South Forsyth High School

Chiefs grind past South

Ingleton rushes for 211 yards in Sequoyah win

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South Forsyth jumped out to an early 10-0 lead Friday night, but the advantage couldn’t withstand Sequoyah’s punishing ground attack.

The Eagles were outscored 17-7 in the second half — led by two rushing touchdowns from Sequoyah running back Blake Ingleton — and suffered a 24-17 loss on homecoming night at War Eagle Field.

“We didn’t make the plays that it was going to take to win the game and they made them, so they won,” said South coach Jeff Arnette.

After a 38-yard field goal from Brandon McKee (1-for-2) on their opening drive, the War Eagles forced a three-and-out on defense, pinning Sequoyah’s Jonathan Tamayo deep within his own end zone to punt.

After starting at the South 38-yard line, War Eagles quarterback Jantzen Jeffrey (12 rushes, 21 yards) capped off a seven-play drive with a 5-yard touchdown run that boosted the lead to 10 points.

Jeffrey, despite being stopped at the line of scrimmage, pushed his way for the score with 2:17 remaining in the first quarter.

Following another three-and-out from Sequoyah (2-4 overall, 2-4 Region 7-AAAA) and a punt by South (2-3, 2-3), the Chiefs finally got on the board with 1:05 remaining in the second quarter thanks to a 14-play, 83-yard touchdown drive.

Ingleton (22 rushes, 211 yards, 2 TD) ran off to the left side and followed his blockers eight yards into the end zone, cutting the deficit to 10-7 heading into the half.

Coming out of halftime, the Chiefs struck again with a 63-yard pass play from Lex Lauletta (6-of-10, 101 yards passing) to Sylvester Williams. Lauletta rolled right off of a bootleg and sent the ball sailing over the South secondary, where he found a receiver.

The Eagles’ defense bent but didn’t break, giving up a 32-yard field goal from Tamayo to tie the game.

South had an opportunity to regain the lead with 3:45 remaining in the third quarter, as McKee set up for a 31-yard field goal, but Sequoyah’s Coleman Vandyke blocked the attempt.

Following the block, the Chief’s drove 90 yards with Ingleton touching the ball seven times for 73 yards, including his nine-yard touchdown score with 11:25 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“[Ingleton] ran the ball well. We’ve had trouble tackling all year and they exploited that tonight,” said Arnette. “We didn’t tackle him very well.”

The War Eagles immediately answered, however, with their own touchdown drive. On third-and-12 from the South 35, Jeffrey found Sam Walker (3 receptions, 86 yards), who took the ball all the way to the Sequoyah 16. On third-and-1 at the 7, Isaiah Williams (6 rushes, 20 yards) took the inside hand-off and went untouched on his way to the end zone to tie the game 17-17 after the PAT.

After the teams traded punts, the Chiefs found themselves on their own 31-yard line with 3:27 remaining in the game. Sequoyah once again went to Ingleton, who broke through the line and sprinted down the left sideline, shedding the only nearby South defender for a 69-yard score.

“We [had] somebody right there, we just got to make the play,” said Arnette.

With 3:03 remaining, the Eagles still had a final chance.

Starting the drive at the South 39, Jeffrey connected with Hunter Beeghley (three receptions, 38 yards) for two consecutive completions of 15 yards and 11 yards, respectively.

With second-and-6 on the Chief 31, the Eagles were knocking on the door. But Sequoyah stood strong, forcing an incompletion and sacking Jeffrey before causing him to overthrow a pass down the middle on fourth-and-16.

With two kneels, a two-yard run from Ingleton, and a punt, the Chiefs ran out the remaining 1:29 remaining in the game.

“You’ve got to give it to Sequoyah, they never quit. Got down 10-0, it looked bad, and they held in there and came back and won the game,” said Arnette.

“We just didn’t seem to make a play when we needed it, and they did.”

South travels to Creekview this week.