What We Saw: South Pointe’s Defense Dominates Indian Land

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>INDIAN LAND | </strong>While the offense wasn't exactly up to par, it was the South Pointe defense that won the day with multiple turnovers and flying around to the ball in a 21-8 win over Indian Land on Friday night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Indian Land started the night strong as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='340396' first='Jaxon' last='Scheidt'] </strong>connected with <strong>Chaz Portis </strong>over the middle for a huge completion into South Pointe territory. But the Stallions would bow up inside the 10-yard line as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='212416' first='J'Zavien' last='Currence'] </strong>(pictured above) picked off Schiedt on 4th down with 7:07 to play in the first quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>South Pointe coach Bobby Collins was complimentary of his defense after the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We challenged our defense today. And they came out and did exactly what we wanted to do. (The) offense, we're still a work in progress but as long as I'm here, we're going to run the football with guys like [player_tooltip player_id='1012612' first='Aidan' last='Turner'] and Mason Hicks and all the other plethora of guys we've got. We're going to be fine, man. We're going to put it on the back of our offensive line," Collins said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The opening snap for the Stallion offense was a fumble over the quarterback's head into the end zone, which gave Indian Land the first points of the night at 2-0 with 7:04 to play in the first.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The defensive slugfest would continue from there as both teams exchanged turnovers. South Pointe's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1012611' first='Fred' last='Reese'] </strong>had an interception before Indian Land's <strong>Eddie Verner </strong>recovered a fumble.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both teams combined for three first quarter turnovers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“For the most part offensively, other than getting stuck in a bunch of three-and-outs, I thought we put together drives. We thought if we put together drives, we could score and the longer they had the ball, we thought they would put the ball in jeopardy and danger and they did. We didn't capitalize on it,” Indian Land coach Adam Hastings said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mason Pickett-Hicks </strong>would get South Pointe on the board with a long 53-yard touchdown run as the Stallions took a 7-2 lead with 8:35 to play before the half.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>South Pointe seemed to be primed to get more points before the half, but a key Indian Land timeout with 3:04 to play gave them the jumpstart they needed. <strong>Camdin Portis </strong>sacked new Stallions QB <strong>Daylen Duncan</strong> before a false start penalty would back South Pointe up and then <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='771063' first='Timir' last='Hickman-Collins'] </strong>forced a TFL, stunting any Stallion progress inside Indian Land territory. Neither offense could get much going in the first half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>WHERE THE GAME CHANGED</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Currence had a game changing pick six on an overthrow by Schiedt, extending the visitors' lead to 14-2 with 7:25 to play in the third quarter.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We worked at it all week, getting hands on, getting in the right position, keeping our eyes out of the backfield. We had a great defensive game scheme that set us up for the win,” Currence said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>He even took snaps at quarterback in the second half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>South Pointe fumbled their own fumble recovery late in the 3rd quarter but the defense came through. Again.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Zantawn Nelson </strong>put the icing on the cake to begin the fourth quarter as he had a pass breakup on the goal line with 10:59 to play in the contest. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1012612' first='Aidan' last='Turner'] </strong>delivered the knockout punch with a touchdown run with 4:33 to play in the game to increase South Pointe's lead to 21-2 with 4:33 to play in the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Schiedt would connect with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1042719' first='Hayden' last='Morris'] </strong>on an impressive one handed catch to get into the end zone with 1:48 to play in the contest.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->