Southern Durham spreads ball around in win
Southern Durham is known for North Carolina-bound running back Jordan Brown, but the Spartans showed they can spread the ball around in a 35-15 victory over Chapel Hill on Friday night at Spartan Stadium.
Brown finished with 187 total yards while rushing 23 times for 127 and a touchdown and catching two balls for 60 yards and another TD. But in all, 11 Spartans accounted for 576 total yards of offense.
“We’ve been involving more people every week,” Brown said. “We have a lot of talent, and we have to get the ball in other peoples’ hands. They can do things with it as well.”
The win was Southern Durham’s fourth in a row to improve to 6-2 overall and 3-0 in the Big 8 3A. Chapel Hill dropped to 4-4 and 1-2 in conference play.
Southern Durham junior quarterback Jalen Greene broke off a 44-yard run on a broken play in the fourth quarter to finish with 420 total yards. He ran seven times for 105 and completed 24 of 30 passes for 315 yards with four TD tosses and one interception.
Turning point
Southern Durham’s six-play, 68-yard touchdown drive late in the third quarter. Chapel Hill’s touchdown on a 1-yard run by Connor Stough trimmed the deficit to 15-7. On the ensuing drive, Greene connected with Brown for a 32-yard gain on a screen pass, with Brown breaking a tackle to add 27 yards to the catch-and-run play. Jujuan Whitted scored on a 23-yard pass from Greene.
They said it
“I think we’re getting better on offense and defense, but we have to limit the penalties. We had over 100-yard penalties and that can hurt us later in the season.” – Brown.
Three who mattered
Southern Durham’s Jermaine Russell: Caught 13 passes for 95 yards and one TD.
Chapel Hill’s Ricki McDowell: Carried 18 times for 188 yards.
Chapel Hill’s Albert Nyamayaro: Caught five passes for 78 yards and one touchdown and picked off an interception.
By the numbers
1: Touchdown saving tackle by Southern Durham’s Montrel Cooper. He came across the field to catch McDowell at the 6-yard line after a 63-yard gain. The Tigers failed to score with first-and-goal at the 6.
17: Southern Durham penalties for 124 yards.
43: The yardage on Keywon Hayes’ punt after he made a leaping one-handed snare of a high snap.
This story was originally published October 9, 2015 at 10:27 PM with the headline "Southern Durham spreads ball around in win."