Southridge Spartans hold off South Dade rally to clinch district title

No tiebreaker this season.

The 2018 District 16-8A title belongs solely to the Southridge Spartans.

The Spartans held off a late South Dade rally attempt to defeat the Bucs 15-13 on Friday night at Southridge Stadium and complete an undefeated run in district play.

As the Southridge offense took its final kneel down to secure the victory, the Spartans sideline erupted in jubilation while the home crowd cheered on in support.

“It’s a blessing,” Southridge associate head coach Sedrick Irvin said. “That’s why you coach. It’s one of your goals.”

Southridge never trailed in the game, first because of a pair of big defensive plays and then later because of a key offensive drive.

The Spartans (8-2, 4-0 district) took the lead on a first-quarter safety. The Southridge defense made it 9-0 with less than five minutes left in the first on a strip sack of South Dade quarterback Demetrius Burns. Southridge defensive lineman Marvin Strong fell on the ball in the end zone for the touchdown.

“My teammates were helping me,” Strong said. “I couldn’t do it without them.”

While the defense did the majority of the work, the ultimate game-sealing score came thanks to running back Courtney Reese, whose 19-yard scamper into the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter put Southridge up 15-7.

“That kid may be 5-7, 5-8 and maybe 160 pounds, but I had the opportunity to coach players like Mark Ingram, Eddie Lacy and Trent Richardson. He has heart just like those guys,” Irvin said. “He’s a guy that I always want on my team. If I can get 10 of those with his heart, I’ll win every day.”

South Dade (7-2, 2-2) made it a game close with three interceptions on defense — two of which came in the red zone — and a pair of stellar offensive drives.

On the first, the Bucs capped a 15-play, 76-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Burns to Clemson commit Frank Ladson to close the first half down 9-7. Burns completed 5 of 6 passes for 61 yards on the drive. On the second, Burns connected with Travis Sanders for a 30-yard touchdown on 4th and 15 to make it 15-13 with 5:21 left to play.

The Bucs forced Southridge to punt on its following drive and began marching down the field.

The Spartans defense bent, but ultimately didn’t break.

A sack from Lionel Long on second down — Southridge’s sixth sack of Burns on the night — pushed South Dade to third and 25 at its 46-yard line. Burns completed his next two passes, but it wasn’t enough to move the chains.

“In a game like this, how my defense had been playing, I would rather have them on the field because they dominated the whole game,” Irvin said. “They played fast. They played tough. They made plays.”

And on Friday, they won Southridge a district championship.

“I shed a couple tears after that one,” Strong said. “It felt good.”