NEW MARKET — For a minute it appeared the Southmont football team might win its second game of the season in thrilling fashion, but this time the Mounties came up just short — as in one yard short — in a 14-9 loss to Owen Valley on Friday.
After beating Fountain Central 14-12 on a game-winning touchdown pass with 5.5 seconds in the opening week, Southmont was attempting to do the same against the Patriots (2-0).
After being pushed around in the first half (giving up 218 yards and two scores on the ground) the Mounties’ defense came up big in the second half and shut down the Patriots, giving themselves a chance to win twice in the final two minutes of the game.
After taking over on its own 46-yard line, Southmont quarterback Eli Hannum hit five passes in a row to push the ball to the Owen Valley 8-yard line. After a five-yard penalty on the Mounties, the team faced a first-and-goal from the 13. This time Hannum’s pass found the hands of Owen Valley’s Parker Philippe to end the threat at the 1 with 1:09 to play.
Southmont’s defense rose to the occasion and created a safety with 18.4 seconds the play to cut the lead to 14-9.
Following the free kick the Mounties had a second chance to win the game, taking over on Patriots’ 43 with 11.7 seconds to play. However, the Mounties threw an incomplete pass and then the game ended with a sack of Hannum to give the Patriots a hard-earned win.
“We had our chances,” Southmont coach Desson Hannum said. “I thought our defense really played well. We made a few minor adjustments at the half and they gave us a couple of chances to win. We just need our offense to come around a little better.”
Part of the Mounties’ offensive woes for the night — as they managed just 132 yards of total offense and only 27 yards on the ground — was the loss of starting running back Kasen Bushong on the first series of the second half. He left the game with an ankle injury and did not return.
The Patriots used a huge offensive line to dominate the game early. Their first drive lasted 17 plays and ended on the Mounties’ 2-yard line on a fourth-and-goal. Southmont hit Philippe in the backfield and the ball popped out of his grasp into the hands of Southmont’s Derek Hale who raced all the way to the OV 20. Four plays later Bushong scored the lone Mountie touchdown of the night on a 2-yard run.
Following that the Patriots dominated the rest of the half, primarily on the legs of senior Jake Heidrick. He rushed for 165 yards and two scores in the first half as Owen Valley took a 14-7 lead into the halftime break.
Perhaps the play of the game came with 1:43 to play in the first half. Owen Valley was facing a fourth-and-1 from its own 20. After trying to draw the Mounties offsides, Owen Valley called a timeout. Following the timeout, Heidrick broke around the left side and raced 80 yards for what ended up being the winning score.
Southmont will be back in action Friday when it will play host to county and MAC rival North Montgomery, who was a winner over Western 38-21 Friday.
