Led by defense and ground game, Carolina Forest tops St. James

Carolina Forest coach Marc Morris has a simple formula for winning football games.

“One of the things you have to do in high school football is stop the run and run the football,” the second-year Panthers coach said.

On Friday night, Carolina Forest did just that in a 28-10 victory over visiting St. James.

The Panthers rolled up 333 yards on the ground led by Dyverse Simmons and limited the Sharks to 79 rushing yards. Simmons, the area’s leading rusher, did not play in the first quarter for undisclosed reasons, but it didn’t hinder his output. The junior running back carried 21 times for 206 yards and a game-clinching 58-yard scoring run late in the fourth quarter.

But more impressive may have been the Panthers’ defense. St. James managed just 163 yards of offense before a final drive featuring mostly backups tacked on 39 rushing yards

“Tonight isn’t about our offense,” Morris said. “Tonight is about our defense giving up three points and holding them down and playing sound defense all night. [The defense was] outstanding.”

The only offense St. James could muster was a booming 46-yard field goal by senior place-kicker Charles Ouverson that gave the Sharks a short-lived 3-0 lead early in the second quarter. St. James’ touchdown came when senior Alijah Pursley scooped up a Panthers fumble and returned it 27 yards midway through the third quarter.

It was one of three lost fumbles on the night for Carolina Forest. The Panthers fumbled away a prime scoring chance in the first quarter after Anthony McAfee reeled off a 63-yard run to the Sharks’ 3. Following Pursley’s return that cut St. James’ deficit to 14-10, Carolina Forest fumbled on its next possession to hand the ball to the Sharks at the Panthers’ 30. But the Carolina Forest defense forced a field goal attempt and heavy pressure on the kick forced a miss by Ouverson.

“Something bad is going to happen to you and how you react is what life is all about,” Morris said. “… We did fumble twice there, but it went back to our defense. We got a big stop when the kid missed the field goal, and that was a huge play in the game.”

Carolina Forest got a 4-yard run by quarterback Matt Beale in the second quarter and a 1-yard run by Beale in the third to take the 14-3 lead. After limiting the damage of the back-to-back fumbles, the Panthers pulled away in the fourth. Beale connected with Jason Craft on a 40-yard scoring pass and Simmons clinched it with his scoring run.

St. James coach Robby Brown lamented several missed opportunities by his offense.

“Anytime you get in the red zone, you have to get points out of it, and we didn’t for a number of reasons,” Brown said. “We had some drops early, busted protection, and poor choices by me. … It hurts, but we got to get points. … I thought the defense did enough, but we didn’t do enough on offense.”

St. James played most of the game without one its top linemen and one part of its two-back tandem has been hampered by an ankle injury. It combined for a tough night for the Sharks’ offense.

“We had to move people around, and we busted (some assignments) when we did that,” Brown said. “And then we are down to one tailback. … But these (early season) games don’t mean anything really. We are getting ready for the region, and the region hasn’t even started. You are trying to be as good as you can come the first region game. We are getting better each week, no doubt. We are 1-2 … but we still have a chance to have a winning season and the playoffs. Everything is still there as far as our goals.”

Morris has the same outlook for his squad.

“We just want to keep having good weeks of practice,” the Carolina Forest coach said. “ … These are all practice games until you get to region games anyway. … The goal is to win the state playoffs and win a state championship. The only way to get there is make the playoffs. All you are doing now is building on your team and trying to make it better each week so when region play does get here you are ready to go.”

Carolina Forest (2-1) hosts North Myrtle Beach next Friday night while St. James (1-2) has a bye before traveling to Hannah-Pamplico on Sept. 18.

This story was originally published September 5, 2015 at 12:55 AM with the headline "Led by defense and ground game, Carolina Forest tops St. James."