South safety Zach Barham tries to corral Carson’s Damo’n Broussard.

Curt Fowler photo.

 

Senior Night at Carson. Brian Wilhite photo.

 

CHINA GROVE — Fourth quarter, tied at 14 at Carson, fourth-and-2 at the South Rowan 28, and the Raiders were going for it.

Seriously. They really were.

“Yeah, we’re a little crazy over here,” South head coach Chris Walsh admitted cheerfully.

When you haven’t been to the playoffs since your seniors were playing in sand boxes and riding on tricycles, there’s really not a lot to lose. Walsh wasn’t going to be conservative. If South Rowan lost, the Raiders were going to lose going for it, not punting it 30 yards and trying to figure out how to stop a Carson ground game that might keep the ball the rest of the night.

China Grove’s WRNA 1460 was “Raider Radio” once. Now it is “Cougar-Raider Radio,” welcoming the newer school in southern Rowan that opened in 2006. The station covers both football programs with enthusiasm, but the members of the radio crew were Raiders long before they were Cougars and South also had far more riding on the outcome of Friday’s contest. Carson was done either way. South had playoff dreams that could become reality, so their loyalty to the red and black was audible in their voices. They worried about Walsh’s sanity on fourth-and 2, but then they praised his guts after South converted the first down. “I wouldn’t want to play poker against that man,” the color man commented.

South converted more fourth downs on that decisive drive, although not from such precarious field position. When quarterback Brooks Overcash scrambled into the end zone with 3:05 left in the game, the Raiders led 20-14. Soccer star Jacill Perez-Gutierrez made the PAT for 21-14.

That would be the final score.

It came down to the last play. Given some extra seconds after South called an odd timeout, Carson QB Griffin Barber threw for the end zone, but South cornerback Macon Fuller was in good position. The pass fell harmlessly, and the Raiders and their relieved fan base could celebrate.

South (5-5) went 4-3 in the South Piedmont Conference, the best season since 2009. South is 27th in the 3A West RPI rankings. One team ahead of South in those rankings (Lake Norman Charter) plays a small school football schedule and won’t be in the 3A playoffs. One team behind South in the rankings (Parkwood) will be an automatic qualifier out of a split league.

Mountain and Foothills teams still have another week to play games because of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene. The NCHSAA won’t officially announce seeds and pairings until Nov. 10, but it certainly looks like South is safely in. The playoffs would begin on Nov. 15.

The score got to be 14-all with freshman Damo’n Broussard scoring both touchdowns for Carson, while Bryson Frieze was scoring twice on the ground for the Raiders. Both teams scored TDs in the first and third quarters.

Carson passed for only 37 yards, but the Cougars rushed for 258, with Broussard getting 133 on 20 carries and Rosean Perkins getting 67 on 12 totes.

“This was the first time this season we rushed for 200 yards and didn’t win,” Carson head coach Jonathan Lowe said. “But our average per carry was a little down.”

Overcash threw for 80 yards for the Raiders. South rushed for 194, with Frieze getting 94 on 18 carries and Overcash adding 64.

“Brooks played his tail off,” Lowe said.

South got 15 tackles from linebacker Owen Smith. Gavin Bisco made 10 tackles.

Lowe praised his defensive secondary — Nolan White, Cruise Monteith and Tanner Simpson — for extraordinary play. White did most of the work on limiting South’s standout receiver Jadon Moore to three catches for 33 yards.

But Carson’s front eight struggled to shut down Frieze and Overcash.

Carson’s experience and talent level took a hit when some players were dismissed from the squad in the middle of the season. That was a factor in a struggle down the stretch for the Cougars (3-7, 1-6), who were very optimistic after they won two of their first three games.

“In all honesty, if we have our full team, we’re still practicing on Monday, but kids made poor decisions,” Lowe said. “I’ll continue to hold guys accountable. That’s more important than any ‘W.'”

The future is bright for the Cougars, who played young at the varsity skill positions and still had a winning jayvee team.

But as far as the present, it couldn’t be much more exciting for the Raiders.

“The boys just weren’t ready for it to be over tonight,” Walsh said. “I got very emotional talking to them. It’s been a lot of fun watching this program grow.”