By FRANCIS FEDOR
The Stingrays defeated district rival Newsome 17-14 at home in the Tank on Friday, Sept. 13, to win back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Sumner built upon the momentum of the win over Gaither to gut out a tight victory against the Wolves on a late field goal by freshman kicker Ryan Lydon. Lydon came up clutch after the Wolves scored with under two minutes left in the game. The game opened with the Stingrays, who won the coin toss, in a rare turn of events taking the ball on offense to start the game.
Sumner cheer readies for the Stingrays to take the field for the game vs. the Newsome Wolves.
Stingray Ronald Wilson Jr. slips a Wolves’ tackler to score the first touchdown of the night.
It has become commonplace for teams winning the toss to defer to the second half and put the defense on the field first. Sumner cashed in on that decision, taking the ball the length of the field to score the game’s first touchdown. Ronald Wilson Jr. carried the ball four yards into the end zone. The Wolves suffered from poor field position early in the game and struggled to maintain any drives. The ’Rays defense, a group led by George Selvie as the defensive coordinator before becoming head coach, stymied the Newsome offense in the first half. Head Coach Selvie was known for tough defenses as the coordinator. One defensive star, senior Jeremiah Jones, is a two-way player for the 2024 Sumner squad and had a key interception to end one of Newsome’s first-half drives. Another ended where it appeared Newsome thought it had a first-down by penalty, but the result of the penalty was not a first down. Sumner found the endzone again on a 30-yard connection between Antonio Balaguer and Jonathan Rollins to take a 14-0 lead to the locker room.
Sumner defender pulls down Noah Guenther, the Wolves QB, disrupting the pass attempt.
Defense controlled the third quarter, keeping both teams offenses off the scoreboard. Newsome gathered momentum at the end of the third and cracked the scoreboard in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Both teams went back and forth for the majority of the fourth quarter. The Wolves sustained a late drive to tie the game with just under two minutes left. The Wolves came into the game with a 2-1 record, having defeated one of Sumner’s South Shore rivals, East Bay, in overtime, just a week prior. It was looking like Newsome was going to play its second overtime game in a row. However, the Stingrays weren’t about to let this game get away. Special teams and the offense set up a field goal opportunity, and Lydon drilled the kick to take the lead. The Wolves had one last chance, but Jayjay Conyers picked off the Newsome QB to end the threat and seal the exhilarating win. Sophomore QB Antonio Balaguer completed the game with 146 yards, completing 10 of his 17 attempts.
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Sumner Taesean Robinson and a Newsome defender joust for position on an incoming pass.
Strawberry Crest (4-0) and Sumner now sit tied with one win at the top of the district standings. Sumner returns to the road to visit Plant on Friday, Sept. 20, and remains on the road to visit Plant City the following week. The tough tests continue for Sumner HS, but it passed its most recent test against a district rival to even its record at 2-2 and now has confidence to take on the road and build on the team’s success.
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