BY WIL CREWS
SPORTSCREWS@
OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM
OPELIKA —
The varsity Southern Christian Patriots defeated the Royal Knights of Stewart County at historic Moore Stadium in Opelika on Friday by a score of 28-14. After a tough defeat the previous week at the hands of ACSC powerhouse the Lighthouse Warriors, the Patriots were looking for some improvement — and found it — with the Royal Knights.
“They were a tough team, very physical, but they ran out of gas pretty quick,” said head coach Jason Scott. “We were way undersized at the line of scrimmage, so we took our shots on the edges and it worked pretty good. We do a ton of conditioning and it really paid off for our guys.”
Leading the Patriots on offense was quarterback Noah Freeman. The sophomore went 5-for-7 in the air for 95 yards and three touchdowns. Freeman also caught a touchdown from junior fullback Josiah Frick, who led the offense the previous week at Lighthouse, stacking up 364 total yards in the 26-63 loss. Freshmen Elijah Bailey, Jedd Scott and Jagger Scott all added scores through the air from Freeman. Frick had 90 yards on 14 carries for the night. Leading the defense against the Knights was Jagger and sophomore Cameron Carswell, each with seven tackles. The Patriots have a Bye this week, but will face Springwood next Friday, Sept. 20.
The junior varsity Patriots traveled to Springwood earlier this week after defeating the Lighthouse warriors the previous week, 42-14. In the win over the Warriors, Jagger rushed for 155 yards and a score on five carries, caught a 36-yard pass from twin brother Jedd for a score, intercepted a pass for a score and led the team in tackles with 11, including two sacks.
Robbie Phinney had a big night at defensive end with four sacks and three QB hurries. Bailey and Carswell also had eight tackles each at the game in Pinson, Alabama. Jaxon Frazier scored on a pick-six, and Carswell scored on a pass from Jedd, who completed 5-of-7 passes, racking up 95 yards and two touchdowns.
In the game in Lanett, Alabama, taking on the newly formed 8-man Springwood JV squad, Southern Christian added to its wins, defeating the Wildcats 42-6. Freshman QB Jackson Dooley was 5-for-7 throwing for 245 yards for the Pats. Dooley connected with Jagger three times for 161 yards, and Carswell twice for 84 yards. On the ground, the Patriots were led by Jagger for 65 yards on three carries. Defensively, Frazier had another pick-six; Lawton Curran, Phinney and Jagger had five tackles each. The JV Patriots will face Springwood again next week at home.