An ugly win is better than a pretty loss.
That was the message Shannon White had for his Sumrall Bobcats following their 27-12 win over Sacred Heart on Friday night. In the fourth quarter, the Crusaders pulled to within two points after being down double digits early in the ballgame.
Billy Garrity, making his second-straight start under center for Sumrall, put Sacred Heart’s comeback hopes to bed though, as he scored a pair of rushing touchdowns late in securing the win for the Bobcats, who improved to 2-1.
“Billy did a lot of good things,” Bobcat head coach Shannon White said. “He’s a work in progress and is not going to play lights out. He’s got a lot of growth ahead of him.But he’s Billy. He still made plays and put the ball in position most times to have a chance to catch it.”
Garrity finished with four total touchdowns on the night. His two through the air went to Dannis Jackson and Solomon Landrum, which helped put the Bobcats up 14-0 late in the first half.
In the final minutes of the half, Sacred Heart finally got on the board when Cesar Mejia blocked a Sumrall punt, and Joseph Bishop recovered it for a Crusader touchdown. The extra point attempt was no good, as Sumrall took a 14-6 lead into halftime.
No points were scored in the third quarter, as both teams struggled to move the ball. Near the start of the fourth, Sacred Heart scored again on a 30-yard rushing touchdown from Campbell Klein. The Crusaders failed to convert on the ensuing 2-point conversion attempt that would have tied it 14-14. From that point on, Sumrall’s defense made up for a lot of the offenses’ struggles, as they prevented Sacred Heart from scoring again.
“A little sloppy on offense, but the defense kept us in the game,” White said. “I felt pretty good about it. Just bad offensively at times. Just never put them out. We had our chances to seal the deal many times but just couldn’t do it. But they’re kids played hard, too. Give them some credit.”
The loss was the first of the season for Sacred Heart, who fell to 2-1.
“They played hard. I think we played our best game of the year,” Crusader head coach Lonny Schraeder said. “We gotta continue to get better. This was one of those games that will get us ready for district.”
As previously mentioned, Sumrall improved to 2-1 with the win.
“We’re 2-1, and we will move on, learn from it hopefully and be better next week,” White concluded.
