Sports
Sura, South St. Paul Too Much For Simley
South St. Paul star rushes for 223 and three touchdowns as the third-ranked Packers top Simley 24-0 during the Spartans' Homecoming game.
Senior running back Sam Sura rushed for 223 yards and three touchdowns as the third-ranked South St. Paul Packers spoiled Simley High’s homecoming, winning 24-0 Friday.
Playing before a standing-room only crowd, Simley played the Packers tough, but gradually got worn down in the second half.
A murderer's row of Class 4A teams behind them—No. 2 St. Thomas Academy, then third-ranked Mahtomedi and current No. 3 South St. Paul— Simley head coach Rex King said he told the Spartans they had nothing to feel bad about after their battle against the Packers.
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"There's nothing to hang their head on," said King. "How many 4A teams are there? None of them have played our schedule. Not a single one. That's three of the first five games playing top three opponents in our state.
"St. Thomas Academy we're three steps out of a 14-7 ball game," said King. "South St. Paul, a few little undisciplined mistakes where we don't squeeze. we don't wrap up. We're right there. There's no way, you can't get me to say any team is better than us. They've just been in their system and they've been together a little longer."
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After a scoreless first quarter, Sura scored on a 49-yard run to put the Packers up 7-0 with 9:43 to play in the first half. South St. Paul made it a 10-0 game just before the half on a 21-yard field goal by Kevin Ward.
The Packers went up 17-0 by taking the first possession of the second half and going in for a touchdown. Sura broke off a 40-yard run to the Simley 25-yard-line to key the drive.
Simley responded by marching all the way to the South St. Paul two-yard-line. But with first-and-goal at the two, the Spartans couldn’t get into the end zone on four tries.
South St. Paul has been killing teams this season, averaging 38 points a game, while posting four shutouts.
Simley fell to 1-4 on the season and in the Classic Suburban Conference.
South St. Paul improved to 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the conference.
Simley plays at Hill-Murray (3-1, 4-1) Friday in a game starting at 7 p.m.
