St. Pauls gave up the first points on Friday, but they didn't let that get them down. In a tight contest that could have gone either way, they made off with a 27-26 victory over the South View Tigers. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Bulldogs.
St. Pauls' win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Yoshua McBryde, who rushed for 140 yards and one score. Malikah Locklear was another key receiver, picking up 65 receiving yards and a pair of TDs.
St. Pauls didn't let much get past them through the air: they limited South View to a completion percentage of just 42.1%. That dominant aerial defense primarily came from two players: James Calloway and Aubrey Cobbs, who each logged three passes deflected. St. Pauls has been improving in that area: they had allowed a completion percentage of 0.61 earlier this season, but they've only allowed one of 0.61 in their last three games.
When it comes to explaining why South View lost, don't look at Cristian Simmons. Despite the final result, he rushed for 160 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 8.4 yards per carry, and also picked up 36 receiving yards. Simmons is becoming a predictor of the Tigers' success: when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns the team is 3-1 (and 2-3 when he doesn't).
St. Pauls' record now sits at 8-1. As for South View, their loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 5-4.
We've got plenty of inter-conference action coming up soon. St. Pauls will square off against rival Douglas Byrd at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Meanwhile, South View is set to face off against their familiar foe Seventy-First at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. That game will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Simmons and Jayson Franklin.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
