Scouting the Standouts: Ravenwood defeats Southwind 28-25

<p>Ravenwood defeated Southwind 28-25 in the more competitive 6A semifinal matchup that came down to the wire with standout performances from several players on each side of the football.</p>   <p>Ravenwood advances to play Oakland, who walloped crosstown rival Blackman 42-14 tonight.</p>   <p>On a cold Friday night consisting of physical play with a trip to Chattanooga to play in the state championship game on the line, every player for both programs left everything on the field, and several players rose to the occasion to make essential plays to their team's success on the field tonight.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/shaynep_media/status/1994612691143725455?s=20 </div></figure>   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">TRENCHES SHINE IN PHYSICAL GAME</h2>   <p>Ravenwood has a well-coached front that made it their mission to make dynamic dual-threat quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='480742' first='Kelvin' last='Perkins'] beat them with his arm, pressuring the quarterback to contain and helping the defense create two interceptions (one from Western Kentucky defensive back commit [player_tooltip player_id='1610490' first='Jaylen' last='Pollard']) and a fumble recovery for a touchdown that helped put the game to bed.</p>   <p>Among the standouts was edge rusher [player_tooltip player_id='824735' first='Danny' last='Brown'], who set a strong edge all night and that resulted in the Samford commit racking up tackles, especially early on in this game.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/shaynep_media/status/1994603975069536512?s=20 </div></figure>   <p>For Southwind, these lineman truly left everything on the field. Austin Peay defensive line commit [player_tooltip player_id='854363' first='Charles' last='Sullins'] was a warrior and was not going to miss a game of this importance, limping around before every snap and on the sideline, but he took on multiple blockers each snap all night long to help set up his teammates.</p>   <p>One of those teammates, [player_tooltip player_id='1699523' first='Roosevelt' last='Bates'], worked off Sullins well, dominating his one-on-one opportunities and putting the home team behind the chains consistently in the first half of the game especially.</p>   <p>Other Southwind lineman such as OL [player_tooltip player_id='378854' first='Chris' last='Campbell'] and OL/DL [player_tooltip player_id='904973' first='Zachais' last='Ratliff'] are big and move really well, allowing for the team to use them in a variety of ways. Offensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id='1159814' first='Antonio' last='Keefer'] was very impressive as a puller with insane speed to work to the next level, showcasing all the athletic upside that makes him a high-profile recruit for the next cycle.</p>   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">DUAL-THREAT QUARTERBACKS SHINE</h2>   <p>While Ravenwood tried to contain [player_tooltip player_id='480742' first='Kelvin' last='Perkins'], and they did to an extent, his shiftiness and elusiveness proved to be too much at times and he was able to still find ways to utilize his rushing ability all night long. Southwind relied on him to keep them ahead of the chains often in this game and it worked.</p>   <p>Despite throwing a pair of interceptions, he showed a lot of promise leading drives tonight, always having an answer to a punch given from Ravenwood. As turnovers happened on the end of Southwind, whether interceptions or a costly fumble that was returned for a touchdown, it made it hard for the Jaguars to keep their foot on the gas pedal and ahead of their opponent, eventually costing them the game.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/shaynep_media/status/1994579904160018827?s=20 </div></figure>   <p>For Ravenwood, both of their signal callers made plays with both their arms and legs, led by Navy commit [player_tooltip player_id='402559' first='Maverick' last='Chance']. He was actually used as the passing quarterback for the team in this game and made enough plays to help his team pull out the victory tonight, including hauling in a screen from Boston College quarterback commit [player_tooltip player_id='402540' first='Femi' last='Babalola'] that he took to the house for a touchdown.</p>   <p>Babalola was not utilized very much as a passer, but made several plays with his legs, effectively attacking gaps his offensive lineman gave him, including to open the scoring on the opening drive of the game.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/shaynep_media/status/1994588984039870647?s=20 </div></figure>

Ravenwood defeated Southwind 28-25 in the more competitive 6A semifinal matchup that came down to the wire with standout performances from several players on each side of the football.