Bishopville – As the Lee Academy football team prepared for its first-round game in the SCISA Class A state playoffs against Clarendon Hall on November 3, Cavaliers head coach David Rankin was prepared for it be a battle.
“I thought it would be a low-scoring game, 21-14, 21-8, 21-7, something like that,” the veteran head coach said. “I thought it would a 1- or 2-touchdown game.”
Well, Rankin was wrong. However, he had no problem with his miscalculation.
Lee rolled out to a 35-0 halftime lead and went on to a 42-6 victory at McCutchen Field in Bishopville.
“I was caught off guard big time,” Rankin said.
The Cavaliers, the defending state champions, improved to 9-2 with the win and will face Thomas Heyward Academy in a semifinal game on November 10 in Ridgeland.
Lee beat THA in the championship game last year, ending its 4-year run as state champion.
Rankin is pleased with how his team has improved as the season has progressed.
“We’ve just gotten better and better every week,” Rankin said. “We were very inexperienced at the start of the season, but the more we play, the better we get.”
Running back Deshon Hadden had a big game for the Cavaliers. He rushed for 155 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries, all coming in the first half. He also returned a punt 50 yards for a touchdown that gave Lee a 28-0 lead.
“That kind of broke Clarendon Hall’s back,” Rankin said.
William West ran for 96 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries while splitting time with Clayton Catoe at quarterback. Catoe threw a touchdown pass to tight end Lance Freidenberger for the Cavaliers’ other touchdown.
Rankin said Catoe also had a strong game on defense with six pass breakups. Bryson Muldrow led in tackles with eight, while Trace June had six tackles and a sack. Hadden had five tackles, including two tackles for loss and a sack. Tucker Boyce had six tackles.
Rankin said if Lee is to come away with a victory over 7-4 THA it will have to limit quarterback Tony O’Banner.
“We’ve got to slow him up,” Rankin said of O’Banner, who was averaging 177.6 yards rushing per game while scoring 29 touchdowns through 10 games prior to THA’s 54-22 first-round win over Calhoun Academy. “We’re not going to stop him. We have no illusion that we’re going to cold turkey stop him. Hopefully we’ll block and tackle better than them.
“Thomas Heyward has improved as the year went on like us,” he added. “They’ve gotten better every week.”
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