIVING — South Point: Chance Gunther 4-140 2-TD, Joel Morrison 1-33, Marcus Malone 2-13, JoJo Burris 2-23; Coal Grove: Jalen McKenzie 4-64, Christian Workman 1-17, Greg Keeney 1-7, Aaron Music 1-9.