CAMP HILL — Southern Preparatory Academy (2-3) pitched a second-half shutout to earn a 39-10 victory over Crenshaw Christian Academy (0-6) at Ranger Field on Sept. 25.
Enrique Burguette torched the Cougars defense by completing 21 of 26 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns. Jaydon Allotey-Babington powered the Rangers on the ground by rushing for 135 yards and three TDs on just 12 carries, and Josh Wilson caught eight passes for 103 yards and a TD.
Bruno Jiminez was Southern Prep’s leading tackler with 16 total tackles.
That defensive stand proved to be a sweet conclusion to a homecoming game that saw Eliza Hay crowned as queen and Nicholas Izzo as king at halftime.
“I think we played well and with discipline,” Southern Prep head coach J.R. Rodriguez said. “One of the biggest things going into this game was limiting the flags and other negative plays. I feel like we did that very well; we may have only had two flags [the entire game].”
Allotey-Babington blasted off right tackle for a 16-yard TD run with 9:46 left in the first quarter. While the two-point conversion attempt failed, it still gave the Rangers crucial points on their opening drive.
According to Allotey-Babington, it was a run he didn’t see coming at first.
“I wasn’t expecting it, but after I saw my blockers just blocking for me, I knew I had to outrun just a few guys,” Allotey-Babington said. “I just had to take it, and from that moment on, I felt like this was my game and that I could definitely do it again.”
Allotey-Babington then added an 18-yard TD run after beating the defense around the edge less than three minutes later to make it 13-0.
“We’ve been working the whole season on making sure we’re running the ball hard [because] he’s got elite-level speed,” Rodriguez said. “He just changed gears after that first touchdown. We started really seeing it last week against Lowndes Academy. He had a couple over there that went to the house. So it’s been good seeing him finally put it all together.”
Crenshaw Christian scored its only TD of the game — an 11-yard run by Riley Mills — and added a two-point conversion to cut Southern Prep’s lead to 13-8.
However, Burguette answered right back for the Rangers with a 34-yard TD pass to Wilson on third-and-17 with 40 seconds left in the first quarter, giving Southern Prep a commanding 20-8 lead.
At the 8:43 mark in the second quarter, the Cougars scored their final points of the game. That score came courtesy of a safety after Burguette escaped a determined Crenshaw Christian pass rush, hastily got rid of the ball and was called for intentional grounding in the end zone.
After that, the Rangers’ offense also began to stall, leaving Southern Prep with a 20-10 lead going into halftime.
Following the break, the Rangers finally began to get things back on track.
Burguette threw a 47-yard TD pass to Emilio Heredia, who spun and fought through two tackles, with 2:33 left in the third quarter to make it 27-10.
Allotey-Babington broke a 53-yard touchdown run with just over eight minutes remaining before Brayden Pace recovered a bobbled Cougars snap at the Crenshaw Christian 6 yard line.
Rodriguez said that moment was symbolic of the mindset he’s worked to instill in his defense all offseason.
“One thing I always talked about in the summer was being violent, disciplined and physical,” Rodriguez said of his defense. “We were able to maintain contain on the outside while jamming up the gaps in the middle. Ironically on that play down in the fourth quarter, Brayden Pace, one of my other quarterbacks, he was the one who forced the fumble and got the recovery.”
Burguette then capitalized on the excellent field position on the very next play with a TD pass to Pace to conclude the scoring with 7:32 left in the game.
Southern Prep will travel to Evergreen to play Sparta Academy (0-6) at Stuart McGehee Field on Friday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m.
The Warriors most recently lost 32-0 at home to Lowndes Academy on Sept. 25. It was the third straight time Sparta Academy has been shut out.
