Sharp was on target with three touchdown passes and all-around defensive effort too much for Panthers
Humble – Conditioning, hard work and youth are three values that Summer Creek have hung their hat on. It’s been three long years but the fruits of their labor have paid off.
In a district 18-4A matchup, Friday night sophomore quarterback Aaron sharp passed for 277 yards and three touchdowns to help Summer Creek route Kingwood Park 42-14 at Turner Stadium.
When Sharp, who was 11-17 with no interceptions wasn’t airing out damage, backfield combo of Keevon Aldridge and Jhony Evans were grinding it out on the ground.
“I think the offensive line did a real good job of holding their blocks. The receivers did good, catching and running their routes, making it easy for me to get them the ball, said Summer Creek’s quarterback, Aaron Sharp. That’s all I can ask for, we all played hard today. We came out ready to win. It was Kingwood Park’s home coming. They ruined ours last year.”
A dominating first half performance on both sides of the ball left Kingwood Park trailing 35-7 at intermission. Summer Creek (5-0, 2-0) only in their second year, got on the board early and often. Sharp connected with Gregory Hogan (who had a big night with 144 yards on four receptions) on a streak pattern for the first score of the game, covering 71 yards in two plays.
“I came out today to win and to help the team out by catching every pass with no drops. I try to give myself time to let the ball come to me without letting the defender know the ball is coming,” Gregory Hogan said Summer Creek’s receiver, I keep my hands low hoping the defender want notice.”
There were only two possessions where the Bulldogs didn’t score in the first half; one was when Jhony Evans fumbled in the end zone from a yard out and once, when they were forced to punt.
Kingwood Park (3-2, 1-1) suffered five three and outs which had much to do with Bulldogs defense. Steady doses of power rushing and corner back bliss, kept the Panthers searching. Dropped passes, incomplete passes, and turnovers added to a disappointing night.
“We work hard all week, last week we had a big game, a home coming game. I just my speed to get around the big boys,” said Darius Calhoun, Summer Creek’s line backer.
Summer Creek then went on to score touchdowns on its next three drives, which included a six and seven yard runs by Keevon Aldridge and a two yarder from Evans while assisting the Bulldogs in piling up 16 first downs and 300 first half yards against 91 yards and three mere first downs for the Panthers.
Summer Creek’s Coach Ford said, “We’re real excited to be where we’re at right now; we put a lot of hard work in going back three years. We’ve been looking towards this, we‘re really happy to be 5-0. We’re just playing hard every week.
The defensive unit led by a host of Bulldog defenders, held a shutout until the last 13.8 seconds of the half. Line backer Darius Calhoun and defensive lineman Kiante Matlock overwhelmed the Panthers offensive line, knifing through, stopping them for minus yards on several plays. But there was no denying the Panther’s who mustered up some momentum going into halftime when they took advantage of a short field at their 48 and marched 52 yards in three plays, capped on Hunter Pounds strike to Cullen Craft, a 16 yard touchdown.
Both teams traded touchdowns in the second half. Panther’s defensive lineman Josh Bloom recovered a fumble at the Summer Creek’s 14, one play later backup QB Jay Fields scrambled in to give the Panthers all they would get on the night. Summer Creek’s DeQuann Ruffin out-jumped Craft to come away with the ball as he raced untouched to the end zone to finalize the scoring.
“Gregory Hogan and I are deep threats and we have Torrey Johnson and Jordan Braden. We got on par last season when Hogan was the quarterback,” said DeQuann Ruffin, Summer Creek’s receiver.