NORWOOD — South Stanly exhibited its own version of Spain’s annual “Running of the Bulls” event in Friday night’s non-conference clash with Jordan-Matthews as Marcus Green rambled for 205 yards and five touchdowns while the Rowdy Rebel Bulls scored on six of their eight first-half possessions in stampeding past the Jets 45-8 at K.L. Young Stadium.
Improving to 7-9 in its all-time series with J-M that began in 1965, South Stanly raised its season record to 2-1, whereas Jordan-Matthews suffered its third straight lopsided loss in dropping to 0-3 for the year.
Green tallied on runs of three, 34, 63 and five yards prior to intermission, then added a 72-yard scoring jaunt three minutes into the third quarter, while quarterback Jaquez Cooke completed nine-of-16 passes for 120 yards and one touchdown as the Rebel Bulls outgained the Jets 330-80 in total yardage.
Jacquez Thompson led J-M ground gainers with 48 yards on four totes, including an 11-yard TD dash, while signal-caller Calvin Schwartz connected on just two-of-six aerials for minus-six yards with one interception.
“Jaquez Cooke is very good at making last-second decisions with the ball and does a great job dictating our offense, which is why we were successful on five-of-eight third-down situations tonight,” said South Stanly coach Ryan Ochier. “One of the big keys for us this evening was our ability to control the line on both sides of the ball.”
Added Ochier, “We’re fortunate enough to have enough players where we can two-platoon on defense and wear an opponent down, while I thought our young offensive line grew up tonight by opening up big holes to make it easy for Marcus Green to hit the second level, and once he reaches the secondary he can really turn on the speed.”
Jets’ coach Sam Spencer related injuries and not having a full week of practice for his young squad since the season began has been detrimental in its capability to progress as much as he would like.
“We only dressed 19 varsity players for tonight’s game as we’re missing eight guys due to injuries, and we had a couple more go down this evening,” noted Spencer. “Then Mother Nature hasn’t been kind to us either, with all the recent rain curtailing practice time for a group that doesn’t have a lot of varsity experience. Despite trailing by a huge margin at the break, I told our team to recognize the situation and just keep playing, and they responded by refusing to quit and began moving the ball better in the second half.”
The Rebel Bulls chose to receive the opening kickoff and promptly marched 63 yards in five plays, highlighted by Cooke’s 57-yard completion to wide receiver Jaderian Smith on the first play from scrimmage, to seize a 6-0 advantage when Green climaxed the drive with a seven-yard tote up the middle with 10:13 left in the first period.
After holding J-M to a three-and-out series on its initial possession, South Stanly then traveled 55 yards in four plays to increase its lead to 13-0 when Green burst the last 34 yards untouched up the middle before Jacob Garris split the uprights with 6:45 remaining in the quarter.
Following an exchange of possessions, the Rebel Bulls culminated a six-play, 42-yard scoring drive when Cooke, facing fourth-and-10 at the Jordan-Matthews’ 18, scrambled to his right before finding wide receiver Malik Kluttz open in the back of the end zone to extend South Stanly’s advantage to 19-0 with 1:14 to go in the opening stanza.
Two plays into the second period Kluttz fielded a Jets’ punt at his own 26 and weaved his way 74 yards through Jordan-Matthews defenders to the end zone to boost the Rebel Bulls’ lead to 26-0 following the point-after kick by Garris with 10:50 left in the first half.
Regaining possession at its own 37 just over three-and-a-half minutes later, South Stanly stretched its advantage to 32-0 when Green angled to his left and raced 63 yards untouched to pay dirt with 6:44 remaining until halftime.
After recovering a J-M fumble at its own 47 with 2:12 left until the break, the Rebel Bulls expanded their lead to 38-0 when Green capped a nine-play, 53-yard march by running over left tackle the final five yards with 41.8 seconds to go before intermission.
Taking over at their own 28 after holding Jordan-Matthews to a three-and-out series on the Jets’ initial possession of the second half, the winners upped their advantage to 45-0 one play later to trigger a running clock the rest of the way when Green exploded 72 yards untouched through a gaping hole up the middle prior to Garris adding the extra point with nine minutes left in the quarter.
J-M then proceeded to mount its only sustained drive of the evening, moving 57 yards in six plays to avoid a shutout when Thompson culminated the drive by sprinting wide right the last 11 yards to the end zone before Rayshawn Alston ran in a two-point conversion with 1:50 remaining in the period to account for the final spread.