Shock & awe! Ardrey Kell starts vs. South Meck with 2 surprises, gets important league win
Ardrey Kell football coach Greg Jachym came into his team’s high school conference game at South Mecklenburg on Friday with a serious gambler’s mentality.
After losing a week ago to Myers Park, the Knights had to beat the Sabres to stay in the hunt for a league championship.
So Jachym started the game with an onside kick and didn’t lose patience when it failed. He tried another and it worked.
Coupled with some strong play from his defense, those gambles led to a three-touchdown lead in the first quarter and a 21-17 win. The Knights, who didn’t score in the final three quarters, held on to beat South Meck on a night when the Sabres had a big home crowd to recognize its first Hall of Fame class.
Ardrey Kell (4-2, 1-1) ended a two-game losing streak. South Mecklenburg (5-2, 1-1) saw its five-game win streak snapped. The Sabres are No. 10 in The Charlotte Observer Sweet 16 poll.
This is how it happened.
Ardrey Kell tried an onside kick to start the game. It only went 8 of the prescribed 10 yards. South Meck got the ball at the Knights’ 48.
But South went 3-and-out and had to punt, unable to use the early momentum for an early lead.
Instead, Ardrey Kell drove 89 yards, ending the long drive with a Jack Curtis scoring pass.
Then came onside kick No. 2. And this one worked.
Ardrey Kell got the ball again and drove 42 yards. Curtis ended the drive with a 10-yard QB sneak.
South’s offense struggled to get going again, and down 14-0, coach Joe Evans decided to go for it on fourth-and-short in his own end.
It didn’t work.
Ardrey Kell got the ball near the red zone and Curtis later threw his second touchdown pass of the game.
It was 21-0 with 1:51 to play in the first quarter.
Down 21, South Meck kept coming, however, getting a field goal and later getting a touchdown pass from QB Cam Reese. The Sabres were down 21-10 with 7:04 left in the second quarter.
With 8:17 left in the third quarter, Ardrey Kell tried to apply a knockout blow but was stopped on fourth-and-goal. That huge defensive stop kept South Meck’s hopes alive.
Later in the quarter, the Knights drove again but missed a field-goal attempt. The Sabres were still down just 11 but mounted a long drive, capped off by a Jacob Newman touchdown run. With 11:15 to play, the Sabres trailed 21-17.
The South Meck defense then forced three straight punts. The Sabres couldn’t do anything on offense after the first two. On the third, South Meck got a fourth-down sack at the Sabres’ 31 with 3:23 to play.
The Sabres defense produced another red-zone stop, giving the Sabres the ball with less than a minute left, but an Ardrey Kell interception ended the game.
Photos from the game
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This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 9:34 PM.
