Sanderson football
Turnovers unravel
Spartans' upset effort
It’s unlikely that too many 1-7 teams have defeated an 8-0 squad while committing eight turnovers.
But the Sanderson football team came as close as any Friday night.
The Spartans trailed undefeated Wake Forest-Rolesville just 28-14 in the third quarter — despite six turnovers on nine possessions up to that point — before the Cougars pulled away late in a 48-14 win.
In all, Sanderson tossed seven interceptions — five on its first seven drives— and lost one fumble in 13 offensive possessions. Five of those turnovers came on WF-R’s side of the field and two happened inside the 20-yard line. Five of the Cougars’ seven touchdowns came after a Spartan turnover.
“You take those turnovers away and we played a heck of a football game against a heck of a football team,” said Sanderson coach Tony Lewis. “We eliminate those mistakes and it’s a different game.”
For more than two quarters it was a different game than most people would’ve expected.
The Cougars, ranked seventh in the state, reached the end zone on three of their first four drives but Sanderson’s defense buckled down after that and held WF-R to just seven points over the next 14:39 of play.
Sanderson took its opening drive to the Cougar 16-yard line before tossing an interception and, trailing 21-14 in the second quarter, the Spartans had a fresh set of downs at the WF-R 44-yard line before another drive was ended by a pick. Later in the quarter, down 28-14, Sanderson had a first down at the Cougars’ 19-yard line when Delano Tavares made the first of his two interceptions.
But despite the turnover epidemic, a wild spurt at the end of the first quarter and early stages of the second saw four touchdowns and an interception in just nine plays from scrimmage, putting the Spartans right in the ballgame.
Matt James scored on a 13-yard pass from Sam Bauckham and again on a 56-yard run, narrowing WF-R's lead to 28-14 at halftime.
Prior to Friday night, the Cougars had allowed only 27 points and just two offensive touchdowns all season.
“We played very well in the first half,” Lewis said. “And we left three touchdowns on the field in the first half.”
But as tightly as the Spartans were hanging in, they couldn’t get out of their own way.
Three more second-half turnovers by the offense proved too much to ask of Sanderson’s defense.
The Cougars' Trea Jones racked up 186 rushing yards in the first half alone, and finished with 250 yards. The senior broke off touchdown runs of 54 and 56 yards.
“Best running back we’ve faced this year,” Lewis said. “He can put a game on his shoulders when he wants to.”
WF-R, playing without starting quarterback Dan Tomchik, did not complete a pass all night on just two attempts. Instead the Cougars concentrated on their run game, compiling 404 yards on the ground.
Jones kick-started it all with his pair of long touchdown scampers while James Harris and backup quarterback Darren Kirby added scores of their own in the opening half.
After gaining 197 yards of offense in the first half, Sanderson went cold with just 37 yards after intermission and crossed midfield just once.
The Spartans opened the third quarter with – you guessed it – an interception, and Tavares made them pay with a 10-yard touchdown burst for a 34-14 lead. WF-R tacked on two more scores during fourth-quarter mop-up time.
“I was very proud of the kids’ effort. They played their hearts out and did everything we asked of them,” Lewis said.
The Spartans travel to Enloe Friday, Oct. 30. The Eagles knocked off Wakefield 38-10 Friday.
