South improves to 4-0 with rout

South coach Matt Duffy’s memo for his team this season is pressure and winning.

His Rebels team did both Sept. 10, pressuring Madison’s offense all night and walking away with a 41-14 win in its Western Reserve Conference opener to improve to 4-0.

“We knew we had a great group of seniors and juniors,” Duffy said. “We started slow, and Madison controlled the ball in the first quarter, but the big plays started for us, and the defense settled in to do some good things. But we have to continue to get better.”

The Rebels struck first in the mid-first quarter on Tyrone Singleton’s touchdown run from a yard out. The offensive pace continued for South in the first half.

Singleton scored from five yards out to start the second quarter.

The junior running back finished with 59 yards on 10 carries with three touchdowns. Quinlan completed nine of his 10 passes for 205 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Figler.

“After the first half, we started to pick up the pace and started to run (Madison) off the ball,” Singleton said. “We did a nice job finding open holes and credit to our front five for the effort they put in.”

The offense compiled 466 yards.

The Rebels’ defense gave up 207 yards, with a pair of touchdowns in the second half.

“We didn’t have a great week of practice this week,” Quinlan said.“The best part is we made up for it, but we have our rivalry coming up, and we got to work extra hard. I’m looking for the same energy next week that we bring every game, and we’ll be ready.”

South will face North, and Madison will host Riverside in Week 5.