Week 4 Recap

Dorman 24 Gaffney 16

These two may not be region opponents anymore, but in this edition of the rivalry, they were both looking to use this game as a barometer for where they currently stand. While Gaffney rallied to make a game of it, for a while it was not close.

With two teams that have had a lot of success in the run game so far this season, as well as two really good defenses, the expectation coming in was for a low scoring game that went by quickly. Dorman, with their “three headed monster” in the backfield, was able to wear the Indians’ defense down to move the ball. But the Cavaliers didn’t just win the battle at the offensive line of scrimmage — they dominated on both sides of the ball.

Gaffney was unable to get anything going on top of not catching any breaks. An interception led to an early Cavaliers TD, and later there was a bad snap on a punt that went out of the back of the end zone for a safety. The lone bright spot for the Indians was kicker Gerardo “GuGu” Segura, who hit on three field goals in the game — two from 36 yards out and another from 41. Paired with his extra point, Segura was responsible for 10 of Gaffney’s points.

The momentum of the game took a huge swing in the fourth quarter when the Indians, who had found some success on offense thanks to Hank Davidson and Kendaris “Peanut” Bailey in the third quarter, recovered a fumble. Dorman had just gotten a huge facemask call to put the ball on the Gaffney half yard line. But, on a direct snap to Nick Means out of the wildcat, he bobbled a hot potato, allowing the Indians to recover the fumble at their own 10. They went on to march 90 yards, scoring on a long 47 yard pass from Corey Taylor to Marquis Yount, making for a one score game and arousing the Indians faithful.

But, the Cavaliers were able to strike back with a big play of their own — an explosive 57 yard touchdown run from Means, who hit a seam up the middle on an iso play and got to the sideline untouched to go the distance. Gaffney was unable to answer as Taylor was sacked on 4th down at his own 10 yardline, allowing the Cavaliers to run the clock out.

Dorman QB Cooper Patterson was four of nine passing with 43 yards to go with a 32 yard rushing touchdown for the Cavs’ first score of the night. Officially, he ran for 17 yards on four carries, largely due to a bad snap taking nearly 20 off his net total. Means racked up 201 rushing yards on 15 touches with a touchdown and a two point conversion. Carter Nash also had a touchdown to go with his 64 yards on 11 rush attempts. Ja’Bez Thomas also tallied 20 yards on four carries.

Daishion Watkins-Hymes was the leading receiver for Dorman with one catch for 27 yards.

Gaffney quarterback Corey Taylor completed six of 13 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown. Yount was the leading target with three catches for 82 yards and a score. Tight End Hank Davidson made three snags for 33 yards. Bailey ran the ball 13 times for 69 yards and Kareem Shaw notched 10 touches for 22 yards.

Next week, Dorman will follow their third straight victory over Gaffney by hosting Irmo while the Indians will be on bye. Gaffney’s next action will come on the road at Byrnes.

Boiling Springs 27 Clover 26 (OT)

The Bulldogs are off to a 4-0 start for the first time in a decade. It did not come easily with a Thursday night road date with the Clover Blue Eagles. Boiling Springs took advantage of a couple of early turnovers to build a 20-3 lead at the half. But, much like Gaffney did against Dorman, the Blue Eagles adjusted well. They came out running the ball with their quarterback, which opened up the offense a lot more. They were able to score 17 unanswered, the big blow of that being a 32-yard pick six that tied the game at 20.

In the end, both sides had to fight through a rain storm of yellow handkerchiefs, and the 48 minutes of regulation were not enough to decide it. The Blue Eagles scored a TD on a fade to the corner on the first play of overtime, but the Bulldogs’ special teams unit blocked the extra point attempt.

Shortly thereafter, Imri Logan scampered for the front left corner of the endzone on a keeper and kicker Cam Stevens walked it off by drilling the PAT to redeem an earlier miss that played a huge role in this game going to overtime.

Imri Logan amassed 84 passing yards and two touchdowns. Djay Leak and Jadyn Jones hauled in those two scores, while the ground game saw 110 yards split between three running backs. Malik Wannamaker led the way with 57 yards on six carries.

Defensively, lineman Champion Floyd recorded five tackles, including a sack and a one for a loss. Tami’Jay Brown also had five total tackles and an interception in the win for the Bulldogs.

Boiling Springs will look to wrap up non region play perfect next week as they host the Hillcrest Rams.

Byrnes 55 Greer 17

Don’t let that 17 points fool you. The Rebels absolutely dominated this round of their rivalry with the Yellow Jackets. Byrnes, who had a significant depth advantage in this matchup, had Greer routed by the half. Tre Segarra scored a 70 yard touchdown 19 seconds into the game to set the tone, and Greer did not crack the scoreboard until the :50 mark of the first quarter on a 26 yard field goal from Parker Burns.

At one point, it was on the table to call the game with the Rebels leading 34-3 before a lengthy lightning delay during the halftime intermission. But in the end, they chose to play to completion, quickly getting to a running clock when Byrnes went up 48-3.

