Chargers hand Hornets first loss
MEDINA —South Gibson coach Scott Stidham preaches to his players they cannot have one play be a factor in whether the team wins or loses.
Both teams had a number of big plays on Friday night, but it was Westview that ended up with more big plays in the second half that turned a close game at halftime into a 50-25 Charger win.
Some of the big plays were influenced by the rain, which came down for the majority of the game and made it into a war of attrition between the hash marks.
PHOTO GALLERY: Bleachers - South Gibson vs. Westview
“It got pretty wet out there,” Westview coach Don Coady said. “The field got chewed up, but we were OK after we changed our balls and towels out.”
The first big play was when South Gibson ran and converted a fake punt on fourth-and-3 just inside Charger territory. Two plays later, it was Tyler Dysart scampering for a 42-yard touchdown run to make the score 13-7 after a failed PAT.
After conceding the lead after a Westview touchdown, South Gibson took it right back on their first offensive play, with Dysart going the distance again, this time from 66 yards out. The two-point conversion was no good, giving the Hornets a 19-14 advantage.
Westview came back and headed into the locker room with the lead after a Zach Jones interception set up pretty good field position for the Chargers. Westview drove down and scored with 23 seconds left before halftime to go into the break with the 22-19 lead.
“Defensively, I thought we did pretty good,” Coady said. “We got out of positon a few times, but [SGC] is a big play team that runs their option very patiently looking for those big runs.”
After halftime, Westview received the ball and the Chargers quickly capitalized by scoring an early touchdown in the second half.
“[Westview] came out in the second half and made some big plays,” Stidham said. “Getting that touchdown that early in the half to put them up by ten points was big for them.”
The next big play of the game was when Westview blocked a South Gibson punt, with Tyler Langley taking it in for the touchdown to push the score up to 36-19 in favor of the visiting Chargers.
The Hornets were not done as Jordan Lambert scored his second touchdown of the night, this time a 40-yard touchdown reception to cut the Westview lead to 11.
South Gibson’s defense held the Chargers on their next possession, but a fumble call on the punt return gave the ball back to Westview. Westview’s first play after the fumble was a big one, a 65-yard run by Jason Hicks to push the score back up to 42-25.
Pressure on SGC’s quarterback, Dustin Moore, who came in after starting quarterback Austin Duncan left the game with an apparent injury, caused a poor pass that was intercepted by Langley and returned for his second touchdown of the night with 8:08 left in the game to make it 50-25.
