Vikings roll to big victory

Credit: Photo by Regan Hill

North Iredell's Jordan Spencer, left, stops South Iredell's Corey Powell in his tracks during the first game of the season last night.

By: Brian Meadows | Statesville Record & Landmark
Published: August 21, 2010

TROUTMAN --

The Scott Miller coaching era at South Iredell began with a bang Friday night thanks in large part to the shotgun.

Operating under Miller’s new spread offense, the Vikings scored four first-half touchdowns through the air, building an insurmountable lead and never looking back en route to a 31-0 win over North Iredell in the teams’ season opener.

Quarterback Cory Powell and receiver Tyler Smith were dialed in. The two hooked up for three passing scores before the break, and Powell also found Quataye Smyre for another touchdown in the opening 24 minutes.

“It’s fun,” Powell said of lining up in the shotgun, often times with an empty backfield. “You open up a lot of things out there. It’s almost like playing backyard football.”

Powell finished 11 of 18 passing for 198 yards, including the four TD tosses.

Smith hauled in three TD passes totaling 58 yards.

“We just always seem to be in sync,” Powell said.

North Iredell turned the ball over three times in the first half. Raiders punter Troy Mitchell also bobbled a snap and was sacked 16 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Benefiting from the short fields, the Vikings capitalized on two of those miscues to post 13 points.

After Mitchell’s mishap on the Raiders’ second possession, Powell connected with Smith for a 26-yard TD pass.

It was 13-0 at the end of the first quarter. Smith snared a 9-yard TD pass from Powell with 45 seconds left in the period following North Iredell’s second lost fumble.

Smyre scored on a 67-yard pass play early in the second quarter, and Smith hauled in a 23-yard TD pass just before the intermission to cap a 28-point first-half.

South Iredell put the game away with a 15-play, 70-yard drive that ate up 10 minutes, 53 seconds to begin the third quarter. It culminated with a Jake Ferrar 27-yard field goal.

It was the fifth straight year the Raiders lost their season opener. They were shut out 19-0 by South Iredell last year.

North Iredell managed only 132 total yards of offense Friday.

“We had one blown coverage, but other than that, I thought the defense played great,” Miller said.