High school football: Simley goes to the ground late to beat South St. Paul
Sep. 25—Traditionally, it has been South St. Paul breaking its opponent's spirit with long, physical drives that drain both time and energy to seal games late.
On Friday night, Simley returned the favor.
Leading 20-14 early in the fourth quarter, the Spartans took over in their own territory after the Packers turned the ball over on downs.
Simley's offense — which usually featured a heavy dose of passes — proceeded to largely keep the ball on the ground, feeding Gavin Nelson and Landon DuVal with one carry after another. DuVal ended the drive with a 9-yard rushing score — his second of the game — to put Simley up two scores with 4 minutes, 41 seconds to play, all-but sealing the Spartans' 26-14 homecoming victory over their South Metro rivals.
"We just ran it down their throat," Simley senior left tackle Justin Faherty said. "It's teamwork. We were the bigger team, and we were the better team. It's a different culture at Simley now. We're not losing to them."
Drives like that, Faherty said, "make me so happy." They aren't frequent for the Spartans. Simley head coach Chris Mensen noted he's a run-first guy, but it can be difficult to avoid the temptation of going to the air when you get behind the sticks.
"I give (my coaches) all the props, because they said, 'Coach, we've been grinding. Keep running,' " Mensen said. "We trust each other, so that's kind of what we did. Our O-line, I've got to give it up to those guys, too. They've had a great last couple games."
Alonzo Dodd got the scoring started Friday with a breakaway 70-yard rushing score to put the Packers (1-3) up 7-0. But that accounted for half of the Packers' scoring production, and the Spartans' defense eventually put the clamps down.
Mensen said that unit has been playing "lights out."
"What they've been doing is trusting the system," he said. "We've got a good game plan week after week. They trust it, they do their jobs and they know that, if they do that, we should be able to have some success."
Simley responded to the early deficit with a pair of its own rushing scores — one by running back Landan DuVal, the other from quarterback Caden Renslow — to take a 14-7 lead into the half. Simley rushed for 126 yards as a team.
It was a balanced night for the Spartans, with receiver Latayvion McCoy also tallying 123 yards receiving.
South St. Paul re-knotted the game at 14-14 midway through the third quarter with a drive that featured nothing but runs — Packers old-school football at its finest — capped by an 8-yard touchdown run from Dodd. Dodd finished with 102 yards rushing and a pair of scores. When South St. Paul got into long-yardage situations, Dodd would split out and serve as the team's top receiving threat.
"He's pretty versatile. He can do a lot of things," Packers coach Manuel Spreigl said. "Really, it's a matter of what he can handle, and he's got a really competitive spirit, and he's one helluva teammate for everybody. I really admire that. He works really hard."
On defense, Dodd tallied an interception late in the first half that looked like it was going to set the Packers up with possession in Simley territory. But he fumbled on the ensuing return, and the Spartans recovered to regain possession. It was those types of mistakes that Spreigl said hampered the Packers all night.
"We had miscues and things that we didn't take care of," Spreigl said. "No disrespect, but we're a more complete football team than they are, but they took care of details."
Another example of that came in the third quarter, with the game tied at 14-14. South St. Paul's defense was set to get off the field and get the ball back to its offense. But a roughing the passer penalty on third-and-long extended Simley's drive. On the next play, Renslow hit McCoy for a 52-yard scoring strike to put the Spartans on top for good.
Spreigl told his team Friday was "rock bottom," but the Packers look forward to a potential return trip to Simley later in the season for a postseason rematch.
