Led by a huge offensive burst in the second quarter, the South Pike Eagles came out on top against the Hammond Tornadoes, 45-34 at home Friday night.
It started to look as if the Eagles were going to once again put themselves in a big hole to start the game off after going down 14-0 quickly to the Tornadoes in the first quarter.
But the Eagles were able to regain confidence as quarterback Qauvonte Adams ran in the Eagle’s first touchdown for seven yards, along with the two-point conversion with 3:10 left in the 1st to narrow the deficit to, 14-8.
Quarterback Blaise Schillase and running back Gary Robertson of Hammond were the main production of the Tornadoes’ offense throughout the night.
Robertson opened up the second quarter with a 10-yard touchdown run, putting Hammond up 21-8.
“In the first half, we didn’t know what to expect out of Hammond, but we made adjustments at halftime, and the defense played excellent for us,” said South Pike head coach Michael Andrews.
A huge amount of momentum swung South Pike’s way, as the succeeding kickoff would be returned 90 yards by Eagles John Jones for a touchdown with 11:34 in the second.
The Eagles again went on to score the two-point conversion, off of another run by quarterback Adams cutting the deficit to 21-16.
The Tornadoes then received the ball back following the Eagles’ score, only to be intercepted by John Jones near the midfield and taken back to the end zone for the touchdown, giving the Eagles their first lead of the game at 22-21.
Hammond completed a 60-yard touchdown pass to Brett Sylve with 7:33 in the second to go back up 28-22.
Adams led the Eagles downfield where they would go for it on a fourth down eight in the red zone. Eagles running back Marc Varnado ran for a 15-yard touchdown that was followed by a successful two-point conversion with 3:37 left in the first half.
Hammond got the ball back to only be forced to a fourth down, where they would mishandle a punt, and give South Pike a short field to work with about 2:00 before halftime.
Adams drove down the field near the 25-yard line, and completed a huge touchdown pass to receiver John Jones, putting South Pike up 38-28 at halftime and giving Jones his third touchdown in the second quarter.
Both team’s defenses proved to show up in the second half, as they allowed one another to only score once.
The Tornadoes scoring off of a 20-yard run by running back Steven Bordok midway through the third to make it 38-34, and the Eagles with a huge 35-yard passing touchdown from Adams to Jones late in the fourth with 3:49 left, making it a 45-34 lead for the Eagles.
Hammond had many opportunities to put themselves back in contention, but costly penalties, turnovers and South Pike’s defensive play took them out of the game.
Jones intercepted a desperation pass thrown by Schillase with 2:32 left to play, securing the win for the Eagles.
“It’s a very big win for us, we were down in the first, but I told our guys to hang in there. I’m proud of our guys, they showed excellent effort and played with a lot of heart and I’m glad we came out on top,” Andrews said.
Adams finished the game with 126 yards passing off of seven completions and 79 yards rushing, but also throwing two interceptions.
Running backs Jaxavian Holmes and Varnado combined for 135 yards rushing on 27 carries.
On defense, South Pike’s leading tackler would be junior linebacker Corey Pittman with 6. Jones finished the game with 277 all purpose yards and 4 touchdowns, a major contribution everywhere on the field.
“John had an awesome game, he scored touchdowns in several different ways. He’s a dedicated player, and I would describe performance in one word: outstanding,” Andrews said. “It’s a very big win for us. We’re going to continue to work hard, as we get ready for district play. That’s a very important task for our team right now, is staying healthy and motivated for district ball games.”
The Eagles are off next week and are back in action at home against Franklin County at 7 p.m. Sept. 19.
