Photos: Bloomington South hangs on against Martinsville 38–27

On Friday night, Bloomington South improved its record to 2–0 with a 38–27 home win against Martinsville. Martinsville came out strong, starting the game with a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. And the Artesians did not fold, even when it appeared the efforts of Bloomington South running backs Braylen Townsend and Shaun Cooper had the game wrapped up. It took a late-game interception to stop a Martinsville drive to seal the victory. Here’s scoring summary, complemented by the photos of Dave Quick.

First Half

Martinsville touchdown (12:00 in first quarter) Grady Gardner takes the opening kickoff from Bloomington South 97 yards for a touchdown. Result: Bloomington South 0, Martinsville 7.

Bloomington South touchdown (7:30 left in 1st quarter) Braylon Townsend punches the ball into the endzone from a yard out. The drive started at the 40-yard line with Townsend carrying the load. A neutral zone infraction gave South a first down at the 1-yard line. Result: Bloomington South 7, Martinsville 7.

Bloomington South touchdown (11:50 left in 2nd quarter) Braylon Townsend runs the ball about 10 yards into the end zone. The play was set up by a long pass play from quarterback Duncan Combs to Jonathon Winstead. Result: Bloomington South 14, Martinsville 7.

Bloomington South touchdown (8:15 left in 2nd quarter) Shaun Cooper runs the ball 80 yards into the end zone. K Bloomington South took over deep in their own territory after a Martinsville punt. Cooper got the handoff and broke free up the middle the long run. Result: Bloomington South 21, Martinsville 7.

Second Half

Bloomington South field goal (7:53 left in 3rd quarter) Sam Stolberg kicks a field goal for the Panthers. The kick capped a strong drive led by running back Braylon Townsend, which included a face mask penalty on Martinsville. The drive stalled after a false start and an incomplete pass to the end zone. Result: Bloomington South 24, Martinsville 7.

Martinsville touchdown (1:41 left in 3rd quarter) Quarterback Chase Davis completes a 52-yard touchdown to Landon Cazee. A penalty on Bloomington South gave Martinsville a fresh set of downs. Davis, who had struggled earlier, found Casey deep for the score. Result: Bloomington South 24, Martinsville 14

Bloomington South touchdown (10:31 left in 4th quarter) Braylon Townsend runs 6 yards into the end zone. Townsend broke a 21-yard run to start the drive, and a big pass from Duncan Combs to Jonathan Winstead set up first and goal. Townsend finished the drive with his third rushing TD of the night. Result: Bloomington South 31, Martinsville 14

Martinsville touchdown (8:15 left in 4th quarter) Chase Davis completes a short pass to Landen Pottorff. Grady Gardner and Lucas Dewey had key runs, and a play-action pass to Gardner set up the Artesians in scoring position. A false start penalty pushed them back, but Davis found Pottorff for the score. Result: Bloomington South 31, Martinsville 21

Bloomington South touchdown (5:02 left in 4th quarter) Shaun Cooper runs up the middle into the end zone. Cooper carried the load on this drive, moving the chains more than once with tough runs. It was Cooper’s second TD of the night. Result: Bloomington South 38, Martinsville 21

Martinsville touchdown (2:30 left in 4th quarter) Quarterback Chase Davis keeps the ball on a 1-yard rush into the end zone. Davis completed a key pass to Landon Casey to get inside the 10-yard line, and Dewey and Casey had short runs to set up the goal line situation. After being stopped on third down, Davis kept it himself for the score. Result: Bloomington South 38, Martinsville 27 (failed two-point conversion)

Nullified: Bloomington South interception return (1:00 left in 4th quarter) Charlie Morris intercepts a ball and returns it 70 yards for a touchdown, but it’s nullified by penalty. Martinsville recovered an onside kick and was driving, but Davis was intercepted by Morris, who returned it for a would-be touchdown. Result: No change to score.