Keith stays unbeaten, Southside still winless

2A Bears move to 5-0 with win over 4A Panthers

By George L. Jones (Contact) | Selma Times-Journal

Published Saturday, September 27, 2008

By George L. Jones

The Selma Times-Journal

In a matchup of teams headed in different directions this season, both Keith and Southside stayed on their current paths.

The Bears started badly — and ended badly, for that matter — but outlasted the Panthers in a 28-22 win.

Keith (5-0) left its post-game unanimously shouting “playoffs.” A road win over non-region Southside at the beginning of what Bears coach Harry Crum called a murderer’s row portion of the schedule may be the catalyst they need.

“We’re going to relish this 5-0 right now and just hope we can continue to stay on a roll,” he said.

The Bears hadn’t run their first offensive play, and they were already in a hole. They were down 2-0 after fumbling their opening kickoff into the end zone for a safety, and it looked like some magic was happening for the hapless Panthers (0-5).

But Keith scored 14 unanswered points, and although was threatened, never trailed again. The first score came with 4:05 left in the first quarter on a D’Wan Lewis 6-yard run and a 2-point conversion by Clyde Moise.

Quarterback Gerald Matthews added a touchdown on a quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line more than three minutes into the second quarter. The score came off a punt block that Ricky Lewis picked up and returned to the Southside 20.

But Southside kept things from getting one-sided, partly because it showed a spread look that was uncharacteristic of coach Lemuel Jones’ preference for the Wing-T offense.

“We enjoyed what we did,” Jones said. “We caught them off balance, they caught us off balance. We made some big plays, they made some big plays. Tonight was Keith’s night.”

Southside’s Bartavious Hall picked off a Matthews pass, and the Panthers were finally in business. But their drive stalled 1 yard from the goal, and they turned the ball over on downs.

Southside finally broke through with 1:11 to play in the first half when DeMarcus Smith scored from 6 yards out. A failed 2-point try made it 14-8.

Keith recovered Smith’s fumble on a punt return, leading to the first score of the second half.

A 40-yard pass from Matthews to Octavius Butler immediately set up a 13-yard touchdown run by D’Wan Lewis.

On their next possession, Lewis struck again, this time up the gut for a 34-yard score and 28-8 lead with 10:45 left in the game.

Then things got ugly for the Bears. They put themselves in a hole with a couple of penalties and failed on a fourth down try.

Southside didn’t waste time making them pay. Hall barreled his way down the left sideline for a 38-yard touchdown. Smith added the conversion, and the Panthers trailed 28-16.

Smith then returned a punt 41 yards to the Keith 4 to set up a 1-yard run by Alfred Davis.

Matthews fumbled the snap on Keith’s ensuing drive, and the Panthers recovered. But got forced into a fourth and 4 situation and fell short.

Moise put his stamp on the game with a 41-yard run that gave the Bears a first down and allowed them to run out the clock.

“Our guys came out playing flat,” Crum said. “It was 14-8 at halftime, we came back out on fire and then we just went flat again. We had two turnovers tonight. That’s uncharacteristic of us. Southside played hard, but we wanted this one.”

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