Big plays lift PCHS over Landrum
Published 6:11 pm Monday, September 13, 2010
In the end, there was just too much for Landrum.
Too much Andre Overholt. Too much Joel Booker. Too much Ryan Thomas. Too much of Polk Countys big-play offense. Just too much of the unbeaten Wolverines.
And it all boiled down to Polk Countys 29-12 victory over visiting Landrum Friday night.
The Wolverines, ranked No. 5 in Class 2A in North Carolina and unbeaten at 4-0, put up back-to-back scores just before the end of the first half, extending their lead to comfortable 22-6 margin.
After Landrums Peyton McCarter plunged into the end zone from 5 yards out to cut Polks lead to 8-6, Overholt connected with Thomas on a 54-yard touchdown pass. Minutes later, Kerry Littlejohn blocked a punt by Landrums Stephen Doar, setting up a 19-yard scoring pass from Overholt to Booker with 7 seconds to go in the half.
It was a tough, physical game, said Polk County head coach Bruce Ollis. I was pleased with the way our offense came out and played, and defensively, were able to hold down a good offensive football team.
Tyler Ridings opened the scoring for PCHS with an 8-yard touchdown run. Overholt then connected with Trey Couch on a 2-point conversion to put the Wolverines ahead 8-0 with 11:56 left in the opening quarter.
Overholt completed 10 of 15 passes for a season-high 273 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. He added another 31-yard touchdown pass to Booker with 1:36 left in the third quarter, extending Polks lead to 29-12.
LHS (1-2) was able to limit the turnover problems that plagued them a week earlier in a lopsided loss at Chesnee, but made enough mistakes on offense to help with its own undoing.
A pair of errant snaps in the shotgun formation sailed over the head of quarterback Brandon Cannon for two 19-yard losses, setting up second-and-29 situations on both occasions.
We were able to fix some mistakes, but now weve got to get back to work and fix some others that happened tonight, but were going to do that, said LHS head coach Russell Mahaffey.
Cannon completed 6 of 14 passes for 101 yards and an interception. He also rushed 18 times for 51 yards, while halfback Cole McDowell ran 10 times for 51 yards.
The PCHS defense was able to pressure Cannon as the Cardinals attempted to rally late in the game, sacking the junior quarterback three times on the final two LHS possessions. With sack yardage and the two big losses on the bad snaps, LHS were held to 78 yards on the ground.
Weve got to find a way to get our offense on track, said Landrum head coach Russell Mahaffey. Im pleased with the effort from our players, but we have to find a way to score enough points to be successful.
The Cardinals offense has been held to just six points (McCarters touchdown run) over the past eight quarters.
The LHS defense helped out in the third quarter as senior Austin Brown picked an Overholt fumble out of the air and raced 59 yards for a touchdown with 9:03 remaining, cutting the PCHS lead to 22-12.
Meanwhile, the PCHS offense seemed to be hitting on all cylinders. Both Booker and Thomas ended up with more than 100 yards receiving on the night. Booker caught six passes for 153 yards and two scores, while Thomas had 3 receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown.
Its always good to win in the fourth week of the season because thats always Landrum, Ollis said of his cross-border rival. We pull for those guys nine other weeks out of the year, but not this week.
PCHS is off this week, while LHS hosts Dixie Friday night.Polk County 29, Landrum 12
Score by quarter
Landrum&bsp; 0&bsp;&bsp; 6&bsp;&bsp; 6&bsp;&bsp; 0&bsp; – 12
Polk Co.&bsp;&bsp; 8&bsp;&bsp; 14&bsp;&bsp; 7&bsp;&bsp; 0&bsp; – 29
1st quarter
PC – Tyler Ridings 8 run (Trey Couch pass from Andre Overholt), 2:10
2nd quarter
LHS – Peyton McCarter 5 run (pass failed), 5:59
PC – Ryan Thomas 54 pass from Overholt (Jacob Christiansen kick)
PC – Joel Booker 19 pass from Overholt (Christiansen kick), 1:24
3rd quarter
LHS – Austin Brown 59 fumble return (pass failed), 9:03
PC – Booker 31 pass from Overholt (Christiansen kick), 1:36
Rushing: LHS – Brandon Cannon 18-51, Cole McDowell 10-51, McCarter 6-12, Stephen Doar 1-2, Team 2-(minus-38). PC – Cody Orick 11-45, Overholt 12-62, Booker 3-10, Ridings 4-6, J.J. Maxwell 1-0, Team 1-(minus-1).
Passing: LHS – Cannon 6-14-1-101, Derek Belue 0-1-0-0. PC – Overholt 10-15-1-273, 3 TD.
Receiving: LHS – Tyler Logan 3-65, McDowell 1-6, David Hefner 1-7, Jacob Lindsay 1-15. PC – Booker 6-153, Thomas 3-107, Josh Kujawa 1-13.