South Warren had faced off with Allen County Scottsville twice in its short history. Both games were won by the Patriots; a fact that seemed to put a bit more spring in the Spartans’ step as they entered Patriot Stadium on Friday night. Early, it was a bit of stalemate between the two offenses, but then came the re-emergence of Ryder Litten as a running threat. Hampered by a serious high and low ankle sprain that had left him more of a pocket passer than anything else, Litten was finally healthy enough to run it again. In the first half, he rushed for two touchdowns. He also passed for two scores. The defense was stifling, led by Jacob Wilde and an inspired performance from junior Zach Haynes, who was the recipient of one of Litten’s two touchdown throws.
The one negative in the first half has been a troubling theme this season for South Warren, as the Spartans were hit with 12 penalties. The dominance offensively and defensively aided in mitigating some of the damage, however, and South Warren took a 27-0 advantage into the intermission.
The lead would grow to 40-0 before ACS found its way onto the scoreboard against the reserve unit with less than two minutes to play. Ryder Litten threw a pair of interceptions in the second half, both deep in the red zone, but had a solid cushion with which to take the risks, so the only thing blemished was his otherwise stellar stat line. Bryan Cummings and Dimitri Bibb notched interceptions, the latter a pick six in the second half. Haynes, with the TD grab and three tackles for loss plus a sack, was named Bluegrass Cellular Player of the Game.
South Warren moves to 8-0 as Allen County Scottsville falls to 4-5 and 2-2 in district play. With the win, South Warren clinched the top seed in Class 4A, District 2. The Spartans return home to face off with Warren Central next Friday. STBN coverage begins at 6:45 with the State Farm Pregame Show.
