BY JOE JOHNSON

jjohnson@heraldsun.com; 419-6667

DURHAM — The Southern Spartans, who shared the PAC-6 title for the past three seasons, ensured it was theirs alone this season by finishing undefeated in conference play.

Southern (10-1, 6-0 PAC) capped its regular season with a 42-13 win over winless Northern to claim the PAC-6 title on Friday night at Durham County Stadium.

“It feels great to win it by ourselves,” Southern coach Adrian Jones said. “We’ve worked hard for the last three years.”

And for senior linebacker Telvon Thacker, the win was sweet because he had one over his friends from Hillside.

“We won the conference for the first time undefeated,” said Thacker, who had an interception against the Knights. “Not having to share it with Hillside is the best.”

Southern quarterback Alan Lea threw three touchdown passes and ran for another to lead the Spartans on offense. Lea, who hit 7 different receivers in the game, finished with 226 yards on 13-of-20 passing.

The Spartans, after holding Northern on its first possession, opened the scoring on its first play from scrimmage after being set up by a 29-yard punt return by Derrick Bernard. Desmond Lawrence took the first handoff of the game and scampered around the left side untouched for a 33-yard touchdown run.

After holding Northern again to a three-and-out, the Spartans went right back to business offensively by putting together a 52-yard drive that was capped by a 10-yard touchdown reception by Tony Creecy.

An interception by Khamari Everett deep in Northern’s end set the Spartans up again. This time, Lea finished the 27-yard drive with a 12-yard keeper to make it 21-0 with 2:48 left in the first quarter.

It appeared that the Spartans weren’t going to be stopped all night, even as the first of two touchdowns that were called back because of penalties occurred the next time Southern got the ball. The Spartans still marched to the Northern 1 before the Knights held on fourth down.

The stop gave Northern a boost but not enough to counter with a score.

The Knights worked the ball almost to midfield before having to punt again. Southern took over at its 16 and took five plays to march down the field, but the big play was a 63-yard touchdown connection from Lea to Creecy.

“We spotted a good football team a lot of points,” Northern coach Anthony Sullivan said. “We’re not a team that is going to trade big plays and expect to win.”

But after falling behind 28-0, Northern found a way to get on the scoreboard thanks to a Southern turnover when Lea’s deep sideline pass was intercepted at the Northern 47. The Knights scored on the final play of the half as quarterback Andy Henry hit Nick Warren in the corner of the end zone on a 28-yard scoring play.

“When we punched it in at halftime, there was a relief,” Sullivan said.

The teams played practically a scoreless third quarter except that Northern struck again as time expired in the period. This time, Henry connected with Cortez Edwards on a 36-yard scoring play that found Edwards wide open behind the Southern defense. It was the first time in PAC-6 play that Southern had given up more than one touchdown in a game.

But Southern shrugged off the Northern comeback try with an 8-yard touchdown run by Kwindarius Sapp and a 36-yard scoring pass from Lea to Lawrence.

The Spartans have a week off and will not take the field until Nov. 13 in the first round of the state playoffs. Northern will get its final shot at a win when closes out the schedule at Hillside next week.

Southern 42, Northern 13

Southern 21 7 0 14—42

Northern 0 7 6 0—13

S—Desmond Lawrence 33 run (kick failed)

S—Tony Creecy 10 pass from Alan Lea (Jamal Bullock pass from A.J. Marshall)

S—Lea 12 run (Adelman Martinez kick)

S—Creecy 63 pass from Lee (Martinez kick)

N—Nick Warren 28 pass from Andy Henry (Pierce Hoover kick)

N—Cortez Edwards 36 pass from Henry (kick failed)

S—Kwindarius Sapp 8 run (Martinez kick)

S—Lawrence 36 pass from Lea (Martinez kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Southern, Desmond Lawrence 11-120; Alonzo Hedgepeth 16-91; Alan Lea 4-32; Khamari Everett 2-21; Kwindarius Sapp 1-8; Tony Creecy 1-(minus-5); Jeremy Thompson 1-2. Northern, Jeremy Melvin 2-1; Andy Henry 7-42; Xavier Taylor 15-36; Cortez Edwards 1-8; Justin Shaw 1-4; Jerron Kirkland 1-0.

Passing—Southern, Lea 13-20-226-1; Quentin Lloyd 1-1-17-0. Northern, Henry16-26-1-203; Edwards 0-1-1-0.

Receiving—Southern, Antonio Fogg 3-45; Lawrence 2-57; Hedgepeth 1-13;Everett 2-21; A.J. Marshall 1-13; Creecy 4-88; Sapp 1-6. Northern, Edwards 5-94; Nick Warren 3-40; Chris Carver 3-22; DeAngelo Hopkins 2-19; Taylor 2-12; Anthony Burton 1-16.

Records—Northern 0-10, 0-5 PAC-6. Southern 10-1, 6-0.