Offense deserts Warriors in loss to Danville

Local Sports

Related Photos

Southwestern running back Jacob King is tackled by two Danville defenders in the Warriors’ 26-7 loss to the Admirals. King gained 121 yards on the night and scored the Warriors only touchdown midway through the final quarter. Southwestern will travel to South Laurel this Friday for their first district match-up. Clay Jackson Photo

September 6, 2008

By LARRY VAUGHT, Advocate Messenger The Commonwealth Journal Sat Sep 06, 2008, 09:58 PM EDT

Danville — This time Danville didn’t rely on its passing game to win.

Instead, the Admirals turned to an opportunistic defense and a familiar running game to turn back visiting Southwestern 26-7 on Friday night.

“We were so much better defensively than we were our first game (a 45-31 win over Russell County),” said Danville coach Sam Harp. “We still broke down against a big, strong team because they just ran it down our throats at times. But when we had to make plays, we did.”

That included a goal-line stand early in the game and another key defensive stop in the second quarter. Those stops combined with 182 yards rushing and two touchdowns by senior Antwoine Simon enabled the Admirals to outlast the Warriors.

“I was right. Sam was wrong. Danville does have another good team,” Southwestern coach Dale Anderson said. “You have to give Danville credit. Their defense stood up when it had to. We could have scored two touchdowns the first half, but we didn’t get any. That’s partially our fault, but also partially credit to Danville’s defense.”

Danville’s biggest defensive stop came on Southwestern’s first possession when the Warriors drove 94 yards to the Danville 1-yard line and had two more plays to score. First, the Admirals held Jacob King to no gain and on fourth down quarterback TT Wooldridge fumbled the snap and had no chance to score.

“The goal-line stand was huge,” Harp said. “If we don’t stop them there, all the momentum is with them.”

“You don?t beat good teams fumbling on the goal line. You have to have the gumption to stand in there, get the snap and hand the ball off. If we do, we score,” Anderson said.

The stop was even more significant because Simon broke one tackle, stepped out of another tackle and raced 75 yards down the sideline after an 18-yard pass to Zach Dawson got the Ads away from their own end zone.

“I got some great blocks and just ran. It wasn’t hard on my part,” Simon said.

“It was just a great run by Simon. Give him credit,” Anderson said.

In the second quarter, Southwestern took over at the Danville 49 trailing 7-0 and needed six yards for a first down on a fourth-down play at the 18 when Wooldridge was sacked for an 11-yard loss by Dawson.

“That was another huge stop by our defense and great play by Zach,” Harp said.

The defense wasn’t done.

Southwestern started the second half just like it did the first half -- using its big offensive line to overpower the Admirals. The Warriors drove to the Danville 18-yard line behind the running of King before throwing three straight incompletions to kill the drive.

“We just didn’t throw the ball well tonight when we had chances,” Anderson said of Wooldridge’s 6-for-15 passing for 44 yards.

Danville (2-0), which threw for 431 yards against Russell County, gave Southwestern a dose of its own medicine with an 11-play, 82-yard drive that featured nine runs by Simon, including the 7-yard scoring run. The Ads went with two tight ends and ran out of the I-formation compared instead of the spread formation they used in their opening win.

“The (Wish) bone is just not for us this year. We?re better in the I because Antwoine, and even Jacody Taylor and Will Dunn, are downhill runners. If we can run like this, it gives us a new dimension,” Harp said.

Southwestern (1-1) scored in period four when junior safety Alex Jones returned an interception 35 yards to set up King’s 7-yard touchdown run with 7 minutes, 18 seconds left. However, Danville responded when Grey hit Derrick Henderson with a 58-yard scoring strike and then found Dunn for an 18-yard score.

Grey finished the game 8-for-17 passing for 160 yards with Henderson having three catches for 89 yards.

“Trae made some big plays and made things happen. We had some drops that were disappointing. I thought we could hit that play to Derrick because they were loading up to stop Antoine. But I also probably got too greedy when we threw that interception leading 13-0,” Harp said.

“We took some chances at the end that probably gave them a couple more scores,” Anderson said. “But that’s what you do if you want to win. We didn’t come to play close.”

Southwestern (1-1) finds themselves on the road apian next week when they travel to South Laurel for their first district match-up.

