Crestwood – For the second week in a row, the South Oldham Dragons got off to a quick start and scored the first time they had the ball. But this week, in a key district opener against the Tigers of Fern Creek, what looked to be high-scoring game for the Dragons degenerated into a maddening series of turnovers, missed field goals, botched extra points, and all-around missed opportunities for both teams. In the end, the Dragon defense stood tall when it mattered most, and the Dragons’ Lance Smither scored two times to give South the win.

Matt Kusnir gave the Dragons good field position early when he returned the opening kickoff 33 yards to the South Oldham 42 yard line. >From there, the Dragons took just six plays – including five runs – to drive the ball downfield for the touchdown, a four yard blast by Lance Smither. Smither carried the ball on all five running plays during the drive, for seven, eight, eleven, six, and four yards. It didn’t seem to matter which side of the line the Dragons ran behind, but the right side of Terry Scroghum and Michael Hinkle seemed particularly successful in carving out holes for Smither, who became the Dragons’ starting tailback after the season-ending leg injury to Alex Sutton in Week 1.

The only negative for the Dragons was the point-after attempt, in which Rob Wooley’s kick hit the left upright and bounced back onto the field. Still, South led, 6-0, after a dominating first possession.

The defense quickly made its presence known on Fern Creek’s first possession. Starting quarterback Donnie Dolson, who had completed eleven of sixteen passes in Fern Creek’s opening loss to Bullitt East without an interception, was picked off on his very first attempt by Brian Kennedy near midfield. Kennedy, who intercepted two passes and very nearly picked off two others, returned the ball to the FC 44, but the Dragons’ drive fizzled and they turned it over on downs.

From that point, the Tigers’ defense stiffened. The Dragons managed just one more first down in the first half, and their next four possessions ended in three punts and a turnover. Meanwhile, the Tigers were beginning to get some opportunities.

Late in the first period, Fern Creek took over on their own 26 after a Derek Bowman punt. They promptly marched to the South Oldham three yard line. But on fourth down, Dolson tried a quarterback keeper up the middle and was stopped at the Dragon one yard line.

Early in the second, the Tigers again missed a golden opportunity. A Josh Moll pass was tipped into the hands of a Tiger defender and intercepted at the South Oldham 26 yard line, but the Tigers failed to register a first down and turned over the ball on downs.

With less than a minute to play in the half, and the score still 6-0, the Dragons looked to get one more opportunity to score before intermission when Fern Creek botched a punt. The Tigers’ long snapper sent the ball back to punter Eric Meredith low and on one hop. It was all Meredith could do to simply fall on the ball at the Tiger 37 yard line with 26 seconds remaining in the first half. But on the Dragons’ first play from scrimmage, a long pass intended for Drew Deptola was off the mark, and the Tigers intercepted it at the Creek seven yard line.

At the half, the South defense had dominated. Fern Creek, which had rushed for 189 yards against Bullitt East, had just 11 yards on 18 first-half carries. And after passing for 249 yards against the Chargers, the Tigers had just 56 passing yards in the first half as the South defenders repeatedly harassed the passers. When the Tiger quarterbacks did get off a pass, Brian Kennedy, Ryan Donohue, and Nick Phelps repeatedly broke up the plays.

The two teams traded punts to start the second half, and the Dragons looked to have caught a huge break after the South punt. The Tigers Mario Urrutia let the punt slip through his fingers inside the Tiger ten, and South recovered at the nine yard line. Three plays later, however, it was fourth and goal from the twelve, and South tried a field goal. With the ball on the right hash mark, the short field goal attempt was difficult for a right-footed kicker, as Wooley had to kick across his body at a narrow angle. Perhaps as a result, Wooley’s 29 yard attempt was wide right.

From there, the defenses continued to rule the contest. A deep Fern Creek drive was killed off by Ryan Donohue, who intercepted a Tiger pass. On the Tigers’ next possession, it was Brian Kennedy picking off his second pass of the night to end a Fern Creek possession. All told, the Tigers turned over the ball five times, with three interceptions and two fumbles. South wasn’t much better; the Dragons’ Josh Moss threw three interceptions, and the Dragons also lost a fumble.

