Only a few big plays separated Bandys and South Iredell in the first 15 minutes of Friday's game. But as the evening wore on, the Trojans took control.
Bandys capitalized on some Vikings miscues and rode a balanced offense to a 30-0 shutout victory at Viking Valley to remain the only unbeaten team in Catawba Valley Athletic Conference play.
Trenton Millsaps led the Trojans (8-1 overall, 5-0 CVAC) with 125 rushing yards, 112 of which came in the first half, and quarterback Kyle Houser was 7-for-7 in the second half to give Bandys some balance.
"They are such a balanced team," South coach Ed Masterton said. "You just have to pick your poison with them."
The Vikings were committed to stopping the pass early. It worked, but Bandys still led 23-0 at intermission.
South Iredell had a key fumble early in the first quarter. Bandys scored on a fourth-and-4 from the 9-yard line and on the next possession, the Trojans blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety.
Even when something good happened for South (4-5, 3-2), it was quickly nullified.
Trailing 16-0, the Vikings found some life when linebacker Cody Patterson intercepted a screen pass and rumbled 25 yards to the Bandys 19.
South was eventually whistled for a 15-yard penalty and forced to try a long field goal, which Bandys blocked.
"We knew we had to play well against Bandys," Masterton said.
"We had a few miscues in the second quarter, and those snowballed on us a little bit," he said.
The final straw came just at halftime. With two seconds before halftime and Bandys on the 26-yard line, Trojans receiver Seth Cranfill somehow got 3 yards behind the Vikings secondary and hauled in a touchdown pass with no time on the clock.
It was Houser's first of two touchdown passes, and he finished 8-for-13 with 106 yards.
"Early on in the game, we wanted to establish the run because we had the numbers advantage in the box," Bandys coach Randy Lowman said. "We call our plays from the sideline and run no-huddle, so we're able to get a look at the defense. And coming in, we knew they had some good athletes in the secondary."
Quincy Davenport led South Iredell with 69 rushing yards on 15 carries. He was effective up the middle, but the speedy Vikings had trouble getting to the outside.
Seeing extensive action in the backfield for the first time this year, Bryan Stewart – known more for his play at linebacker – carried the ball six times for 43 yards.
"South is good, and they played hard early. They played hard the whole game," Lowman said. "It took us a bit to figure out where we thought we had some advantages."
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