Offense, defense, special teams, all get involved for South

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Well, sometimes weeks go this way. I took in two high school football games this week; both games were over by halftime. My second game of the weekend – I hoped – would be an evenly matched game featuring two teams who had similar starts to their seasons. The host Eastview Lightning came into the game with a 2-4 record, and the Lakeville South Cougars sat at 3-3. Unfortunately for the home fans and me, this game was effectively over by halftime. The Cougars scored 28 points in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 35-0 lead. The second half wasn't much better for the Lightning. South would get back on the buses for the short ride home with a 56-14 victory.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eastview's offense looked promising early in the game. They used a short passing game to move the ball near mid-field. However, South's <strong>Chris Lafferty</strong> turned defense into offense with a pick-six to give the Cougars an early lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What would become a running theme to the game, the Cougars started pounding the ball behind the left side of their offensive line—behind <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='945343' first='Kaden' last='Bonds']</strong> and <strong>Asher Collins</strong>.<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='945336' first='Jonah' last='Shine']</strong> was the early beneficiary of the good blocking. Once in the red zone, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='429419' first='Bo' last='Bokman']</strong> was wide open in the flat for an 18-yard touchdown catch.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Cougars forced a punt on defense and quickly got back into the end zone. They ran an inside trap to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='234775' first='Connor' last='Cade']</strong>, who ran—basically untouched—69 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Leading 21-0 and with another stop on defense, South threw deep. The Lightning had good coverage, but South quarterback <strong>Gavin Dean</strong> threw a great ball, and wide receiver <strong>Malachi Gant</strong> 'Mossed' the defender. He jumped over the defender to make an over-the-shoulder – both players' shoulders for 40 yards. Later, during the drive, South faced a fourth and short inside the twenty-yard line. They not only picked up the first down, but <strong>Nathan Owata</strong> rumbled for ten yards up the middle to set up first and goal. Dean would cap off the drive by just clearing the goal line before being knocked out of bounds.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Cougars' offense wasn't done. South got the ball back with about two minutes to play. Dean used his arm to complete back-to-back passes into the flat to move the ball into scoring territory. Shine closed out the half in the end zone with a twelve-yard touchdown run – again behind the left side of the offensive line.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Even though the game was effectively over at halftime, the Cougars' special teams were not about to be left out. As the second half commenced, Shine took the kickoff back 99 yards for yet another touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bokman would later find the end zone to push the lead to 49-0 after three quarters.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eastview would avoid the shutout with a couple of fourth-quarter touchdowns. South would add one more for good measure to finish the scoring.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->