DOVER — Southmont football knew the challenge that was ahead of them in their final three games of the season. Friday the undefeated Mounties made the short trip to battle SAC powerhouse Western Boone. The tone was set early by the host Stars ans they were able to cruise to a 38-7 win as Southmont (5-1, 4-1 SAC) suffered its first loss of the season.
After the Stars first drive, punter Josiah Smith pinned the Mounties inside their one yard line. While just trying to get it out of the shadow of their own end zone a Wyatt Woodall fumble gave the Stars the greatest field position they could ask for as they recovered at the Mountie one. Trevor Weakley punched it in on the first play to make it 7-0 Stars and that’s how the game would go as the Mounties couldn’t muster much of anything offensively.
“We were a little bit out of sync on that first drive when we were pinned at the one,” Southmont coach Desson Hannum said. “That changed what we wanted to do on that opening drive and at that point we were just trying to get the ball out of there and maybe pick up a first down. That turnover proved costly and gave them that short field and you could really feel the momentum shift in their favor after that Field position played a huge factor all night and it never felt like we could get it back.”
Field position played a big factor in the game as it seemed as if every Western Boone possession began in Mountie territory while Southmont had to go the length of the field every time they had the ball. Hannum credited the Stars for the win as he knows his team simply got out-played.
“One thing about Western Boone is that they’re efficient in everything they do on offense. Defensively they’re always in the right spot and very physical on both sides of the ball. Overall they were the better team tonight. There’s a little bit of everything that we can do better at after tonight.”
With the win the Stars move into four-way tie with the Mounties and also Lebanon and Tri-West at the top of the SAC as all four teams now are 4-1 in conference play. Stars coach Justin Pelley did give praise to the Mounties and also singled out junior lineman Waylon Gomez for how he and the Mounties made the Stars play some of their best football of the season.
“They made us bring our best and we had to do some different stuff,” Pelley said. “We are getting better at throwing the ball and getting the ball outside. (Southmont) has some really good players and they are well coached, and they bottled us up a little bit on what we do well - which is what good teams will do. “67 (Gomez) was a heck of a player tonight for them. He caused us a lot of problems and we had to adjust on some things to get going.”
The Mounties will host Lebanon next week back at Southmont while the Stars will also stay at home to welcome Danville.
