South Harrison stuns Williamstown, 26-20, in first round
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WILLIAMSTOWN -- South Harrison's Shepard Paugh picked the perfect evening to have a career night here Friday in the opening round of the Class AA playoffs as the senior carried 37 times for a career-high 338 yards in the No. 12 Hawks' 26-20 upset of No. 5 Williamstown.
The Yellowjackets of head coach Chris Beck, who had defeated the Hawks 40-8 a month ago at Yellowjacket Field, never led in the game as the hosts tried to rally from a 26-7 halftime deficit.
However, sixth-year SHHS head coach Brett Hathaway earned his first career postseason victory after Paugh ripped off a 33-yard run on a third-and-11 snap from their own 6 with less than a minute remaining as the 'Jackets were trying to get the ball back one last time.
"We stayed locked in all week and we were ready for this moment," said Paugh, who celebrated with his teammates after signal-caller Lucas Nutt took one knee in the victory formation. "We knew it was going to be tough, but at the end of the day we got the job done and we're excited.
We're ready to move on.
'These just aren't my teammates; they are my brothers. We've been through it thick and thin and that's what we're going to do our whole lives. I wouldn't trade these guys for anybody. I love these guys. This is big for him (coach Hathaway) too, just as much as it is for us. It's awesome."
The ground-and-pound Hawks, who improved to 7-4 and will hit the road again next week at No. 4 Independence, marched 86 yards in eight plays on their opening drive that was capped by Nutt's first 1-yard TD plunge.
Williamstown, which had previously defeated South Harrison in all 11 matchups, had a three-and-out on its first series, but Mason Kern had a 43-yard punt to pin the visitors at their own 3.
That didn't prove to be a problem for the Hawks as they went on a methodical 15-play, 97-yard scoring drive that took 8:43 off the clock as Paugh's 1-yard TD and ensuing two-point conversion run made it 14-0 with 9:09 left in the half.
The Yellowjackets, despite having a bad snap over the head of quarterback Breck Allen that resulted in a negative 14-yard completion to Tyrell Miller, answered on their next drive.
Facing a second-and-24 at their own 41, Daniel Cunningham found an opening and raced 27 yards. After Miller had a 7-yard reception, Allen eventually darted 15 yards to set up first-and-goal at the 4 as fullback Jack Moore scored untouched. Carter Hoops' extra point was good as the deficit was cut in half with 5:01 remaining before intermission.
Coach Hathaway opted to roll the dice on the next Hawks possession as he went for it facing a fourth-and-1 at their own 35 with 2:06 left. The result was a 63-yard run by Paugh, who had 209 stripes on 20 totes in the first half. Two plays later, Nutt had his second 1-yard score and it was 20-7 as the conversion run failed.
Nutt then picked off Allen, via a one-handed grab, on Williamstown's first play from scrimmage and returned it 34 yards to the 'Jacket 25. Paugh then had runs of 14 and 10 yards, which made it first-and-goal at the 1. Paugh got the call for his second touchdown, but the halftime advantage was 19 as Allen broke up the two-point conversion pass to Paugh.
"We got too far behind," admitted Beck, who watched Cunningham go for 232 yards on 17 carries. "First half, they just did whatever they wanted to do. They controlled the game, controlled the clock, scored every possession they had. We got ourselves in too big of a hole. Second half, we kind of got going but couldn't fire all the way back.
"Tip your cap to them. They did a great job. They deserved to win that game. Proud of the group. Not the way we wanted to end it, 9-1 with the schedule we played, I'm really proud of the effort and the seniors, and what they gave and what they did, but obviously nobody ends the season happy but one team and we're part of the other group right now."
Cunningham's 47-yard touchdown run got Williamstown going to open the second half, but Hoops' PAT was blocked by Kaden Shafferman.
After Paugh returned the kickoff 21 yards, the Hawks moved the ball from their own 31 all the way into the red zone, but on a fourth-and-17 play Cunningham picked off Nutt in the end zone.
What proved to be Williamstown's final six-pointer of the season came via a Cunningham 46-yard run, which made it 26-19 just nine seconds into the fourth.
South Harrison tried to answer and once again drove down the field into the red zone, but Nutt's pass to Elliot Watson was just out of reach on a fourth-and-1 play from the WHS 12.
After taking over with 5-plus minutes remaining, WHS drove from its own 12 to the South Harrison 12 where the hosts faced a third-and-1. Although Moore had enough yardage for the first down, the ball came loose and Nutt pounced on it at the 7 to all but seal the victory.
"I saw the ball and I jumped on it. It didn't feel real. I'm at a loss for words," Nutt said. "It's awesome.
"I've thought about this team for my sophomore year for so long. The seniors, they mean so much to me. This team is super special to me."
Zane Harlow added 75 yards rushing on 15 attempts as the Hawks finished with 411 rushing yards on 58 carries. Paugh had the only catch for the Hawks, which went for 14 yards.
Allen added 63 stripes on 11 totes.
"I've been telling the team all week they have a very electric offense and we were going to have trouble getting stops tonight, but we felt confident on offense," Hathaway said. "We thought the first time we played them that we left some plays and points out there on the board, so it was just about cleaning some of that stuff up offensively.
"Defensively, we did just enough. You know, they still scored some points and they still had some big plays, but I'll give our guys a lot of credit. They really bowed up when their back was against the wall. Shepard is a great player and we needed him to play big. I didn't know we needed 300 yards necessarily going into it, but it turns out we needed every single one of them."
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com
Class AA State Playoffs
South Harrison 26, Williamstown 20
#12 SHHS (7-4) 6 20 0 0 – 26
#5 WHS (9-2) 0 7 6 6 – 20
SH: Lucas Nutt 1 run (run failed) 7:16, 1st
SH: Shepard Paugh 1 run (Paugh run) 9:09, 2nd
WT: Jack Moore 4 run (Carter Hoops kick) 5:01, 2nd
SH: Nutt 1 run (run failed) 1:03, 2nd
SH: Paugh 1 run (pass failed) 20.3, 2nd
WT: Daniel Cunningham 47 run (kick blocked) 10:09, 3rd
WT: Cunningham 46 run (Hoops kick) 11:51, 4th
Team stats
SHHS: First downs: 21; Rushes-yards: 58-411; Passing yards: 14; Total yards: 425; Passing: 1-4-0; Punts-average: 0-0; Fumbles-lost: 1-0; Penalties-yards: 1-5
WHS: First downs: 14; Rushes-yards: 32-306; Passing yards: 2; Total yards: 308; Passing: 3-8-1; Punts-average: 1-43; Fumbles-lost: 1-1; Penalties-yards: 4-16
Individual stats
SHHS: Rushing: Team 1-(-1), Lucas Nutt 5-(-1), Zane Harlow 15-75, Shepard Paugh 37-338; Passing: Paugh 0-1-0, 0 yards; Nutt 1-3-0, 14 yards; Receiving: Paugh 1-14
WHS: Rushing: Breck Allen 11-63, Daniel Cunningham 17-232, Jack Moore 4-11; Passing: Allen 3-8-1, 2 yards; Receiving: Mason Kern 2-9, Tyrell Miller 2-(-7)
Next game: #12 South Harrison at #4 Independence, TBD.