Ninety Six turns the tables

9/8/2012 1:52:00 AM Ninety Six turns the tables Wildcats get first win of season after Ware Shoals starts strong

By FRANK BUMB WARE SHOALS - Things finally looked up for Ware Shoals High School's football team. After taking a go-ahead, four-point lead against visiting Ninety Six, Hornet Shamar Rice leapt in front of a Hunter Watson pass for an interception. Three plays later, the Hornets' explosive running back, Jaquan Hicks, was stood up at the tail-end of a 13-yard run and stripped by Ninety Six sophomore Rod Johnson. It was practice coming through in the clutch for the Wildcats. The Wildcats won their first game of the season Friday night, topping Ware Shoals 30-13 at Riegel Stadium. "We practice tackle and strip every single day," Ninety Six coach Chris Liner said. "Ten minutes every day, and in the end, it really helped us there." For Ware Shoals, it represented a crushing reversal when Ninety Six managed to get a touchdown off the turnover. "I mean, obviously, that made things an entirely different ballgame," Ware Shoals coach Lance Abernathy said. "If we had been able to go down and score off the interception ..." Johnson had two big turnovers, both of which led to points. Johnson's strip led to a Jaquon Louden 2-yard touchdown and his 60-yard return of an interception on a desperation throw by Hornet quarterback Shamar Rice sealed the game. "Sometimes when you get a young team, you need to see how they react to adversity," Liner said. "We challenged our old heads to keep things cool and to lead us when things got chippy and tight." MORE IN TODAY'S INDEX-JOURNAL