By Neill Kirkpatrick
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26 Aug, 2023
By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Denmark – Denmark-Olar’s Terrance Hinton caught a short pass from Trey Hinton then broke several tackles, out raced the Bamberg-Ehrhardt defense for a 64-yard touchdown with 2:45 to put the Vikings up 22-15 and the defense then stopped the Red Raiders at their own 17-yardline as the Vikings won the Battle of Bamberg. “Coach told me that you have to battle back from adversity, and we did that all game. We beat the number one team in the state when everyone doubted us, but we knew what we could do. We are blessed to come out with a win,” said Trey after the game. DO head coach Jarvis Littlejohn said “Trey came up with a great play at the end on defense to save the win. He threw two picks tonight, but he fought back and came up big when we needed it the most.” While the offense came up big at the end, it was the Viking defense that dominated the game from start to finish. They held the vaunted Red Raiders offense to 146 total yards for the game and allowed only one score. “Hats off to the defense. They played lights out all night and came up big at the end,” said coach Littlejohn. “Bamberg has three really good backs, their physical up front so we knew we had to match them up front. We study hard all week, and it paid off with the win.” The Viking defense set the tone on the Red Raiders first possession as they forced a quick three and out. The Red Raider defense also forced a three and out but on fourth down the center snap went over the punters head and Bamberg-Ehrhardt took the lead at 2-0. DO took their first their lead of the game when the Hinton-to-Hinton combination connected on a 50-yard scoring strike to score the first of his three touchdowns. Terrance caught the pass across over the middle and ran past the BE defense for the score. The 2-point conversion put the Vikings up 8-2. On the night “Agent Zero” as Terrance is known by his teammates and coaches rushed six-times for 32 yards and a score while catching four balls for 131 yards and two touchdowns. The Red Raider defense also played well all night. After the DO touchdown, they came up with back-to-back interceptions by Jaden Milhouse and Eric Lee . Lee returned his 15-yards for a touchdown and after Zachariah Singleton’s extra point the Red Raiders led 9-8. The Vikings went on a 13-play drive on their last possession of the first half and had a first and goal from the eight-yard line, but three straight runs were stuffed by the Red Raider defense and the clock ran out. BE came out in the second half and reminded everyone why they were the top ranked team in Class A coming into the game. The Red Raider defense forced a three and out and then on their first play of the second half Nick Folks busted up the middle, cut right and outran everyone for a 34-yard touchdown. The extra point bounced off the goal post and the Red Raiders upped their lead to 15-8. The Vikings responded on their next possession going on a 12-play, 65-yard drive to cut the lead to one at 15-14 on Terrance’s five-yard run, The key play on the drive came on fourth down from the Red Raider 20 when Trev Whaley connected with Shamarion Palmer for 15 yards and a first down at the Red Raider five-yard line. Whaley also had an interception on the night. With 8:40 to go the Red Raiders put together their best drive of the game. Folks rushed three-times for 20 yards and Jamie Downing had a 29-yard run to give the Red Raiders a first and goal at the Viking’s 10-yardline. The DO defense came up big as they did not allow another yard and a Red Raider pass on fourth down into the end zone fell incomplete. The Viking offense took over at the 11 and went on their 89-yard game winning drive. The defense was led by the physical front of Tykeem Ross , Eric Burkett , Jamarion Wise , and Reginald Youmans . They made several tackles behind the line and pressured BE quarterback Chanston Crosby all night. Ross is one of the top junior prospects in the state. “This win means a lot to us and the community. We now have to refocus after this win and continue to improve each week. There is still a lot of season left,” coach Littlejohn. Denmark-Olar (2-0) will be on the road for the first this season as they travel to Charleston to take on St. John’s (0-2) while Bamberg-Ehrhardt (1-1) hits the road for the third straight week as they take on rival Barnwell.