South shreds Baker 35-7
Despite being without their starting running back, the South Fort Myers Wolfpack ran over the Ida Baker Bulldogs 35-7 Friday night behind a physical offensive line and strong rushing by three runningbacks, who accumulated a total of 424 yards on the ground.
Junior E’Quan Dorris was absent from the lineup due to an injury, but the three-headed monster of sophomore Fa’Najae Gotay, senior Ke’Shon Murray and sophomore Jeshaun Jones filled in just fine.
A 28-point second quarter was highlighted by seven runs of 14 yards or more by the Wolfpack, while piling on 337 yards on 30 carries (11.2 per carry) in the first half alone to build a 35-0 halftime lead.
Gotay alone had a sky-high yards per rush at 14.3, while punishing the Bulldogs defenders for 172 yards on 12 carries, and adding touchdown runs of 2 and 27 yards in the second quarter.
Gotay had eight explosive runs of 10 yards or more, including gains of 44, 21 and 27 yards. The majority of those yards were after contact, as he had numerous runs of two or more broken tackles to extend the play.
If Gotay was Thunder, his teammate Murray was Lightning, adding 120 yards on seven carries in the first half. The more diminutive Murray, who is 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds, was able to find the holes and scoot his way for runs of 65 and 39 yards to set up two separate scoring drives.
With Dorris absent, it was a chance for South coach Anthony Dixon to see what he had in the backup stable. Needless to say, he liked what he saw.
“The biggest thing is, E’Quan is our man,” Dixon said. “We wanted our guys to rotate, because they all play defense and we still wanted to be a physical football team. I was satisfied.”
With the Wolfpack (5-1) offense controlling the ball and ending drives in Baker’s end zone, the Bulldogs couldn’t move the chains. Baker had two first downs the entire first half, both coming on Wolfpack penalties.
They accumulated only 18 total rushing yards on 17 carries, while senior quarterback Jordan Diggs had 20 yards passing, after going 3-for-7 and one interception.
With the second half in running time, the Bulldogs snapped just four plays in the third quarter and none in the fourth. Their score came on a 70-yard fumble return for six points by senior safety Brian Conley.
The deepest penetration the Bulldogs got into Wolfpack territory was to the 40-yard line, before succumbing to a turnover on downs late in the second quarter.
Baker (3-4) had won its last two, and will be at Port Charlotte (3-3) Friday.