With all the fresh legs South Fort Myers threw at North Fort Myers in their District 6A-11 football game Friday night, it was only a matter of time before the Wolfpack wore down the Red Knights.

The Wolfpack opened the second half with a drive that chewed up much of the third quarter time, with the help of a fake punt, then capitalized on Red Knight turnovers to blow the game open for a 27-3 win.

It is North’s third straight defeat and second in the district to put a crushing blow on their playoff hopes. For South, it gave them an upper hand with their second district win.

North coach Barry Goettemoeller isn’t looking for a lifeline yet, but he knows his team has to do more than play hard and keep it close at the half.

“It’s not good enough to play harder. We have to be smarter,” Goettemoeller said. “We shot ourselves in the foot in the second half. We played hard, but I’m not into moral victories.”

South Fort Myers (3-1, 2-0) took the ball to start the second half and embarked on a 15-play drive that chewed up almost eight minutes, with the big play being a fake punt that freshman Antwan Dixon took 18 yards to give the Wolfpack a new set of downs.

The payoff was a 10-yard TD pass from Andrew Dailidonis to Eddie Collins to make it 14-3.

“When they give me what I see, I go for it,” South coach Grant Redhead said. “We checked it out and it worked.”

After a three-and-out by North, South went on a 10-play 66-yard drive that chewed up another five minutes. D’Ronzjiah Mathews ran it in from five yards out for his second score of the night to make it 20-3 after the missed extra point early in the fourth quarter.

North QB Brandon Makar fumbled a few minutes later, resulting in a three-yard TD run by Sammy Joseph, who ran for 119 total yards, to make it 27-3.

The first half was a defensive struggle. On the Wolfpack’s second possession, they went 52 yards on seven plays, with Mathews running it the final four yards to make it 7-0 late in the first quarter.

North (2-3, 0-2) responded with a 13-play drive that ended with a 35-yard field goal by Connor Black to cut the lead to 7-3. They had a chance to cut it to one at the half, but Black missed from 35 yards as time expired in the first half.

Terrell Neal rushed for 61 yards on 18 carries, while Daniel Sylvester caught four passes for 84 yards, including a 38-yarder late in the half to set up the field goal attempt.

South FM 7 0 7 13 27

North FM 0 3 0 0 3

First Quarter

SFM – Mathews 4 run (Kammerlocher kick)

Second Quarter

NFM – FG, Black 35

Third Quarter

SFM – Collins 15 pass from Dailidonis (Kammerlocher kick)

Fourth Quarter

SFM – Mathews 5 run (kick failed)

SFM – Joseph 3 run (Kammerlocher kick)