In the end, the Jackets scored a couple of garbage time TDs, but make no mistake, the Rebels made a bit of a statement. Greer quarterback Xavier Sammet was held to just 52 passing yards and a touchdown, completing 7 of 18 attempts. He also had just 18 rushing yards on 12 carries. Calvin McCoy finished just shy of 100 rushing yards with 98 on 18 touches. Dj Hicks led the aerial attack with 25 yards and a touchdown on his lone catch.

Byrnes QB Gideon Merhib went three for seven through the air with 87 yards along with 45 rushing yards on four carries. Mason Stevens was the leading receiver with two catches for 88 yards. Jacobie Fuller ran the ball three times for 107 yards while Segarra had 87 and a score on two touches. Jean Ndabian also notched 51 yards in the Rebel rout.

Next week, the Rebels will travel to Viking Stadium to face off with Spartanburg while Greer is off. Their next action will come at home against the Laurens Raiders.

Chapman 45 Clinton 13

The Panthers honored the 10 year anniversary of their 2016 state championship on Friday night as they hosted the Clinton Red Devils.

Here lately, Chapman has offensively looked more like those late 2010s state title teams Mark Hodge assembled. The Panthers have averaged nearly 40 points per game over the first month of the season and have held their opposition to a combined 38 (an average of 9.5 per game). While many are quick to look at who they have played — Eastside, Walhalla, Seneca, and now Clinton, making the point the Panthers have not been truly tested yet, there is just as easy of a counterpoint to that.

Over the last three years, Chapman has struggled so hard that they would have found a way to lose (or come close to losing)  games like Walhalla where they should not. But the Panthers are not struggling. They are winning and doing so convincingly.

They will have a big test next week with the Woodruff Wolverines coming to Inman, but this week the Panthers built a 38-7 lead late in the 4th quarter despite a sloppy start. Clinton fumbled early, but came up with a turnover on downs at their own one yardline. After getting a short field for their 2nd series, the Panthers had a field goal blocked.

The first blow in the rock fight was dealt when Kham Von scored on a 10-yard run with about 40 ticks left in the first quarter. About halfway through the second period, Clinton tied it with a 7 yard run for a TD by Owen Glenn to cap a 16-play drive.

Things began to take a drastic swing when Ashton Moore found Keilon Tucker for a long first down after finding themselves well behind the sticks. A short while later, that duo struck again for a 16-yard touchdown pass. The Panthers went on to score 31 unanswered before the Red Devils found pay dirt again at the 4:43 mark of the 4th quarter. But, Eric Gaffney put the cap on the night with his third kickoff return TD in as many weeks.

Woodruff 52 Union 6

It sounds harsh, but nothing short of the expected happened here. The growing pains continued for Union County who was vastly outmatched by Woodruff’s offensive firepower. A lightning delay was not enough to slow down the Wolverines.

Connor Davis was 15-23 through the air with 169 yards and two touchdowns. His leading receiver Curtis Bell pulled in one of those two scores with five catches for 69 yards. Tee Glenn also had a TD to go with four snags for 32 yards.

Running back Jaylen Lyles had a monster game, tallying 248 yards and four touchdowns. Josiah Glover was the next closest with 40 yards on 10 touches. Tate Rogers had the lone other rushing score on two carries for 27 yards.

Union QB Jaylen Kershaw completed 12 of 27 passes for 118 yards and the lone score of the game. Sondrell Worthy pulled in that touchdown and led the way with two receptions for 51 yards. Kam Fincher led the ground game with 101 yards on 15 carries.

Next week, Woodruff will go to Chapman while Union faces Clinton on the road.

• Broome’s game at Emerald never got started due to some extremely wet weather in the lakelands on Friday night. This contest has been postponed and will be played on Monday night at 6:00 PM.

RS Central 42 Chesnee 35

The Eagles faced a little adversity for the first time this season, going across the state line to face their border rivals the Hilltoppers. This game was a shootout in which Chesnee found themselves down two scores in the waning minutes.

The Eagles did get an 11 yard TD pass from Evan Reece Lawter to Brymier Miller with nine seconds left in the game to cut the deficit to seven, but they ultimately took their first loss of the year.

Reece Lawter ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more. He was 11 of 19 passing with 96 yards in addition to 184 yards on 19 rushing attempts. Miller was the second leading rusher with 57 yards on 13 touches. Bryce Horton was the Eagles’ leading receiver with 40 yards on five catches while Caleb Morris tallied 36 yards and a score on three carries.

Chesnee will look to bounce back next week on the road as they take on the Blacksburg Wildcats in their fourth of 10 straight games after a week one bye.

Gray Collegiate 49 MVP 15

In a battle of sister schools, the Stars went down to the midlands and had to endure some torrential weather in addition to another brutal game. Gray built a 28-7 lead at the half and continued to add on as the Stars only touched the scoreboard once more early in the third quarter.

The positive is that MVP is through the gauntlet. They will wrap up non region with St Joe’s next week at North Greenville University.