Indians fight hard in opening loss
Our Seminole County Indians opened the 2009 football campaign this past Friday
night in Rochelle, GA taking on the Wilcox County Patriots of region 2A. After the Wilcox County color guard presented
the nations colors, a Wilcox County student performed the Star Spangled Banner to honor our country. The coin toss followed
with Wilcox County deciding to receive the ball and go on offense. The Patriots set up shop at their own 27 yard line
and promptly took to the air. Wilcox QB Nick Marshall lobbed a pass to Lonnie Outlaw, but this play was called back
on the first of many Patriot penalties. The Indian defense stiffened, including a Kerry Chrispen sack of Marshall, forcing
the hosts to punt the ball away. The Indians took over at midfield and 6 plays later Indian QB Antwan Buggs punched
it in from the 1 yard line and the Indians were on the board first. After a wide left PAT attempt the score remained
6-0 in favor of the visitors. Once again the Patriot offense took over and only gained 2 yards before punting the ball
back to the Indians. This time the Indians laid the ball on the ground and a Wilcox defender pounced on it giving them
a prime scoring opportunity. This was a chance they capitalized on, using 4 plays before Stanley Ferguson took it in
from the Indian one yard line. An Indian hand reached the PAT attempt and it fell short deadlocking the score at 6-6.
Time ran out in the first period with the score still knotted at 6 a piece.
The second quarter belonged to the home team. The Indians punted to the
Patriots who fumbled the ball 3 plays later. At the 9:35 mark of the 2nd quarter, an Indian fumble was scooped up by
Nate Moorhouse and he rumbled 71 yards untouched to the end zone giving the Pats their first lead of the evenings contest.
The Patriot coach Mark Ledford decided to go for the 2 point conversion, but the Indian defenders stood tall leaving the Wilcox
lead at 6 points. The next Seminole County possession was 3 and out for the Indians followed by the Patriots putting
together a 9 play, 64 yard drive. Nick Marshall capped the drive off with a 12 yard pass completion to Rod Lawson putting
the Pats up by 12 points. A successful 2 point conversion ensued and the lead stretched to 20-6 with time winding down
in the first half. With momentum on the host teams side, their defense held the Indian offense and with 1:10 to play
in the first half. Protection broke down for punter Antwan Buggs and his kick was blocked, landing in the waiting hands
of a Wilcox defender who virtually walked in from the Indian 21 yard line for yet another Patriot TD. Kicker Nate Moorhouse
sailed the PAT attempt between the uprights and the Patriots took a 27-6 lead into the field house at halftime.
The pride of Seminole County, the famous Green Machine then took the field and
gave a rousing performance with a medley of 80's hits. The Wilcox County faithful gave the Green Machine a hearty and
well deserved standing ovation as they marched off the field to the tune of "Glory, Glory." Kudos go out to drum major
C. J. Jackson and the entire Green Machine Marching Band for an outstanding job, as always. Band director Dallas Burke
deserves a pat on the back as well for preparing these young musicians for their sparkling entertainment and support from
the stands during the game as well.
The second half opened with the Indians receiving the ball. Led by the
rushing efforts of Barren Rambo, the Indian offense put together a 10 play, 68 yard drive that took up the entire first half
of the third quarter. Barren Rambo took it the final 10 yards to double the Indian point tally. The 2 point conversion
attempt followed and the Pat defenders stopped the rush attempt leaving the score at 27-12. Wilcox County was forced
to punt on their next possession and the third quarter ended after the Indians and Patriots traded interceptions. The
Indians took advantage of Dee Virgin's pick off and with 9:34 left to play in the game, Buggs scampered in from the Patriot
3 yard line completing the 24 yard drive. Buggs tacked on 2 more points, rushing off the left side during the 2 point
conversion attempt. This pulled the Indians to within 7 points of the Patriots. Indian fans were on their feet
and the band was pumping out fight song music. The SCHS cheerleaders were leading the spectators in chants and cheers
to rally support for their team.
After the kickoff was downed on the Wilcox 40 yard line, QB Nick Marshall dropped
back and launched a 60 yard TD strike and pushed the Pat lead to 13 points in a single play. The PAT attempt was blocked
and the score stood at 33-20 with time running out on the Indians. The Indians drove the ball down to inside the Patriot
10 yard line before stalling out and turning the ball over with less than a minute remaining in the contest. Wilcox
QB Marshall then took a knee on the next two plays draining the clock of the remaining seconds giving Wilcox County the W.
The Indians came back in the second half with a mission and fell just short, but coaches and fans alike expressed their pride
in the determination and effort displayed by these young men in the face of adversity.
The Indians amassed over 200 yards of rushing with Barren Rambo leading the
way with 89 yards and one TD. Antwan Buggs followed closely behind with just shy of 70 yards rushing and two TD's.
Barren Rambo also lead all tacklers defensively with 4 solo and 2 assists. The Indian defense allowed the Patriot rushers
only 10 yards of total rushing offense in the loss. Turnovers were key in the game with Seminole losing 2 of 5 fumbles
and tossing 2 interceptions, while penalties were abundant throughout the contest. There were a total of over 25 penalties
combined between the two teams. The Indians will host the Turner County Rebels at Seminole Stadium this Friday with
kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The Rebels are coming off a drubbing by the Worth County Rams 39-0.
In other class A action, the Miller County Pirates downed the Albany Indians
35-7, Terrell County outlasted Schley County 20-6, Colquitt County defeated Randolph-Clay 39-7, Calhoun County was blasted
by Chattahoochee County 59-14, Charlton County upended Clinch County in the Swamp War 38-0, Pelham fell to Marion County 33-7,
Berrien crushed Atkinson County 48-6, Lanier County was thumped by Brantley County 42-7, while Bacon County fell to Jeff Davis
20-13. In the Battle of Heard Drive, Robert Ingram's Riverwood Raiders fell just short losing to Holy Innocents' by
a score of 14-7.
