HATTIESBURG – A halftime adjustment by the Crusaders defensive line worked to perfection in the second half, and Sumrall quarterback Billy Garrity and head coach Shannon White acknowledged it after Friday night’s game.
“In the second half, they started doing some different stuff,” Garrity said. “They were blitzing a lot more people and shifting people before the play started. They did a good job doing that and it caught us off guard a little bit.”
But, junior Bobcat receiver Dannis Jackson made plays in the passing game, and Garrity used his feet to help Sumrall pull away at the end, defeating Sacred Heart 27-12.
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“Tonight, all we could do was throw a fade route,” Sumrall head coach Shannon White said. “I should have thrown 10 more, I guess. We have to get to where we can be more consistent in other areas other than Dannis running a fade route. Boy, he’s really something on that fade route.”
Throughout the entire second half, Sacred Heart’s defensive line lived in the Sumrall backfield. On Sumrall’s first four drives, its running backs only gained 13 yards on the ground.
“(Sacred Heart’s defensive line) did some things that confused us,” White said. “We didn’t handle gaps very well at all, but it was a good scheme on their part. Hopefully we’ll learn from that. We’ll see that again, so we have to be able to see those movements and take care of the gaps.”
The Crusaders had only one first down in the first half, but on their fourth drive of second half, they moved the ball 52 yards on four plays to cut it to 14-12. On the first play of the fourth quarter, senior running back Campbell Klein finished the drive with a 30-yard touchdown gallop, but the 2-point conversion failed.
Sacred Heart had a botched point-after-touchdown play after its first touchdown, which forced the 2-point try in the fourth.
After the Crusaders’ touchdown made it a 2-point game, Garrity took it upon himself to run the ball for a score, but that was after a long pass to Jackson. On a third-and-14 play, Garrity let it fly down the left side for a 39-yard gain to Jackson, then Garrity rushed it in from the 7-yard line to push the Sumrall lead to 21-12.
(SIDEBAR: Billy Garrity's ability to improvise in the second half is what good QBs do)
Jackson finished with six receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown.
“It’s a blessing to have him out there,” Garrity said. “He makes my job easier. He’s a great athlete.”
Two Sumrall drives later, and after throwing an interception, Garrity capped off the night with a 26-yard touchdown run on a third-and-9 play to push the lead to 27-12.
Garrity rushed for 82 yards and two scores on eight carries, with 81 of those yards and both touchdowns coming in the second half. He also added 162 passing yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions on 8-of-20 passing.
“He did a lot of good things,” White said. “It’s a work in progress; he’s not going to play lights-out. He has a lot of growth ahead of him, but he still made plays and put the ball in position, most of the time, for us to have a chance to catch it. He missed a few routes that were open, but he’s a young quarterback. I was really pleased with what he did.”
In the first half, Sumrall quickly put points on the board with a touchdown on its opening drive. A 39-yard pass to Jackson started the game, then Garrity found Solomon Landrum over the middle for a 23-yard touchdown on fourth-and-7.
The Bobcats’ offense gashed the Crusaders’ defense running the ball in the first half, as Ty’rek Preston racked up more than 100 yards on the ground through the first two quarters. Preston had gains of 5, 51, 11 and 2 midway through the second, then a running-into-the-kicker penalty on a 35-yard field goal try – which was missed – gave the Bobcats the ball on Sacred Heart’s 9-yard line with a first-and-goal situation.
One play later, Garrity found Jackson for a touchdown to give the Bobcats a 14-0 lead.
With 12 seconds left in the half and the 14-0 lead, Sumrall lined up to punt on its own 17-yard line. The Sacred Heart coaches yelled for a punt-block formation, then senior Cesar Mejia busted through the line and blocked the punt to allow Joseph Bishop to hop on the loose ball in the end zone.
“We practiced that, and he laid out beautifully and just caught it off the tip of the punter’s foot. That’s how you’re supposed to do it.” Sacred Heart coach Lonny Schraeder said.
Sacred Heart (2-1) will host North Forrest next Friday at 7 p.m., and Sumrall (2-1) will travel to Enterprise.
Sumrall 27,
Sacred Heart 12
Score by Quarter
Sumrall 7 7 0 13—27
Sacred Heart 0 6 0 6—12
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
Sum— Landrum 23 pass from Garrity, (kick successful), 9:18.
Second Quarter
Sum— Jackson 9 pass from Garrity, (kick successful), 5:43.
SH— Bishop recovers blocked punt in end zone, (kick unsuccessful), 0:12.
Fourth Quarter
SH— Klein 30 run, (2-point unsuccessful), 11:51.
Sum— Garrity 7 run, (kick successful), 8:55.
Sum— Garrity 26 run, (kick successful), 13:26.
TEAM STATISTICS
Sumrall SH
First Downs 11 4
Rushes-Yards 40-236 14-66
Att-Comp-Int. 20-8-2 25-11-3
Passing Yards 162 67
Total Plays-Yards 62-363 41-116
Fumbles-Lost 4-2 2-1
Punts-Avg. 1-27 6-29.3
Penalties 14-142 12-70
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Sumrall: Preston 11-114; Garrity 8-82; Lemieux 13-33; Cocroft 6-17; Berry 2-(-10).
Sacred Heart: Klein 9-45 TD; Bishop 2-14; Garner 3-7.
Passing
Sumrall: Garrity 8-of-20, 162 yds. 2 TDs, 2 INTs.
Sacred Heart: Weatherell 11-of-25, 67 yds., 3 INTs.
Receiving
Sumrall: Jackson 6-123 2 TDs; Landrum 1-23 TD; Coleman 1-16.
Sacred Heart: Bishop 6-45; Rowell 2-12; Klein 3-10.