With 8:38 to go in the contest, the Dragons took over at their own 41 following the Kennedy interception. On first down, Moss hit Ryan Schumm with an eleven yard pass. It was the Dragons’ first first down of the second half, and ignited a drive that threatened to put the game away for South. Two more plays – a ten yard pass to Donohue and a fourteen yard run by Bennett Gatto – gave the Dragons a first down at the Creek 24 yard line. On first down, Moss found Schumm for a six yard gain, but Gatto was stopped for a two yard loss on the next play, and Moss’ third down pass fell incomplete, bringing up a 38 yard field goal try for Wooley.

Wooley’s kick easily had the distance, but it went wide left, and the score remained, 6-0, with about 5 minutes remaining in the game.

Suddenly, the Tigers got some big offensive plays. A pass from Dolson to Mario Urrutia put the Tigers near midfield, and they drove deep into Dragon territory. It appeared the Dragons’ defense had finally stalled the drive when the Tigers faced a fourth and twelve from the South 32, but Dolson again found Urrutia, this time for a 28 yard gain to the South 4. From there, Dolson took it into the endzone on a quarterback keeper with 3:02 remaining.

Whatever jinx had tormented the Dragons’ kicking game apparently was contagious. With the game on the line, and the point after possibly serving as the winning point, Dolson – who also served as the Tigers’ placekicker – had his kicked smashed back in his face by a tremendous Dragon rush. Both Ryan Donohue and John Burba got clean looks at the kick on rushes up the middle, and one – maybe both – were able to block the kick.

The Dragons had plenty of time to get a score on the board and win in regulation, and the offense did drive into Tiger territory, but an interception at the Fern Creek 20 ended the drive with 1:20. On the very next play, Dolson ran around the right end, was hit by Nick Phelps, and coughed up the ball. Phelps recovered at the Fern Creek 36. But the Dragons responded in kind – Moss hit Brian Kennedy on a pass to the Tiger 26, but Kennedy fumbled as he was tackled, and the Tigers took over on their own 26 with 1:07 remaining. Three plays, three turnovers – all within 13 seconds.

The teams went to overtime tied at 6. Each team would have four downs to score from the other team’s ten yard line. If the game was tied after each team had had a turn, the two squads would try again, and the game would continue in this fashion until one team was ahead.

South won the coin flip and chose to go second. On first down, Nick Phelps caught Dearrick Harris behind the line of scrimmage for a four yard loss. On second down, Dolson rolled to his left. He apparently had room to run – perhaps enough to reach the end zone – but he threw instead, overthrowing Mike Morrow in the end zone. Dolson’s third down pass was nearly intercepted by Ryan Donohue at the goal line.

On fourth down and fourteen, many teams would have attempted the 31 yard field goal. But the Tigers’ kicking was considered suspect, and Fern Creek went for the touchdown. Dolson’s fourth down pass was broken up by Kennedy, and the Dragons took over, knowing they needed just a field goal to win.

With this in mind, coach Brian Schutte elected to keep the ball on the ground, and the Dragons came out with a "full house" power backfield – three backs behind Moss. They gave the ball to Smither three times. He gained three yards, four yards, and then the final four yards for the touchdown, making the question of a field goal moot. Fittingly enough, after a game that had held the fans’ in suspense for what seemed like ages, the officials on the field had to wait agonizing seconds before they were able to dissect the pile of tacklers and blockers on the final play and give the "touchdown" signal.

The Dragons improve to 2-1 and 1-0 in the district. In the four years that South has been in 4A football, the Dragons have opened 1-0 three times (2001 was the only season they lost their opener in a 24-0 loss to Fern Creek), but South has never had a winning district record at the end of the season in 4A. The win also gave the Dragons a two game winning streak for the first time since September of 2001. Fern Creek falls to 0-2 and 0-1.

Rushing – Smither 25-94 2 TDs

Passing – Moll 12-24-3 0 TDs

Receiving – Kennedy 5-67, Schumm 3-19, Donohue 3-31, Kevin Hull 1-10

Trinity 55, Jeffersontown 0

Shelby County 23, Oldham County 16

Eastern 29, Ballard 24

District Standings: Won Lost

NEXT WEEK ON SPORTS ZONE RADIO:

South Oldham vs. Louisville Holy Cross Broadcast on FM 105.7 on DELAYED BASIS, immediately following the Shelby County – Anderson County contest. (broadcast will start approximately between 9:30 and 10 pm)