HOPKINSVILLE—The South Warren offense sputtered at times against Christian County on Friday night, as the Spartans mustered just one field goal on three red zone trips in the first half.
However, the Spartan defense was consistent the entire 48 minutes.
South Warren limited the Colonels to just 177 yards of offense, Tre Teague and Preston Sparkman each recorded two sacks, and senior cornerback Greg Bryd hauled in a season-high three interceptions to lead the Spartans to a 24-6 victory at Stadium of Champions.
The Spartans found themselves clinging to a narrow 3-0 lead at halftime, the only points coming on a 23-yard field goal by senior kicker Alex Cohron with 11 seconds remaining in a half that was dominated by defense.
The Colonels would be the ones to find the end zone first on the opening drive of the second half, as senior quarterback Kolbe Langhi connected with fellow senior JaQuon Long to give Christian County a 6-3 lead at the 7:50 mark of the third quarter.
However that lead would not last long.
With South Warren facing a 3rd-and-14 at its own 11-yard line on the ensuing possesion, junior quarterback Gavin Spurrier found senior Cody Eblen wide open on a route straight up through the Colonel secondary for an 89-yard touchdown strike to propel the Spartans back in front.
A kick out of bounds gave the Colonels the ball at the Spartan 43-yard line, but Langhi’s pass intended for Long was picked off by Byrd in the end zone.
The Spartans then drove the length of the field before one play seemed to sway the momentum entirely in South Warren’s favor.
At the Colonel 29-yard line with a 4th-and-12, Spurrier threw the ball to senior Marcus Elmore on a fade route on the right side, and Elmore went up and snagged it to set up a first-and-goal for the Spartans. Spurrier executed the quarterback sneak from one yard out on third-and-goal to extend the Spartans’ lead to 17-6 with 7:49 remaining.
Eblen would then make another game-chanigng play for South Warren, as the senior picked off Langhi’s pass and returned it all the way to the Colonel 4-yard line to set up first-and-goal. Spurrier then faked the handoff to Winn and rumbled in from four yards out to make the score 24-6 with just 6:45 left in regulation.
Christian County put together one more last-ditch effort to try and keep its perfect season alive, but Byrd recorded his third interception of the night (second in the end zone) to start the victorious bus ride back to Bowling Green.
Byrd led South Warren with three interceptions in by far its /most impressive defense performance on the season, and Christian County struggled to move the ball consistently all night.
On offense the Spartans were led by Spurrier, who completed 13-of-23 passes for 261 yards and one touchdown, while adding two scores via the ground.
Senior running back Christian Winn also tallied 46 yards on 23 carries for the Spartans in the victory.
South Warren will now face off against Bowling Green for the Class 5A Region One title on Friday night—an adversary that the Spartans are certainly familiar with. The Purples (10-2) put a running clock on the Spartans with a 43-7 victory back on Oct. 20.