SW 0 0 0 7 — 7

DHS 7 0 6 7 — 26

First Quarter

Danville -- Antwoine Simon 75 run (Max Meckes kick), 2:41.

Third Quarter

Danville -- Simon 5 run (kick blocked), :42

Fourth Quarter

Southwestern -- Jacob King 7 run (Nick Zimmerman kick), 7:18

Danville -- Derrick Henderson 58 pass from Trae Grey (pass failed), 4:44

Danville -- Will Dunn 18 pass from Grey (Meckes kick), 1:25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Southwestern, Jacob King 24-121, Adam White 5-28, TT Wooldridge 12-15, Blake Tuttle 1-4. Danville, Antwoine Simon 23-182, Jacody Taylor 3-5, Trae Grey 4-minus 8, Derrick Henderson 1-0.

PASSING--Southwestern, Wooldridge 6-15-44-0. Danville, Grey 8-17-160-2.

RECEIVING--Southwestern, White 4-28, Alan Williams 1-10, Anthony Mitchell 1-6. Danville, Henderson 3-89, Will Dunn 3-43, Zach Dawson 1-18, Kruz Warner 1-10.

Text Only

Local Sports

Trevor Herd signs with Union College
During his four years on the Somerset High School soccer team, Trevor Herd scored 50 goals and notched 13 assists. During his junior year, Herd scored 27 goals in 21 matches, which earned him Commonwealth Journal's All-County Player of the Year. Despite being riddled by injuries during his senior campaign, Herd still scored nine goals, had five assists, and was named to both All-District and All-Tournament Teams throughout his career.
And while Herd’s injuries were serious enough to end his future as a soccer player at the next level, the talented Somerset High School senior set his mind on continuing to play and recently signed to play at the next level for Union College.

May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Lady Warriors win 7th straight crown
Since joining the 48th District, the Southwestern Lady Warriors have owned their tournament. In the first six seasons, one with Coach Derrick Harris and five under Jim Woodall, Southwestern had been 12-0 with six straight 48th District crowns—and they outscored their opponents 106-5 in the process.

May 23, 2012 1 Photo
Somerset grabs district crown from Pulaski
Early in the 2012 high school baseball season, the Somerset Briar Jumpers were having their fair share of struggles at the plate.
However, Phil Grundy’s club appears to be hitting its stride at the perfect time of the year.

May 23, 2012 1 Photo
Lady Jumpers win back-to-back district titles
In 2011, the Somerset Lady Jumper softball team — who had won its first regional crown the year before in 2010 — brought home its first ever district title with a win in the finals over Pulaski County.

May 23, 2012 1 Photo
Warriors squeak out 5-4 win over McCreary
Heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, visiting McCreary Central had a slight edge over Southwestern, as they held a 4-3 lead over the homestanding Warriors.
But Alex Eaton’s Warriors would not let that slight edge affect them, as they plated a pair of runs in the bottom half of the frame to grab a 5-4 victory in the opening round of the 48th District Baseball Tournament last night at Warrior Stadium.

May 22, 2012 1 Photo
Impact of a state track meet
For most high school track athletes, the state championship is the grand finale to a to grueling high school track season or the cultivation of a long prep career filled with sweat, pain, nagging injuries and constant sore muscles.

May 19, 2012 1 Photo
An old friend and a new face
On Wednesday afternoon, Somerset High School announced their new basketball head coaches for the upcoming season.

May 16, 2012 1 Photo
A ‘Storm’ is heading to UK
Somerset High School’s WB Jones Auditorium was packed with ‘purple and gold’ clad students on Tuesday afternoon during their annual year-end award cermony.

May 15, 2012 1 Photo
Warriors top Pulaski in Scott McAninch Memorial
Over the past three weeks, not a single baseball team inside the 12th Region had been any hotter than the Southwestern Warriors or the Pulaski County Maroons.

May 14, 2012 1 Photo
Somerset track teams win Region, again
Both the Somerset High School boys and girls track teams claimed regional team titles late Saturday night in the Class A Region 6 Track and Field Championships at Somerset’s Joan Spurlock Track Complex.

May 14, 2012 1 Photo
More Local Sports Headlines

Local Sports

Search Results

Related Photos

Offense deserts Warriors in loss to Danville

Site Map