By JOE JOHNSON

jjohnson@heraldsun.com; 419-6667

DURHAM — Desmond Lawrence rushed for 176 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead Southern by Middle Creek 28-21 on a rainy Friday night.

Lawrence scored on runs of 50 and 19 yards as the Spartans (2-0) opened their season with a pair of wins for the first time in three seasons.

“Desmond showed us something tonight,” Southern coach Adrian Jones said. “ He ran hard tonight. His speed was hard to stop,”

Southern jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter as Sherman Ragland caught a swing pass and turned it into a 78-yard scoring play. Less than a minute later, the Spartans scored again after recovering a Middle Creek fumble on the ensuing kickoff.

The Spartans used a little trickery on their first play from scrimmage when quarterback Alan Lea threw a lateral in the right flat to wide receiver A.J. Marshall. Middle Creek’s defense pursued Marshall, who found a wide open Kwindarius Sapp for a 37-yard touchdown pass.

Southern almost went up by three scores after forcing Middle Creek (1-1) to punt. The Spartans had what would have been a 42-yard run by Alonzo Hedgepeth called back because of a holding penalty. The Spartans still moved the ball down to the 10 but failed to score, giving the ball back on downs.

Middle Creek then put together a 10-play, 90-yard drive to get on the scoreboard. Quarterback Garrett Leatham hit Dexter Montague for a 6-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-7.

But Southern came right back with its own scoring drive by starting at their own 21.

An a second-and-10 from midfield, Lawrence pulled a great escape.

He took the ball to the right side and appeared to be hemmed in by the sideline and a handful of Middle Creek defenders. Somehow he juked his way out of their grasp and cut back across the field, sprinting to the end zone to make it 21-7.

“I just had some good blocking,” Lawrence said. “ It was wet and slippery and that helped me break a lot of tackles.”

Leatham, who finished 20 of 31 for 249 yards, brought Middle Creek back on their its possession before hitting Montague again for a 3-yard scoring strike with less than four minutes to play in the half. And then, with 4:25 left in the third quarter, he led another scoring drive that ended with a keeper from the 5 to tie the score at 21.

After Southern was unable to move the ball and was forced to punt, Middle Creek’s offense got clicking. They pushed the ball to the Southern 27 but could get no closer before failing on a fourth down.

Southern took over and was able to put together a nine-play, 73-yard go-ahead drive. The Spartans chipped their way down field on the running of Lawrence and Hedgepeth and a pair of short completions by Lea. With the ball at the Middle Creek 41, Hedgepeth broke free on a 22-yard ramble to the Mustangs’ 19. Lawrence finished the drive with a 19-yard scamper while eluding numerous Middle Creek would-be tacklers.

The score came with 7:15 to play, and it left Middle Creek plenty of time to move the ball and try for the tie.

The Mustangs started on their 30, and on the first play Leatham hit Devonte Knox for a 32-yard gain. Two plays later, on third-and-6 from the Spartan 34, Leatham hit Jon Moore for an 11-yard gain and a first down. But on the next play, Leatham fumbled the snap and was tackled for a 3-yard loss. An incomplete pass left Middle Creek facing third-and-13, and Leatham came through with an 11-yard gain down to the Southern 15. But the Spartans held on fourth down.

Southern had a touch over five minutes left to kill on the clock, but a couple of short runs followed by a pair of penalties pushed the Spartans back to their own 6 where they were forced to punt.

Jones said the number of penalties his team took, especially at this crucial point in the game, was not acceptable.

“We took too many penalties at the wrong time,” Jones said.

So after punting, the Spartans had to rely on their defense once again.

Middle Creek got the ball at the Southern 42 with 2:33 left. Leatham threw a pair of incompletions and running back Stephen Sladek was stuffed for no gain on third down by Ragland. He came up big again on fourth down when he sacked Leatham and forced a fumble that was recovered by the Spartans.

“I was on adrenaline and it just went into slow motion,” Ragland said.

Jones said he was happy for the most part with his team’s victory.

“Something good is going to happen when you keep playing,” Jones said. “Every game isn’t going to be a blowout.”