Canes Stifle Darlington 24-0

The play won’t appear on the stat sheet, but may be the best example of how imposed its will Friday night on a Darlington team that appeared to be firing on all cylinders.

On third and long trailing 10-0 late into the second quarter, Tigers running back Cedric Spivey took a handoff and appeared to be headed for a first down. One yard short, though, the running back pulled up to avoid a purple-clad missile in the form of Cartersville safety Hayes Linn.

Darlington punted on the next play and Cartersville ended the first half with the ball, but the theme repeated itself throughout the night. Just when it seemed the Tigers and highly-regarded quarterback Brad Butler had a chance to get on track a Hurricane big play would shut the door. The result was a Darlington offense that had shelled opposing defenses for 77 points its first two games being held scoreless with only 165 yards in a 24-0 Cartersville win.

“They’ve got a lot of good players on offense, but our whole deal [after last week’s 12-0 loss to Pepperell] was to not let our opening game define us. What’s going to define us is how we respond this week, so I’m awfully proud of how our kids responded tonight and how our coaches put them in a place to be successful,” said Cartersville head coach Frank Barden.

The Hurricane offense set a grind-it-out tone early, opening the game with seven rushes before a 29-yard pass from quarterback Tyler Will to Case Dittmer down to the Darlington 11. Three plays later a 24-yard field goal by Preston Slemp—whose one-game moonlighting as a punter made a big impact—put the Hurricanes on top, 3-0.

Filling in for Collin Barber, a University of Georgia signee serving a one-game suspension, Slemp averaged 39 yards a punt on four kicks, including one 50-yarder and another for 45 yards. His average was hurt by a 20-yard pooch punt that put Darlington at its own 8-yard line.

Darlington’s best scoring chance came early in the second quarter following Slemp’s 50-yarder, setting up the Tigers at their own 31. A 26-yard scamper by Spivey took Darlington to the Cartersville 29 before Butler moved his team to a second-and-goal at the 1-yard line. On third down wideout Cameron Gibson came down with the ball on a fade pass to the right side but out of bounds. The subsequent field goal attempt went wide left.

Cartersville responded with six rushes to their own 40 before freshman Kalin Heath took the ball off right tackle, danced around several defenders, then cut back across the field for a 60-yard footrace to the end zone. Slemp’s kick brought Cartersville’s lead to 10-0 with under six minutes left in the first half.

The Hurricanes defense sent a message on Darlington’s first drive of the second half. A run losing four yards and motion penalty set up a second-and-19 deep in their own territory. Cartersville linebacker Alex Barnes added on with his first of two sacks against Butler, knocking the Tigers back 10 yards more.

“Alex did very well tonight. He had a great week of practice and made some big plays for us,” said Cartersville defensive coordinator Rusty Grimmett of the sophomore. “Everyone did a great job. We stepped up and played hard.”

In the Hurricanes only drive of the third quarter, Cartersville responded with a 65-yard drive that took less than two minutes off the clock, culminating with Will’s 15-yard touchdown pass to sophomore T.L. Ford and a commanding 17-0 lead after Slemp’s kick.

The Purple Hurricanes finished their scoring following Linn’s interception with less than four minutes remaining. A short drive was completed with Will’s 1-yard keeper.

Cartersville (1-1) plays at Lafayette next week. Darlington (2-1) is off next week.