By Phil Friend
ThePaper24-7.com
FRANKFORT – Southmont’s football team still owns a share of the Sagamore Conference lead.
Week after week, these Mounties are proving they are for real. Leading by two touchdowns Oct. 2, Southmont took control by scoring on the opening possession of the third quarter and never looked back, defeating conference rival Frankfort 35-0.
(CHECK THE GALLERY FOR GAME PICTURES FROM RYAN MANERS OF RUSTED ROOF PHOTOGRAPHY!!)
Southmont’s Tanner Hill took the second-half kickoff 50 yards to the Frankfort 38-yard line. Five plays later, Jordan Burkett plowed in from two yards for a 21-0 Southmont lead. The score was set up by a 32-yard scamper from quarterback Logan Petry.
“That was a huge lift for them, and that may have been the nail in the coffin for us,” said Frankfort coach Tom Potts.
The Mounties (5-2 overall, 4-1 in league play) tacked on two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter on an 18-yard run by Micah Hatch and a 10-yard score from Brayden McKinney.
Two things hurt host Frankfort: tackling and play at the line of scrimmage. The Hot Dogs (3-4, 2-3) missed numerous tackles throughout the game as Burkett, Hatch, Petry, and company finished with 225 yards rushing on 43 carries.
“We thought our tackling was poor tonight,” Potts said. “It’s tough because you try to tackle (Petry), and the fullback (Hatch) nickel and dimes it. He keeps getting five, six, seven yards per carry and first downs.
“They were patient enough to keep handing it to them.”
Those first downs were created by Southmont’s offensive line, which never allowed Frankfort to penetrate the backfield to prevent those back-breaking runs.
“We wanted to make sure we came out this evening to control the line of scrimmage and to play a physical game,” said Southmont coach Desson Hannum. “That’s what Frankfort wanted to do as well, and it was crucial to the win tonight.”
Petry led the Mounties with 70 yards rushing and added 55 yards passing, along with a touchdown pass to Burkett. Hatch ran for 59 yards and a score, while Hill and McKinney had 25 apiece.
The closest Frankfort ever got to the end zone was the Southmont 33-yard-line, which occurred on the final play of the game. Before that, it was the Southmont 40, which the Hot Dogs reached near the end of the first half before Blake Ayers threw an interception with about 40 seconds left.
The Hot Dogs managed 177 yards on the ground and 236 overall. Dylan Timmons led the way with 61 yards.
“It starts up front, and they probably beat us on both sides of the ball,” Potts said. “We faced bigger lines but their option is pretty good – probably the best, most complete option attack we’ve seen this year.”
Southmont scored on its first two possessions of the game as Petry finished an 11-play, 54 yard drive with a one-yard score. The next drive went 63 yards on six plays, culminated on a nine-yard pass from Petry to Burkett.
“He’s the general of the team,” Hannum said of Petry. “He makes sure offensively and defensively we’re in the right play or coverage.
“He has a lot that he takes on his shoulders and he’s a capable individual – we’re lucky to have him as part of our team.”
Next up for Southmont is an Oct. 9 home game against suddenly cold Western Boone (5-2, 3-2), a 34-21 Week 7 loser to Tri-West Hendricks. The Mounties sit in a three-way tie for first place in the conference with North Montgomery and Lebanon, and all three teams have gone 1-1 against the other two.
Frankfort will host those same Bruins (3-4, 2-3) next Friday night.
Southmont 7 7 7 14 – 35
Frankfort 0 0 0 0 – 10
Southmont – Petry 1 run (Rose kick), 3:27
Southmont – Burkett 9 pass from Petry (Rose kick), 9:42
Southmont – Burkett 5 run (Rose kick), 9:29
Southmont – Hatch 18 run (Rose kick), 10:05
Southmont – McKinney 10 run (Rose kick), 7:13
S F
First Downs 17 13
Rushes-Yards 43-225 35-177
Passing Yards 55 59
Comp-Att-Int 5-6-0 9-19-1
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards 2-25 1-15
Rushing
Southmont: Petry 12-70, Hatch 12-59, McKinney 3-25, Hill 4-25, Burkett 7-22, Brown 2-18, A. Long 1-5, Burton 2-1
Frankfort: Timmons 11-61, Ham 4-35, Shirar 6-24, Ayers 7-20, Laughner 5-19, Myars 2-18
Passing
Southmont: Petry 5-6-0 55
Frankfort: Ayers 8-17-1 55, Shirar 1-1-0 4, Svoboda 0-1-0 0
Receiving
Southmont: Burkett 3-34, L. Long 1-26, Hill 1-[-5]
Frankfort: Varner 4-27, Shirar 3-17, Timmons 1-11, Laughner 1-4
