The only thing lighter than the steady rainfall on Friday night was the week 8 slate of games in local high school football. Broome, Union County, Greer, and Spartanburg were all on their bye this week, leaving just 6 games on the schedule to cover this week.
Starting in 5A..
Byrnes 28 Dorman 26
Don’t let that score fool you. This game was not at all pretty. For either team. The tone was set very quickly when Byrnes QB Andrew Stevens threw a pick 6 to Dorman’s Owen Hendricks on the very first play of the game. It was the first of 2 pick 6’s Stevens would throw in the game, and the 1st of 3 total interceptions, which was enough to prompt a quarterback change in the 2nd half.
The second pick 6 he threw was even more painful. With the Rebels up a TD and driving inside the Dorman 5 yard line, Dorman’s Kentavion Anderson stepped in front of a pass at the goal line and went 100 yards untouched for a TD that tied the game at 14 with just under 5 minutes to play in the half. It would go to the break from there knotted at 14.
Dorman’s first series of the 2nd half got started in much the same way as Byrnes started the game, albeit not with a pick 6. Josh Lee picked off Dorman QB Brice O’Neal, setting up the Rebels in plus territory with a shot to take the lead. However, nothing came of it as Byrnes went super conservative and rather than take a shot downfield, ran it 4 straight times, twice on a direct snap to Chamarryus Bomar out of the wildcat formation, with the 2nd attempt resulting in a turnover on downs. In the end, nothing came of the turnover and the 2 squads went to the final stanza still knotted at 14.
Dorman would squander a chance to go ahead early on in the 4th quarter when Demetrick Foster hauled in the 3rd interception of the game off Andrew Stevens to set the Cavaliers up at their own 42. They drove all the way to the Byrnes 24 yardline. Granted, with the slippery conditions, it was easy to see the logic. A botched snap or a short miss on the would-be 41 yard field goal try could have spelled disaster. The Cavaliers direct snapped it to the kicker looking to roll to his left and throw down the sideline, but with the coverage, he was forced to run for it and stopped at the line of scrimmage to turn it over on downs, ultimately still setting Byrnes up to take the lead.
With Zy Landrum in at quarterback for the Rebels, they drove 74 yards, and scored on a 38 yard TD run by Landrum himself to take a 21-14 lead. The Rebels added on what felt like it could be the kill shot when they forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and recovered it at the plus 28. Tre Segarra took off up the gut the next play to make it a 2 score game with just under 6 minutes to play in the game.
The Cavs responded well with one of their best drives of the season, going 66 yards in 12 plays and scoring on a 27 yard TD pass from O’Neal to KD Hainsworth with 1:43 to play, but botched the snap on the PAT, making it a 28-20 game. They went on to recover the onside kick to set up yet another quickie TD, striking on a 52 yard TD catch and run, once again from O’Neal to KD Hainsworth. The 2 point try, which involved a little trickery with a reverse, was stopped well short, leaving the deficit at 2 and forcing one more onside kick to try and get one last shot at completing the comeback. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be as the Rebels slid for it to all but seal it.
The Byrnes defense was phenomenal, and in the end, frankly the reason they won this game. At the half, they had held Dorman to just 56 yards of total offense. The difference in the game was the 136 yards Dorman accumulated on interception returns.
Not all the blame should fall on Andrew for Byrnes’, well… frankly, stale offensive showing. Credit must be given to the Cavaliers’ defense, who has shown in the course of region play so far, that they can hang with anyone. They did a good job of getting pressure on Stevens all night, sacking him 4 times on top of coming up with 3 picks.
Still, despite the lackluster offense, the Rebels amassed 284 yards of total offense, with 4 different rushers logging in double figures. Tre Segarra led the way with 94 yards on 13 carries with a TD. Ta’Lik Brooks had 54 on 10 carries and Dreson Evans had 53 on 5 touches. Stevens was just 9 of 16 for 84 yards with a single passing TD – a 10 yard catch and juke where Chamarryus Bomar bowled over the lone defender standing between him and the goal line. Of note, Bomar also had a 96 yard kickoff return in the game.
