Pointers finish off Blue Devils to wrap up outright OVC title

GALLIPOLIS —  They put a bow on this package.

The South Point Pointers put a bow on the football season as they beat the Gallia Academy Blue Devils 35-14 on Friday to give them the Ohio Valley Conference championship outright.

With the win the Pointers are now 9-1 and qualified for the Division 5 playoffs as they finished fourth in Region 19 to give them a first-round bye.

The Pointers celebrated finishing 6-0 in the OVC by piling up 426 total yards with quarterback Ethan Hunt going 10 of 12 passing for 149 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The Dynamic Duo of Landon “Batman” Vance and Robert “Robin” Napier both ran for more than 100 yards as the Pointers had 277 rushing yards.

Vance ran 19 times for 123 yards and a score with Napier gaining 101 yards on 19 carries and he scored twice on the ground. Napier also caught 3 passes for 19 yards and a TD.

The Blue Devils actually took the lead on a 15-yard pass from Travon Wilson to Easton Wolford. Heath Champlin’s conversion kick made it 7-0 with 8:55 on the first quarter clock.

But the Pointers came back to take the lead on a pair of one-yard scoring runs by Napier at the 4:37 and 2:37 marks of the first quarter. Ezra Young kicked the conversion each time for a 14-7 lead.

South Point went over the top for its next score as Hunt connected with Marcus Hanshaw on a 74-yard touchdown pass and Young’s kick put the lead at 21-7 with 6:29 left in the half.

The Pointers squeezed in another touchdown with only 16 seconds left on the clock as Hunt and Napier clicked on a 9-yard pass. Young’s kick made it 28-7.

Vance had a 21-yard scoring run less than 2 minutes into the second half and the lead was 35-7.

Gallia Academy (3-7, 3-3) capped the scoring on a 22-yard run by Brock Shelton with 7:41 left in the quarter.

South Point  14   14   7   0  =  35

Gallia Academy 7     0   7   0  =  14

First Quarter

GA — Easton Wolford 15 pass from Travon Wilson (Heath Champlin kick), 8:55

SP — Robert Napier 6 run (Ezra Young kick), 4:37

SP — Robert Napier 1 run (Ezra Young kick), 2:37

Second Quarter

SP — Marcus Hanshaw 74 pass from Ethan Hunt (Ezra Young kick), 6:29

SP — Robert Napier 9 pass from Ethan Hunt (Ezra Young kick), 0:16

Third Quarter

SP — Landon Vance 21 run (Ezra Young kick), 10:42

GA — Brock Shelton 22 run (Heath Champlin kick), 7:41

———————

            SP       GA

First downs  15       10

Rushes-yards   40-277 14-73

Passing yards            149  94

Total yards   426 167

Cmp-Att-Int 10-12-0 15-28-1

Fumbles-lost 2-2      2-1

Penalties-yards  9-80    6-50

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING — South Point: Landon Vance 19-123 TD, Robert Napier 19-101 2-TD, Ethan Hunt 2-3; Gallia Academy: Brock Shelton 6-31, Bowen Saunders 3-25, Travon Wilson 3-11, Tyshawn Clendinin 2-6.

PASSING — South Point: Ethan Hunt 10-12-0 149 2-TD; Gallia Academy: Travon Wilson 15-27-1 94 TD, David Champlin 0-1-0.

RECEIVING — South Point: Marcus Hanshaw 1-74 TD, Elyiah Patterson 3-31, Landon Vance 2-24, Robert Napier 3-19 TD, Dom Pegram 1-1; Gallia Academy: Brock Shelton 10-42, Easton Wolford 2-33 TD, Grant Owens 2-14, Casey Blair 1-5.