Christ Church beats Johnsonville 67-21 to defend Class A football state title
Cavaliers never threatened after jumping out to a 20-0 lead in game's first 5 minutes
Orangeburg – Christ Church Episcopal School had the Class A football state championship game against Johnsonville well in hand before five minutes were off of the game clock. The Cavaliers made sure they never lost control of the game.
“All week we talked about starting fast and keeping our foot on the pedal, and we really did that,” said CCES wide receiver Jackson Repp. “We never let go of the gas. It was big to get that lead and to keep pushing. That was the emphasis all week and we hit it.”
That Christ Church did, scoring three touchdowns within the first five minutes and going on to beat the Golden Flashes in the title game for the second straight year, this time by a 67-21 count at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium on the campus of South Carolina State University.
“We wanted a fast start, we dialed some things up to get a fast start,” said Christ Church head coach Quin Hatfield, who led the Cavaliers to a 13-2 record. “That punt return just added to it, and once you get that we kind of got them on their heels a little bit. It was fun to watch, and we thought we could get after them a little bit early. It comes down to execution.”
And the Cavaliers executed quite well. They had 429 yards of total offense while running just 41 plays, an average of 10.5 yards per play. Quarterback Tucker Hendrix completed 9 of 11 passes for 242 yards with five touchdowns. Senior Shrine Bowl running back Deshun Reeder rushed for 125 yards and a TD on 13 carries.
Repp scored three different ways with five catches for 104 yards and a score, three carries for 12 yards and a touchdown and the aforementioned TD punt return, a 60-yarder. He had two punt returns for 113 yards and a kickoff return for 26 yards.
Johnsonville, which finished the year with a 10-3 record, received the opening kickoff, which resulted in a touchback. Quarterback Malik Shippy threw a pass along the sideline to Quandrell Woodberry on the first play. Woodberry made the catch, but then dropped the ball. Christ Church free safety Luke Baumhofer recovered at the Johnsonville 22-yard line,
Reeder, who is committed to Army, ran for three yards on first down before Hendrix connected with wide receiver Jude Hall for a 19-yard scoring pass. Placekicker Hutch Paddock added the extra point to make 7-0 just 49 seconds into the game.
A quick 3-downs-and-out series for the Flashes gave CCES the ball at its 48. Reeder went off his left tackle on the first play for a 52-yard scoring run. The PAT was no good, leaving the score at 13-0 with 10:10 left in the first quarter.
Another 3-and-out for JHS led to a punt that Repp pulled in at his 40 in the middle of the field. He went to his left and broke loose down the Christ Church sideline for a 60-yard TD return. Paddock added the extra point to make it 20-0 with 7:27 still left in the first quarter.
“They outplayed us,” said Johnsonville head coach Ken Cribb. “We got off to a bad start, we hung our heads a little bit. They’re a very good football team. Everybody saw it …. it is what it is.
“Like I said, we definitely didn’t play our best. They had a lot to do with it.”
Johnsonville finally got its bearings on the ensuing possession. Thanks to three 15-yard penalties against Christ Church, the Flashes were able to set up a 1-yard scoring run by running back Neal Martin. Placekider Reid Baxley added the extra point to make it 20-7.
The Cavaliers pushed the lead to 27-7 when Hendrix threw a lateral to Repp, and he scored from 11 yards out.
JHS then put together easily the best drive of the game by either team, covering 64 yards on 16 plays. It ended with Martin scoring from two yards out with 3:38 remaining in the first half to make it 27-14.
When Johnsonville dropped Hendrix for a 6-yard loss on the Cavaliers’ first play of the ensuing drive, it appeared as though it might roll into halftime with a bit of momentum. That thought came to an end on the next play.
With the Flashes showing blitz along the front, CCES let them come. Hendrix then threw it over the top of the onrushing throng to Reeder about six yards down the field. He hauled in the pass and then did the leg work for a 66-yard scoring pass. Paddock added the PAT to make it 34-14 with 2:36 to go.
“We’ve been working on that all year, but didn’t use it until today,” Hatfield said. “We did early in the game and we had an ineligible receiver. We came back to it and drew it up just like that. It went for a TD.”
