Report by Chris Vines
Football is a game of inches and the Southerners came up a few inches short on the games final play Friday night at Stewart Field falling to the Central Arkansas Christian (CAC) Mustangs 21-14.
It was a defensive affair all night as the Southerners played ball control behind a powerful line and the great running of Senior Brycen Sutton.
Sophomore Pierce Duncan put the Southerners on the board first with a 19-yard touchdown run with 34 seconds left to play in the opening drive as Southside capped off a 94-yard drive.
Sutton finished an 86 yard drive with a two-yard scamper and the Southerners were up 14-0.
The Mustangs took 40 seconds to drive the field and cut the lead in half 14-7 at halftime. CAC scored with 8:58 to play in the final quarter to tie the game at 14.
A 57-yard run late in the fourth quarter by Sutton was called back on a holding penalty and the Southerners were forced to punt.
CAC drove the length of the field and put the ball in the endzone with 1:22 left on the clock.
Southside returned the kickoff to the 50-yard line and faced third down from the seven with only five seconds.
Sutton came up just short of the end zone as time expired. The Mustangs move to 7-0 on the season and the Southerners fall to 2-5.
Brycen Sutton had 23 carries for 121 yards and one touchdown. Pierce Duncan had six carries for 84 yards.
The Southerners will play Heber Springs at Stewart Field next Friday.
