INTO NEXT WEEK’s OPEN DATE.
JUNIOR WIDEOUT JAKE CARTER EMERGES AS BIG-TIME PLAYMAKER FOR SPARTANS; GREENWOOD LOOKS FOR ANSWERS
South Warren High School’s Jake Carter can get lost amidst his strapping teammates, which is one reason he’s become so effective in the Spartans’ passing game.
The 5-foot-8, 150-pound junior wide receiver can be a gnat in an opponent’s ear, the proverbial monkey in the wrench, the little guy who shows up out of nowhere before making a beeline for the end zone.
Like he did on the final play of the first half in Thursday night’s big game against crosstown rival Greenwood High School.
(The game had been pushed up 24 hours with the landfall of massive Hurricane Helene in the Big Bend of Florida.)
South was already cruising with a 28-0 lead over the overmatched Gators, but the Spartans needed another touchdown to implement a running clock for the second half in the KHSAA Class 5A, 2nd District game on a wet night on the South Warren campus.
And with the light but steady rain falling, closing the curtain little early was clearly in the Spartans’ best interests. So South Warren quarterback Bryce Button and his leading receiver, Carter, made it happen before both teams filed back into their respective locker rooms.
Button got the ball to Carter on a slip screen inside the right sideline, and Carter made a couple decisive cuts before finding a path to the end zone, which he covered posthaste for a 44-yard touchdown pass as the first half came to a close.
The majority of the Spartans’ starters watched the second half from the sideline, with South’s younger players getting a chance to finish the task at hand. And Carter knew what was stake before the Spartans scored their fifth touchdown of the first half.
“I had to score. Had to,” Carter said with a wide smile when it was over. “We knew we needed one more score to get to a running clock, and Bryce is an experienced quarterback … He got me the ball, and I saw a seam on the sideline.”
Button, the senior Eastern Michigan University commit, had one of the best games in his three years as the Spartans’ starting QB. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound QB completed 13 of 17 passes for 215 yards and FOUR touchdowns — all in the first half, mind you — in South’s 42-0 thrashing of the Gators.
OPENS THE SCORING ON
A 29-YARD TD RECEPTION.
BY SOUTH WARREN TEAMMATES (FROM LEFT)
COLTON VELTKAMP, CAMERON BELL AND BRYCE BUTTON.
FINDS A SEAM IN THE GATORS’ DEFENSE.
PUNTS FROM HIS OWN END ZONE.
South Warren won its district opener and improved to 5-1 overall heading into an open date. The Spartans struggled in last week’s 35-7 loss to Louisville’s Dupont Manual squad, the third-ranked team in the Commonwealth, according to maxpreps.com. Greenwood looks to bounce back in next week’s district game on the road at Ohio County (0-6, 0-1 in district play).
The Gators dropped to 3-3 overall.
“We had to get back to throwing the ball,” seventh-year South head coach Brandon Smith said. “That’s what we’ve been, the last few years … That’s been our identity, the last couple years.
“The (playing) conditions were not as bad as they could have been, but we kind of changed the way we practiced this week. It was a little more intense.”
Smith pushed his career record at South Warren to an impressive 113-22, and the Spartans and crosstown rival Bowling Green have both won KHSAA Class 5A state championships in the last three years, South in 2021 and the Purples two years later.
(And yes, in case you’re wondering, Bowling Green plays host to the Spartans on October 18. That’s three weeks from today.)
PULLS IN A SECOND-QUARTER PASS …
ON THE PERIMETER, FOR
THE SPARTANS’ DEFENSE.
FOUR TOUCHDOWN PASSES, ADDING
A SCORING RUN — ALL IN THE FIRST HALF.
HIS PLAYERS SHAKE HANDS WITH THE SPARTANS.
“I think we really played pretty well, coming off the rough loss (to Dupont Manual),” senior South tight end/linebacker Colton Veltkamp said via text message on Friday morning. “I like playing defense the best, but playing offense and scoring touchdowns is pretty nice, too.”
Veltkamp and his defensive teammates pressured Greenwood QB Levi Wyatt from start to finish, and Veltkamp got in on the fun on offense by catching Bryce Button’s 7-yard TD pass inside the right sideline midway through the second quarter.
Junior receiver Jake Carter opened the scoring by taking Button’s hitch pass and traversing 29 yards near the left sideline for a touchdown midway through the first quarter. Junior SWHS placekicker Alen Alic added the first of six extra points and the Spartans were off to the races.
The Gators didn’t get a legitimate scoring opportunity until the second half, at which point the running clock and the Spartans’ defensive backups were keeping the shutout intact.
“We had them in some situations where it was third down,” Greenwood coach William Howard told Micheal Compton of the Bowling Green Daily News. “We just couldn’t get them off the field. They just whipped us up front.”
CONTROLLED THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE.
CALLS SIGNALS IN THE SECOND HALF ….
SKILLS WHEN BREAKING THE POCKET.
IS CONGRATULATED AFTER
HIS FOURTH-QUARTER TD RUN.
That’s where you’ll see the likes of South Warren lineman such as Cameron Bell, Ethan Patterson and Kyler Lyons creating holes and giving Button more than enough time to find an open receiver.
“That was probably the ‘cleanest’ game we’ve played in a while,” South Warren coach Brandon Smith said. “We had one dumb penalty there, on a score, but as far as (offensive) execution, it finally feels good. That’s where you need to be, midseason.
“I think the defense has been playing pretty well … I was really proud of the young guys, in the second half, staying strong on that (Greenwood) drive and not letting them score.”
Button also threw a touchdown pass to South teammate Isaiah Bridges that covered 33 yards in the final three minutes of the first half, before Jake Carter’s dash to to end zone put the Spartans on the fast track to a resounding victory. Backup QB Camden Page, a sophomore, scored South’s final touchdown on a 16-yard run with 2:50 left in the game.
South’s defense, meanwhile, allowed just 123 yards.
FACED A STEADY PASS RUSH …
SEVERAL THIRD-AND-LONG SITUATIONS.
NEXT WEEK AT OHIO COUNTY.
South Warren seemed to have a strong level of concentration after last week’s loss to Dupont Manual, something senior QB Bryce Button admitted the Spartans may have needed all along.
“I just try to go out, each week, and play the best that I can for my guys,” Button said via text message. “When I was starting my high school career (as WKU quarterback Caden Veltkamp’s backup QB), I remember Coach Smith telling me I need to be the smartest guy on the field.
“We definitely did go back to basics (in practice) this week … and yes, a running clock is definitely a goal, in a game like that, and it’s always great to do that against a district opponent like Greenwood.”
That’s exactly what Brandon Smith had in mind.
“We needed a good game, to get some momentum going into our bye week,” Smith said. “We’re at midseason, so our guys could use a break.”
PLENTY OF TIME IN THE OPEN FIELD.
AND HIS TEAMMATES PITCHED A SHUTOUT …
WAS TAKING NOTHING FOR GRANTED.
IS IN HIS FIRST SEASON
AS GREENWOOD’s STARTING QB.
HUNKERING DOWN IN
ALL THIS BAD WEATHER.