DURHAM — Even without standout quarterback Jonathan Dillon leading the charge for most of the game, Southern Durham found a way.
The Spartans turned to their defense and senior running back Damien Hayes to dominate Hillside 25-0. They clinched a share of the Tobacco Road 6A/7A Conference title, earning their third straight conference championship.
“They always have one mission, ” Southern Durham coach Darius Robinson said. “The one mission is find a way to achieve the goal.”
Dillon, a Duke commit, suffered an injury while punting in the second quarter. A Hillside player ran into him, resulting in a first down for the Spartans’ offense but also the loss of its general. Nonetheless, Hayes, who finished the night with over 100 rushing yards and two touchdowns, immediately picked up the slack by scoring on a 9-yard run to finish that drive.
“Jon, that’s my boy,” Hayes said. “I’ve been knowing him since I was young. Seeing him go down like that, it hurt me. And that just felt like it gave me extra motivation to do what I just did out there.”
Meanwhile, junior Christian Smith also kept the offense afloat by way of six completions and limiting himself to one turnover (an interception by senior Josh Taylor).
“In practice, we push Christian,” Robinson said. “We’ll always tell Christian, “You never know when your number’s going to be called.’ Christian had to get used to our system. Christian had to get used to being part of the personality for the team, and then, he got the trust of everybody. It’s nothing. It’s like he just stepped on the field just like he does in practice, and we didn’t lose a beat.”
Southern Durham’s defense shut out its fifth straight opponent. It held the Hornets to under 100 yards of offense.
“From an emotional standpoint, I want to give credit to our defense,” Robinson said. “Coach Magwood, Coach Yarborough, Coach Cooper, Coach Williams and Coach Montgomery, all those guys. They do a great job with preparing, and one of their mottos is ‘If they can’t score, they can’t win.’”
However, the defenses on both teams came out the gate playing at a high level.
Hillside forced a punt on Southern Durham’s opening drive, and the Spartans stalled the Hornets into a turnover on downs in response.
On Southern Durham’s next possession, Dillon ran for 19 yards to get the Spartans to the 1-yard line. Following a 5-yard penalty that pushed the Spartans back and a run by Hayes to get them back to the 1, the Hornets stood tall for a turnover on downs.
The Spartans found their way back in Hillside territory on the following possession, but the drive ended in a missed 45-yard field goal.
To start the second quarter, Southern Durham’s defense forced and recovered a fumble at the Hillside 23-yard line. Yet, the Spartans’ offense couldn’t get anything going. Another drive ended in a turnover on downs, but they quickly got the ball back in striking distance after senior Ja’Don Lillie blitzed and forced another fumble.
That turnover resulted in a 12-yard rushing touchdown for Hayes.
“The zero up there,” Lillie said. “It’s more of a message that sends to all of the teams that we are going to play first round, second round (and) we’ll go to the state championship. It’s trying to send a message. And I want to see the message that we’re the best defense in North Carolina.”
Southern Durham led 14-0 at the half.
Dillon returned to the game in the second half as a receiver.
Following an interception by senior Jace Harris (the same play on which Hillside quarterback Xavier Stevenson exited the game after a big hit), senior Akshar Barnes ran in a 4-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 20-0.
Early in the fourth quarter, a bad snap went over the head of Hillside junior Michael Smith and out the back of the end zone for a safety. And with just over eight minutes left to play, Southern Durham put the finishing touches on the scoreboard with a 28-yard field goal to make it 25-0.
That was the only make of Southern Durham’s four field goal attempts.
The win tonight, as big as it was for the team’s conference goals and playoff positioning, was an example of the one thing Robinson has noticed about this squad that is different from some of his past teams.
“They won’t let each other down,” Robinson said. “That’s the biggest thing for them.”
Southern Durham improved to 7-2 (4-0 in conference play) and will end the regular season at East Chapel Hill Friday. Hillside fell to 6-3 (3-1 in conference play) and will host Northern Durham in its regular season finale that same night.