South has the Wright stuff against North

Updated: October 22, 2011 12:37AM

When the playoffs are on the line, it helps to have a game-breaker on your side.

Plainfield South senior Do-It-All Dantrell Wright broke free for four touchdowns Friday night as the Cougars whipped district and Southwest Prairie Conference rival Plainfield North 27-7 in a game both sides absolutely had to have.

With the playoff announcement due Saturday night, both came in 4-4 overall, 3-3 in the SPC and pretty well assured they would qualify with a fifth victory. The combination of Wright running behind South’s offensive line and the Cougars’ stingy defense decided things.

“Our guys really, really wanted to win this game and then take their chances on getting in the playoffs,” South coach Ken Bublitz said. “They prepared hard this week.

“Look, we were facing a very good team, and we felt we needed to play our ‘A’ game all night to come out on top. North has had success offensively all season, and our defense in the first half was lights out.”

The Cougars went ahead 7-0 went Wright broke a 64-yard TD run late in the first quarter. A Clifton Garrett interception set up a 28-yard scoring pass from Austin Howarth (12-of-25, 229 yards) to Wright midway through the second quarter.

Wright (17 carries, 183 yards; 4 catches, 51 receiving yards) broke a 55-yard run to make it 21-0 early in the third quarter and tacked on his fourth touchdown on a 7-yard run late in the third.

“Any time Dantrell gets to that second level, he has a good chance to score,” Bublitz said. “Our offensive line did a good job opening holes for him to get there.”

North, after having little success offensively in the first half, began running the ball well after halftime. Jay Roberts rushed for 177 yards in 27 carries after being limited to 11 yards the first half.

“They outplayed us on both sides of the ball,” Tigers coach Tim Kane said. “We did not move the ball effectively in the first half. In the second half, we played a lot better, a lot more physical.”

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