Southside coach Jess Curtis said the game plan against Lafayette High on Friday was simply to play the Sharks’ style of football.
Behind a physical offensive line and hard running by their backfield, that’s exactly what the Sharks did en route to beating the Mighty Lions 35-20.
“We wanted to play Southside football,” Curtis said. “To play a physical brand of football. Control the tempo of the game and be physical. Be the more physical team.”
Offensively, the Sharks were outstanding.
Led by running backs Justin Williams and Kollen Francois, the Sharks ran the ball 52 times for 411 yards.
“I can say something about all of those guys. Kollen’s lightning,” Curtis said. “We have thunder and lightning back there. I’ve got two guys who can run through you, and Kollen (can run by you). We’re proud of him. That’s kind of our offense. Something’s going to be there. They are going to give us something, and we take what they give us.”
Williams finished with a game-high 214 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries, while Francois rushed for 82 yards and three touchdowns on eight carries.
“That’s what he is (a tone-setter),” Curtis said of Williams. “We kind of got away from that early in the year. Here at Southside, we call them dirty yards. You may have to get a 3-yard gain and that kind of sets our offense up. We ride Justin. Justin is always going to set the tone for this offense.”
Francois gave the Sharks an early 7-0 lead with a 12-yard touchdown run that capped a 10-play, 58-yard opening drive with 7:28 remaining in the first quarter.
After the Lions responded on the first play of the ensuing possession — a 62-yard touchdown pass from Richmond Saunier to Brendan Shullaw — to tie the game at 7-7, the Sharks saw Williams take the second play of their next possession 54 yards for a touchdown for a 14-7 lead with 6:25 remaining in the first quarter. Williams rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown on 17 first-half carries.
In the second quarter, the Lions once again tied the game 14-14 with a 12-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Jaevion Allen with 11:10 left in the first half.
Midway through the second quarter, the Sharks regained the lead for good, as Francois scored on a 3-yard touchdown run to give Southside a 21-14 lead with 5:02 left until halftime.
Southside (4-3) extended its lead to 28-14 with 9:01 remaining in the third quarter on Francois’ third touchdown — a 31-yard run.
Lafayette High (4-3) cut the deficit to 28-20 with 8:30 remaining in the game on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Saunier to Shullaw, but that’s as close as the Lions would get.
Williams closed out the game with a 27-yard touchdown run with less than three minutes remaining to give the Sharks a commanding 35-20 lead.
“It’s a big win. … This team has grown a lot,” Curtis said. “(We’re) real talented. A lot of people have counted us out. We like that. Kids have kind of reset. … When we do what we do here at Southside, we are hard to beat.”
The Lions’ star running back Jaden Celestine, who finished with 13 yards on three carries, didn’t return to the game after a second-quarter carry with nine minutes remaining.
The Lions were led offensively by Saunier, who completed 10 of 19 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 42 yards on six carries. He also caught a pass on a trick play that fell short of the end zone for 3 yards.
Saunier’s favorite target on the night was Shullaw, who caught six passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns.
“We’ve grown on that side of the ball,” Curtis said of the Sharks’ defense, which held the Lions to 198 yards passing and 99 yards rushing on 24 carries. “We got talent. We’ve had some mess-ups and not doing what we’ve been coached to do. That side of the ball has really grown, and that’s the side that has grown throughout the season. We’re excited about what that means for us here in the future.”
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