South Caldwell 30 Alexander Central 17
Hudson: South Caldwell ended an 11-game Northwestern Conference losing streak with a win over Alexander Central Friday night.
Alexander Central took the opening kick and drove it 80 yards in 13 plays when rb Sawyer Chapman-Mays scored from 5 yards. Things were much tougher the remainder of the night for the Cougars.
Landon Borders scored 9 yards run with 4:50 left in the 1st half, the two-point conversion was good and the Spartans led 8-7.
AC would answer with a 34-yard field goal from Elijah Bolick with 1:24 left and the Blue and Gold led 10-8 at the half.
The second half was a game of keep away as South Caldwell dominated time of possession and the line of scrimmage. JP Smith scored on a 20-yard pass from Corbin McGhinnis to give the home team a 16-10 lead with 4:53 remaining in the 3rd quarter. The Spartans would score again when Kaden Loritts scampered in from 10 yards to make the score 24-10.
Alexander Central would get a 2 yard run from Sawyer Chapaman-Mays with 1:59 left in the 3rd to put the visitors within a touchdown at 24-17.
Kaden Loritts put the game on ice for South with 3:07 left to make the final 30-17.
South out-gained ACHS 326 to 200.
AC had a series of less than stellar special teams plays including a badly misplayed kick-off and a failure to recover an onside kick plus a botched fake punt that was intercepted. They were 2-4 passing for 17 yards and pair of interceptions. Jeremiah Whitaker rushed for 96 yards before leaving the game in the 4th quarter with an injury.
McGhinnis was 12-16 passing for 132 yards and a touchdown for South Caldwell who improves to 3-5.
South Caldwell dominated time of possession 31:43 to 16:17. The Cougars had the ball less than 4 minutes in the second half.
ACHS drops to 3-5 and 1-2 in league play.