Exhibiting the type of play he envisioned before the season, coach Chris Watts was especially pleased as his South Point Pointers got their first win over the season with a 36-6 rout of the Coal Grove Hornets Friday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

Saturday, October 02, 1999

Exhibiting the type of play he envisioned before the season, coach Chris Watts was especially pleased as his South Point Pointers got their first win over the season with a 36-6 rout of the Coal Grove Hornets Friday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

Both teams came into their first league game of the season at 0-5, thus making the win even better for the Pointers.

"We finally played well for four quarters instead of a quarter here or a play there. It’s something we’ve been looking for," said Watts.

"We’ve given up a lot of points and we’ve had trouble with teams coming at us. Coal Grove was bigger and came at us, but we played defense the way I thought we could play. I think (D. J.) Bryant helped us on defense."

Bryant broke his collar bone in the preseason and was making his first start of the season. He not only played well defensively, but he led the Pointers with 13 carries for 72 yards and two touchdowns.

"Having D. J. Bryant back helped. Coal Grove was a better team than Northwest and Tolsia. I wished we had played this way before," said Watts.

After 14-yard punt, South Point had the ball at the 40.

On third and one, the Pointers got a 3-yard run for a first down and a 15-yard penalty moved the ball to the 13. With the ball at the 7, Smith hit Coleman Gorby with a touchdown pass on third down. Smith threw to Shane Holsinger for the conversion and it was 8-0.

"We didn’t throw that many times. That was the least amount of times we’ve thrown this year, but we were catching the ones we threw," said Watts.

The Pointers needed only 2:42 to go 65 yards in eight plays for their next score. A 30-yard pass to Justin Eaches to the 23-yard line on third and 10 was the key play. Two plays later Bryant scored on a 21-yard run.

Smith and Holsinger teamed up again on the conversion and it was 16-0.

Coal Grove fumbled the ball away at its own 26, and four plays later Smith ran 1 yard for the touchdown for a 22-0 lead. The drive was aided by a late hit on the quarterback.

"I thought that was the knockout blow and they came right back. They drove down and scored and I thought, ‘Oh no.’ But that was the only drive they had all night. I was afraid we would be tired but we came back and played better," said Watts.

The Hornets drove into South Point territory only to turn the ball over on downs, and the Pointers did the same. The Hornets then put together their only scoring drive of the night.

The Hornets face a fourth-and-3 at the South Point 28 when Josh Fields hit Clint Pauley for 17 yards to the 11. Jason Adams bolted into the end zone on the next play and it was 22-6.

The Pointers hit two passes to reach midfield, but Adams had an interception at the 34 to end the half.

The two teams exchanged punts to open the third quarter, and a 17-yard punt from deep in their own territory gave the Pointers the ball at the Coal Grove 28.

Five plays later Holsinger ran 10 yards for the touchdown and Eaches added the conversion run for a 30-6 lead.

Still unable to move ball, Coal Grove was forced to punt and South Point got the ball at its own 42.

The 58-yard, 10-play drive ate up six minutes and culminated with Bryant running 11 yards for the touchdown with 10:55 to play.

Coal Grove started its next drive at the 8-yard line. A 25-yard pass from Fields to Pauley got the ball out to the 36, but the Hornets were forced to punt.

The reserves finished up for both teams.