To completely drive the nail in the coffin, Repp caught a 64-yard TD pass from Hendrix with six seconds left in the half. CCES added a 2-point pass to make it 42-14 at halftime.
Hendrix took some shots getting off passes against the Johnsonville defense, getting sent to the sidelines on a couple of occasions. However he kept coming back and setting up the big plays.
“We knew coming in they were going to be blitzing a lot, that I was going to be taking some shots, Hendrix said. “We liked our receivers and their matchups. That’s what we’ve done really well all year. We’ve really had explosive plays all year, that’s what we do. We’re fun to watch.”
The Cavaliers continued to pour it on in the second half. Baumhofer caught a 36-yard TD pass from Hendrix at the 9:47 mark of the third quarter, while Matthew Covington had a 7-yard TD catch with 6:53 to go in the quarter.
Johnsonville’s final touchdown came on a 41-yard TD pass from Shippy to wide receiver Travis Wilson with 4:32 left in the third quarter to make it 55-21.
Hall’s second TD catch was a 15-yarder from backup quarterback Judd Windham to make it 61-21 with 2:09 left in the third quarter. Windham was 6 of 8 for 63 yards.
Patrick McMaster, a starter on the Christ Church offensive line, scored on a 3-yard run for the final touchdown of the game.
“It means a ton to win it back-to-back,” Hatfield said. “These guys set a goal and they worked hard. I’m so happy for them. The hunger, the resilience needed to go back-to-back. It’s a testament to our staff and to our players.”
There was quite a bit of contention between the two teams in the rematch. After Christ Church’s 43-20 win last season, Cribb declared Johnsonville to be “the public school champion.” That was a knock at Christ Church, a private school, having an advantage because of its ability to bring in players from all over,.
The animosity between the teams was evident throughout the contest. There were several personal foul penalties on both sides with both teams being pulled to the side by their coaches after one exchange of personal fouls. Cribb chose not top have his players shake hands with Christ Church after the game.
“I thought that was the right thing to do considering all that was going on,” Cribb said.
While he didn’t say it in so many words, Cribb thinks the imbalance is still there.
“I think you know my feelings, and I’m not going to get into it,” Cribb said. “Anybody who was here today saw what I saw. They know.”
Hatfield also chose his words carefully when asked about some comments made about the situation.
“I’m gong to reserve my comments,” he said. “The comments were made though and when Johnsonville won (the lower state title), we were smiling.”
With reclassification coming over the winter and Christ Church and the likes of Oceanside Collegiate Academy and Gray Collegiate Academy moving up at least one classification due to a multiplier rule for non-district students, Hatfield is ready for whatever happens.
“We’ve got a roster with 27 or 28 kids, that’s what we have,” Hatfield said. “We try to get the most out of it. We’ll see how it shakes out. We’re going to compete wherever they put us. We’ve got a bunch of competitors. It doesn’t matter where they ask us to play, what time or who they play, we’re going to get after it.”:
Repp, a junior, got in his digs at all of the critics who talk about Christ Church recruiting players.
“We wanted to go back and go be a champion,” Repp said. “We came back and we did our thing. I’ve been here 13 years, three of those years playing varsity football (starting at Christ Church in pre-kindergarten).
“For anyone who wants to say anything, I’ve been here 13 years.”
Hall finished with three catches for 45 yards and the two TDs. Baumhoer had two catches for 34 yards and a score, and Billy Hendrix a 28-yard catch.
Linebacker Jake Good led Christ Church with 11 tackles and 1 ½ tackles for loss. Cooper Hronchek had six tackles, 2 ½ TFLs and a forced fumble. Defensive end McMaster had seven tackles. and defensive back Beau Brashier had an interception.
Shippy completed 9 of 20 passes for 140 yards and the TD pass Wilson. Martin rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries and caught two passes for 28 yards. Woodberry had three catches for 30 yards and Zavier Grant had a 37-yard catch.
Strong safety Taysawn Brown had seven tackles to top Johnsonville.
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