Crest High’s Mari Adams has monster night in win over rival South Point
South Point’s A.J. Riley and Crest’s Mari Adams were like a pair of heavyweight – well, make that light heavyweight – boxers trying to land a knockout punch Friday night.
First, Riley would break a big run. Then Adams would counter.
But Adams got the one that mattered most.
His 33-yard touchdown run with 4:09 left in the game lifted host Crest to a come-from-behind 27-26 victory over South Point in a Big South 3A Conference game.
“That guy over there,” Crest coach Nick Eddins said, pointing to Mari. “He’s the guy who made the difference tonight.”
Adams, a senior, ran for 189 yards and a touchdown, and he caught a 40-yard pass for another score.
Riley, also a senior, had the bigger numbers. He ran for 235 yards and three touchdowns.
“That is a very good football team we beat, and he’s a very good player,” Eddins said of South Point and Riley.
But Adams ain’t bad either.
He had 82 rushing yards in the first half, but he did most of his damage after halftime.
The Chargers (4-1, 4-0) trailed South Point (4-2, 2-1) 20-7 at halftime, but they scored on their first possession of the second half, moving 71 yards on eight plays. They had moved to the South Point 30 and had a third-and-8. But two straight procedure penalties left them with a third-and-18 situation.
“We needed to make something happen there,” Eddins said.
They did. Quarterback Nytavious Huskey rolled to his right and lobbed a short pass to Adams, who caught the ball at the 30, evaded several tacklers, and ran to the end zone.
South Point got its final points early in the fourth quarter, when Riley broke a tackle near the line of scrimmage and dashed 51 yards for a scored. A missed two-point conversion left the visitors ahead 26-14.
“We knew we could come back,” Adams said. “We just needed some big plays to get us going.”
On the Chargers’ next possession, Huskey fired a 55-yard touchdown pass to Javarius Green and cut the deficit to 26-21.
South Point went three-and-out on its next series, and punter Dylan Nicks pinned Crest at its own 2 with a perfectly-placed 35-yard kick.
The Chargers seemed bottled up, with a third-and-5 from their 7. But Huskey completed a 29-yard pass to Green, moving the ball to the 36. On the next play, Adams broke through the South Point defense for a 31-yard gain. And on the next snap, Adams dashed around left end and went 33 yards for the go-ahead score.
There was plenty of drama in the closing minutes.
South Point started moving the ball, but Crest’s Malachi Addison picked off a Cam Medlock pass with 1:45 left. The Chargers tried to run out the clock but were forced to punt from their 29 with 15 seconds left. A shanked punt left the ball at the Crest 39 with seven seconds left.
South Point’s Charlie Birtwistle hustled onto the field but missed a potential game-winning 56-yard field goal.
Three who mattered
A.J. Riley, South Point: He’s only 5-7 and 170 pounds, but Riley is extremely difficult to stop. He carried 34 times for 235 yards and scored three touchdowns.
Mari Adams, Crest: A 5-10, 175-pounder, Adams carried 29 times for 189 yards, and he caught a 40-yard pass. Adams scored two touchdowns.
M.J. Ross, Crest: A 6-0, 200-pound defensive lineman, Ross had two tackles in the closing minutes – both on Riley – that prevented South Point from getting a first down.
Worth mentioning
▪ Fans barely had time to be seated before the first touchdown took place. South Point’s Micah Stowe intercepted a Huskey pass on Crest’s first play of the game. And on South Point’s first play, Medlock threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Blee. South Point averages only about five passes per game.
▪ Huskey was picked off twice, but he had a strong overall performance, completing 8-of-12 passes for 176 yards. That included a pair of touchdowns.
▪ South Point’s kicking game was strong. Two of Dylan Nicks’ punts were downed inside the Crest 10. And Charlie Birtwistle’s 56-yard field-goal attempt on the game’s final play had the distance. It was a few feet to the left.
▪ Despite not being in the same conference most seasons over the past few decades, the teams played annually from 2004 through 2019. South Point held an 11-8 series lead during that time. South Point beat the Chargers eight straight times from 2007-2013, but Crest had won five of seven meetings since 2014.
What’s next?
Neither team gets a break next Friday. South Point faces the other Big South 3A contender, hosting Kings Mountain. Crest travels to rival Shelby in a nonconference game.
Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle
------------------
South Point 14 6 0 6 – 26
Crest 0 7 7 13 – 27
SP: Jackson Blee 35 pass from Cam Medlock (Charlie Birtwistle kick)
SP: A.J. Riley 2 run (Birtwistle kick)
CR: Nick Beason 36 interception return (Julian Arreola kick)
SP: Riley 5 run (kick failed)
CR: Mari Adams 40 pass from Nytavious Huskey (Arreola kick)
SP: Riley 51 run (run failed)
CR: Javarius Green 55 pass from Huskey (Arreola kick)
CR: Adams 33 run (pass failed)
This story was originally published October 2, 2021 at 12:51 AM.