WARR ACRES — Trailing 17-7 to Southmoore at halftime, Putnam City coach Willis Alexander said his team “had a sense of desperation.”

“So, we had to play with a sense of desperation.”

The motivation from that feeling led to defensive penetration in the backfield, bigger holes for senior Rod Sloan to run through and tough running from Sloan and fellow senior DeShawn Buford as the Pirates dominated the Sabercats in the second half in a 38-25 win Friday (Oct. 31).

Southmoore (5-4, 3-3) had the momentum, a 10-point lead and got the football to the start the second half.

PC’s defense forced a 3-and-out with Pirates blowing up plays and harassing Southmoore junior quarterback Taven Hayes in the backfield.

It was quite the contrast to the first half when Hayes’ short passing game kept the Pirates off the field en route to the lead at halftime.

“We dialed in,” Alexander said. It wasn’t so much what they were doing is what we weren’t doing. We weren’t finishing some plays. We weren’t playing to our capability or our level.”

Putnam City’s offense was largely dormant in the first half after opening the game with a touchdown drive. PC scored quickly on its first drive of the second half.

Senior Mitchell Taylor fielded a short punt and started the Pirates’ drive at the Southmoore 48-yard line.

Four plays later, Original was in the end zone. Senior Savion James leaped over the back of his defender for a catch at the 4-yard line and turned around and easily stepped into the the end zone. PC trailed, 17-14 with 9:26 left in the third quarter.

Putnam City’s only defensive lapse of the second half came on the second play of the ensuing drive. Sabercat junior Tylen Diggs got behind the defense on a crossing route over the middle for a 63-yard touchdown pass from Hayes. An offsides penalty led Southmoore to go for two points. Diggs converted out of the Wildcat formation to make it 25-14 at the 9:05 mark in the third quarter.

The Pirates answered with a 4-minute drive but stalled at the Southmoore 7-yard line.

PC’s defense allowed just one yard on the next drive and Southmoore senior Beckett Bailey had to punt from his own end zone. However, the snap went over his head and out the back of the end zone for a safety and it was 25-16.

Bailey free kicked the ball from the Southmoore 20 and Pirate junior Keandre Huffman returned it 21 yards to the Sabercat 34-yard line.

Sloan carried the ball three times for 31 yards, gashing the Southmoore defense. Buford, from the fullback spot in the I-formation, scored from three yards out and the Pirates trailed, 25-23 with 2:04 left in the third quarter.

Southmoore did gain a first down on the ensuing drive but had to punt again. Putnam City responded with a 6-minute drive, covering 60 yards, largely fueled Sloan’s running. Again, Buford finished the drive off with a 6-yard score and the Pirates led, 30-25 with 6:04 left in the game.

Southmoore struggled again to moved the ball. Facing fourth down, Southmoore’s Hayes eluded pressure from Pirate senior Nasir Nelson. Hayes lost the football, picked it up and ran it five yards before being upended by Keandre Huffman to turn the ball over on downs with 4:44 left in the game.

PC sealed the deal with a 3-minute drive, again fueled by Sloan on the ground. Sloan finished this drive off with a 9-yard run. Buford added the 2-point conversion run to make it 38-25.

After a strong first half, Southmoore was held to two first downs in the second half.

“We just realized that the blitzing was working,” Putnam City senior DJ Ackerson said. “We did a little bit in the first half and it showed that it was going to work in the second half.”

It was Senior Night before the game and Homecoming at halftime at Pirate Stadium.

“A lot of distractions before the game and everything,” Alexander said of the night for the Pirates, third-ranked in 6A-II at 7-2, 5-1. “We’ve got to learn how to get through that, weather that.

“Once we settle down, we’ll be all right to play football.”

After the seniors were honored, the Pirates opened the game with nearly a 7-minute drive spanning 65 yards. PC got 20 yards on the ground from Sloan Senior quarterback CJ Turnbull connected with senior Savion James for a 25-yard strike to put Original in the red zone.

Sloan capped off the drive with a 6-yard score with 5:01 left in the first quarter.

Hayes and the Sabercats answered with a 62-yard drive. Hayes completed all six passes he attempted. Diggs scored from three yards out. Southmoore ran the swinging gate and converted for two points as Diggs ran into the end zone past confused Pirates. Southmoore led, 8-7 with 2:01 left in the first quarter.

The Pirate offense started to sputter as the Sabercat defensive line began to get penetration and chase Turnbull, forcing a punt

Southmoore opened the second quarter with 7-minute drive but the Pirate defense held the Sabercats off.

Southmoore senior Beckett Bailey attempted a 36-yard field goal but the snap and hold were bad. Bailey’s kick was blocked by Ackerson. Junior Jonas Stinson-Power returned the blocked kick to the Pirate 42-yard line.

PC went backwards and a short punt by junior Edgar Yanez gave Southmoore good field position.

It took the Sabercats four plays to score with Diggs breaking a 31-yard run for a touchdown. Southmoore’s swinging gate conversion failed and the Sabercats led, 14-7.

The Pirate offense stalled again and Southmoore finished the half with a 32-yard field goal as time expired before halftime.

UP NEXT

The Pirates host Piedmont to close out the regular season next Friday (Nov. 7).

The fourth-ranked Wildcats (7-2, 5-1) upset No. 1 Stillwater, 17-14, Friday.

Photographs courtesy of Danielle Johnson.

	1	2	3	4	F
Southmoore (5-4, 3-3)	8	9	8	0	25
Putnam City (7-2, 5-1)	7	0	16	15	38