Cameron Harrison ran for three first-half touchdowns and South Warren put up 48 points in the first half as the Spartans rolled to a 55-21 win over Grayson County on Friday evening in the second round of the Class 5A Playoffs at Warren Central.
Playing under weather conditions in the upper 30’s, the Spartans (12-0) were able to utilize their ground game against the Cougars, running for four total touchdowns on just seven carries in the first half, three by Harrison – who rushed for 103 yards on six carries in the first half.
“He did a great job. I’m not sure how many opportunities he got, but I feel like he took advantage of all of the ones he got,” South Warren head coach Brandon Smith said. “He’s kind of hitting his stride over the last couple of weeks. He’s taken some criticisms that we’ve given him and really improved his game off of that.”
According to Harrison, the Spartans used the same game plan that they utilized in a 41-7 win over the Cougars in Leitchfield earlier in the season. The only catch – they had to key in on star running back Q’Daryius McHenry, who did not play in the Sept. 14 match-up between the teams with a hamstring injury.
After McHenry ran for 367 yards and six touchdowns against Graves County last Friday, the sophomore was limited to just 23 yards on 12 carries in the match-up with the Spartans, but did have a 31-yard touchdown reception in the second half.
“We really had to key in on [McHenry] – he was their playmaker on both sides of the ball,” Harrison said. “We kind of stuck to the game plan that worked when we won the first game against them.”
South Warren got the scoring going early and often, scoring 34 points in the first 4:55 of the game.
After blocking a punt following a three-and-out by the Cougars on their first drive of the game, the Spartans got on the board with a two-yard touchdown run by WKU commit Clayton Bush.
The Cougars went three-and-out again on the following possession and kicked the punt into the back of their own man and South Warren’s Jantzen Dunn recovered in the end zone, giving the Spartans a 13-0 lead with 9:56 left in the first quarter.
Fifteen seconds later – following a Cougar fumble – Gavin Spurrier found Tomi Mustapha for an eight-yard touchdown pass to put the Spartans up 20-0 at the 9:41 mark of the first quarter.
Following another Grayson County punt, Harrison scored the first of his three touchdowns from five yards out, ballooning to the lead to 27-0 at the 8:02 mark of the first quarter.
Grayson County punted again on the ensuing drive and Bush took it to the house from 45 yards out, giving the Spartans a 34-0 lead with 7:05 to go in the first quarter.
Harrison had two more touchdown runs of 59 and four yards in the second quarter to give the Spartans a 48-0 halftime lead.
“Really just credit to the whole offensive line,” Harrison said. “The game plan was just to hit our holes and get vertical. Shout out to the offensive line and the coaches for believing in me in those situations.”
Grayson County outscored South Warren 21-7 in the second half against the Spartans’ backups as Logan Kopp had a pick-six of backup quarterback Caden Veltkamp and Ethan Cates had a one-yard touchdown run, complimenting Noah Bullock’s 31-yard touchdown pass to McHenry.
Harrison ran for 103 yards on just six carries. Spurrier completed 9-of-15 passes for 112 yards and the touchdown pass to Mustapha. The Spartans put up a total of 277 yards of offense, 165 on the ground and 112 through the air.
With the win, South Warren advances to face Owensboro next Friday evening in the quarterfinal round of the Class 5A Playoffs. The Red Devils advanced with a 28-21 win over Bowling Green on Friday evening at Rash Stadium in Owensboro.
South Warren 55, Grayson County 21
South Warren 34 14 7 0 – 55
Grayson Co. 0 0 14 7 – 21
1st Quarter
SW (6-0) – Clayton Bush 2 run (2-pt failed)
SW (13-0) – Jantzen Dunn recovered fumble in end zone (kick good)
SW (20-0) – Gavin Spurrier 8 pass to Toni Mustapha (kick good)
SW (27-0) – Cameron Harrison 5 run (kick good)
SW (34-0) – Bush 45 punt return (kick good)
2nd Quarter
SW (41-0) – Harrison 59 run (kick good)
SW (48-0) – Harrison 4 run (kick good)
3rd Quarter
SW (55-0) – MJ Boley 81 kickoff return (kick good)
GC (55-7) – Logan Kopp 29 interception return (kick good)
GC (55-14) – Noah Bullock 31 pass to Q’Daryius McHenry (kick good)
4th Quarter
GC (55-21) – Ethan Cates 1 run (kick good)
Clay Manlove; @ctmanlove58