Brice O’Neal finished the night 11 of 19 for 148 yards with 2 TDs along with 32 yards on 8 carries to be the Cavaliers’ leading rusher. KD Hainsworth tallied 132 yards and both receiving TDs on 6 catches.
Dorman will take on Gaffney next week while Byrnes is on bye, awaiting the regular season finale with the region championship on the line against the Gaffney Indians.
Gaffney 17 Boiling Springs 7
Do you like defense? If so, this was the game for you. It took until the 6 minute mark of the first quarter for either team to crack the scoreboard.. Points that came on defense. Boiling Springs forced a Gaffney fumble and recovered it at their own 1 yard line. The next play, the Indians came up with a tackle in the end zone for a safety to take a 2-0 lead.
Gaffney added on about 3 minutes later when Riley Staton connected with Jaiden McDowell for a 20 yard TD. The extra point made for an unconventional 9-0 lead heading into the half.
Boiling Springs had 2 huge chances to break the goose egg not go their way – the first right before the half when Lincoln Huskey appeared to have connected with Kyle Patterson over the middle in the back of the endzone, only to have been ruled out of bounds. On the 2nd instance, the Bulldogs drove all the way inside the Indians’ 10 yard line when King Dowdle picked off Lincoln Huskey early on in the final quarter.
After Jaiden McDowell scored his 2nd TD of the game on a 1 yard rush to extend the lead to 17-0, the Bulldogs finally found paydirt on a Lincoln Huskey 5 yard TD run with about 3 minutes to play in the game to make for the final margin.
Huskey was 19 for 29 with 154 yards to go with his 42 yards and a TD on the ground. Eli Mobley returned to action this week after being out with an injury against Byrnes last week. He led the receiving attack for BSHS with 52 yards on 3 catches. Tristan Horsey-Johnson tallied 43 yards on 4 snags. On the defensive side, Kohen Sloand and Kristion Thompson each logged 9 tackles, while Sloand had an interception.
On the Gaffney end, Riley Staton went 14 for 24 with158 yards. Jaiden McDowell led the way on the ground with 139 yards on 20 carries.
Gaffney will face Dorman next week while the Bulldogs will have a crucial game with 4th place in the region on the line as they host the Spartanburg Vikings.
On the 3A level.
- Chapman jumped ahead on their 4th play of the game when Mathai Scott broke up the gut for an 84 yard TD rush, never looking back from there. The Panthers, behind a 9 carry, 148 yard, and 3 TD game by Scott, rolled to a 56-0 shutout win over Travelers Rest to remain undefeated in region play. Coleman Gray was also solid as usual passing, going 11 for 18 with 173 yards and a pair of TDs along with 6 rushes for 59 yards. Bennett Smith was the leading receiver with 2 catches for 7 yards and a TD.
- Woodruff fell to Clinton 36-20.
Chesnee 54 Blacksburg 13
The Eagles bounced back from a tough road loss to Abbeville a week ago in their 2nd game in a 5 day span, having beaten Landrum 40-21 the Monday before. Chesnee scored the first 21 points in the game – the first on a 34 yard TD pass from KJay Proctor to Kaylob Blanton, and the other 2 coming via short rushes of 3 and 4 yards by Proctor and Austin Bigford.
Blacksburg finally broke through with a 37 yard TD pass just shy of 8 minutes to play in the half, and the 2 sides traded blows the rest of the way, going to the interval with the Eagles leading 27-13.
Chesnee would go on to score 28 unanswered in the 2nd half to pull away for the win.
KJay Proctor was 7 of 10 passing for 126 yards and a pair of TDs. He also ran 10 times for 25 yards with a TD. Austin Bigford led the way on the ground with 111 yards on 14 attempts with a TD. Adonis Burgess added 73 yards and a pair of TDs. Jayden Williams also had a pair of rushing TDs in the win.
Receiving, Kaylob Blanton hauled in 4 passes for 108 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Chesnee hits the road next week to take on the Ninety-Six Wildcats.
Landrum’s rough go of things in region play continued Friday night as they were shut out for the first time this season by Abbeville 56-0. The Cards’ playoff hopes rest on at least either beating Liberty or Blacksburg in one of these final 2 weeks of the regular season.
