Alexander Central High held serve.
After surrendering an early field goal to South Caldwell, the Cougars scored 29 unanswered points and defeated the Spartans 29-3 Friday night in a Northwestern 3A-4A game that kept Alexander Central undefeated.
The victory sets up a home game on Friday night against unbeaten Hibriten for the league title.
South Caldwell lost its seventh straight game since an 0-3 start.
The story of the night for Alexander Central was its passing game. The Cougars came in averaging 79.1 yards per game passing but they had 135 yards in the first half and threw for 262.
"Defensively, I felt like we controlled the line of scrimmage and set us up to do some things." said Cougars head coach Tom Harper. "Offensively, we went out of character and threw the football.
"We did some things tonight we don't usually do and we executed. It gives us another facet of the game."
South Caldwell got off the ground quickly as Kevin Jones returned the opening kickoff 73 yards to the Cougars' 15. But the Spartans gained just two yards on the drive and settled for a 30-yard field goal by Sam Grubbs.
Alexander Central suffered a scare on its first drive as quarterback Kyle Kinnaird came out with a sprained ankle on his second carry of the night.
Backup quarterback Cody Bowers came into the game and directed the Cougars down to the Spartans' 22. Kicker Matt Brown then slipped on a 39-yard field goal attempt that fell short.
Kinnaird returned later in the first quarter and began throwing the ball. After Logan Chapman ran a fake punt 14 yards for a first down, Kinnaird hit Gus Brown on a fly pattern down the ride sideline for a 49-yard TD. The extra point was wide right, leaving the Cougars ahead 6-3.
On the next possession, Alexander Central took advantage of a fumble by Spartans quarterback Caleb Suddreth at the South Caldwell 41. The Cougars took six plays to score as Kinnaird completed the drive with a 9-yard run on a keeper up the middle for a 12-3 lead after the two-point conversion failed.
Alexander Central's passing also led to a field goal to open the second half. Kinnaird hit Smith, in the right flat, then cut across the field for a 51-yard completion to set up a 40-yard field goal by Brown.
Smith finished with seven catches for 151 yards.
Kinnaird eventually left the game midway through the third quarter with Bowers returning and leading Alexander Central to two fourth-quarter scores.
Bowers hit Logan Thomas on a quick slant across the middle for a 42-yard scoring strike. After an interception of Suddreth by Zach Latham on the next drive, Bowers rushed for 11 yards before Kyle Bradshaw ran 23 yards up the middle for the final TD.
"Bowers is the kind of guy that is unselfish," said Harper. "He takes on that responsibility.
"He knows what he needs to do and he did it."
Alexander Central's defense limited South Caldwell to 137 yards and the Cougars, 4-7 last season, reached double-digit wins for the first time since 1983.
"It started with the coaches," Harper said of the turnaround. "I made some changes in moving some of the coaches around, and I went from the defense to the offense to give us something fresh.
"The players worked hard in the weight room and dedicated themselves to the team.
" Once they won a couple of games they began to get confidence and get on a roll and obviously it's taken off."
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