What everyone knew entering Friday’s road game for South Warren as they visited North Hardin High School was that Brandon Smith’s team would be without the services of junior quarterback Ryder Litten due to a severe high and low ankle sprain. He tried to plead his case but the boot on his left foot was louder than his voice. What no one knew was whether leading receiver Bryan Cummings and leading rusher Kayron Namvong could give it a go with hip issues and in the case of Namvong, a groin problem that dated back to the Rafferty’s Bowl. Both would play. Both would play well.
It wasn’t an easy night, particularly in the first half, as South Warren dealt with the absence of the heart of their offense. Austin McElwain served as quarterback and threw three passes, but this was to be an even more intensive ground attack. South Warren always wants to run it, but on Friday, they absolutely had to run it. Namvong was effective, McElwain was effective, and Devante Colton was effective. The problem was the turnovers. Colton lost two fumbles, both stripped away from him, and as he ran across a later formation in motion, the snap hit him in the ankle and the Spartans turned the football over for a third time in the half. However, Colton’s 31 yard run and Mac’s 38 yard run still gave SWHS a 14-0 lead at the intermission.
Junior quarterback Isaiah Bankhead ran the Trojan offense well, but seemed to play into South Warren’s hands defensively by not challenging the secondary down the field. Three of his targets with major size advantages down the field and instead, North Hardin threw to the flats or into the backfield, where receivers were swarmed under by Spartan linebackers and cornerbacks. The question was how much that strategy would change in the second half after both teams made observational adjustments.
Bankhead would attempt to go down the field more often, but his receivers dropped a pair of passes that would have been first downs. Defensively, Cameron Buckner played a worldbeater kind of football game. He intercepted Bankhead in the first half and his coverage was smothering in the second. On a night where Kayron Namvong ran for over 130 yards and a score and Austin McElwain ran for over 140 and a score, it was still Buckner that was named Bluegrass Cellular Player of the Game.
South Warren heads home next week to face Franklin-Simpson before the bye week and on the road at North Hardin, the Spartans recorded their first shutout of 2015 with a 21-0 win over the Trojans, spoiling their Homecoming Festivities. Coverage next Friday begins at 6:45 with the State Farm Pre-Game Show.
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