Bamberg-Ehrhardt beats Lamar 35-21 to win Class A state championship
Red Raiders dominate second half to win first titlp since 1990
Orangeburg – When Lamar High School punched the football into the end zone on the final play of the first half, that made the score 14-13 in favor of Bamberg-Ehrhardt in the Class A state championship game on Friday. Never mind that the Silver Foxes failed to convert the extra point attempt, a back-and-forth affair appeared likely in the second half.
The Red Raiders had other ideas.
They scored on their first two possessions of the second half and didn’t let LHS score until late in the fourth quarter on the way to a 35-13 victory on Willie Jeffries Field at South Carolina State’s Oliver C. Dawson Stadium.
B-E completes the season with a perfect 15-0 record in winning its first state championship since 1990.
“This is big for our town, our town deserves this,” said Bamberg-Ehrhardt head coach Corey Crosby. “We’ve been close. We went there a couple of years with my brother (Kevin Crosby as head coach in 2010 and 2014) and with Coach (Robert) Williams (in 2021), but we haven’t been able to win it. Our town deserves this. This town deserves this state championship.”
“It means a lot to win it,” said junior wide receiver Jason Youmans. “It’s been 35 years since we’ve won one, so it means a lot to be that team that brought it back home.”
Lamar finishes the season with a 12-3 record in making their first championship game appearance since 2018. Silver Foxes head coach Tyler Boyd, in his first year as head coach at his alma mater, was pleased with how his team developed throughout the year.
“I’m proud of these guys from where we started 1-2 to get here and reel off 11 straight wins,” Boyd said. “I’m proud of the way they got better throughout the season, and that’s what it’s all about, improving.”
The Raiders quickly asserted themselves in the second half. They started at their 43-yard line following the second half kickoff, and junior quarterback Brian McMillan connected with junior wide receiver Charles Anthony Williams for an 18-yard gain to the Lamar 39 on the first play. On third down and seven yards to go, McMillan connected with Youmans for a 16-yard gain to the 20.
McMillan took off on a 20-yard scoring run on the next play. Junior placekicker Charles Breland added the extra point to make it 21-13 with 10:49 still remaining in the third quarter.
B-E forced the Foxes to punt after three downs and took over at its 46. Bamberg-Ehrhardt drove 54 yards in six plays, taking over 3 ½ minutes off the clock. The drive ended with McMillan again scoring, this time from 13 yards out, to make it 28-13 with 6:12 left.
“We weren’t playing well in the first half,” Crosby said. “We were making mistakes. We had to come in and clean those mistakes up, and that’s what they did. They cleaned the mistakes up, they trusted the process of what they were doing and they bought in. They came out and showed it in the second half.”
And it was McMillan leading the way. He had a huge game, completing 16 of 23 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns while carrying the ball 14 times for 49 yards and two more scores.
“I was just reading the defense,” said McMillan who finished the year with 47 touchdown passes and 23 rushing scores. “If they come up and press, I was taking a shot, a deep shot and making a play.
“We just came out strong in the second half. We didn’t let up, we kept up with the pressure.”
“This kid’s special,” Crosby said. “We’ve got another year with him. He just makes plays., and you can’t beat that. He’s just a great player.”
Bamberg-Ehrhardt’s final touchdown came after LHS had to punt from its 11 and Williams returned it 15 yards to the 27. On the next play McMillan went up top to Williams for the touchdown to make it 35-13 with 7:22 to go in the fourth quarter.
“They made more plays than we did,” Boyd said. “They just took it away from us. We’ve got to get in the weight room and get stronger.”
Lamar finally got back on the scoreboard with 3:17 remaining in the contest. Senior quarterback Zori Pierce threw a 15-yard TD pass to senior wide receiver Julian “JuJu” Morris. Pierce then ran for the 2-point conversion for the 35-21 final.
Youmans was B-E’s leading receiver with six catches for 105 yards, while junior wide receiver Rakeem Walker had three catches for 87 yards and a touchdown, and Williams had four catches for 49 yards and the other TD catch.
Senior running back Jalen McGraw rushed for 83 yards and a score on 10 carries.
Junior linebacker Darion Sease led the defense with 11 total tackles and one quarterback hurry. Senior safety Christopher Washington had nine tackles, McMillan had seven tackles at the other safety slot, and Youmans had six to go with an interception at cornerback. McGraw also had an interception at outside linebacker, and senior nose tackle Darren Carter had a 14-yard TFL among his three tackles.
The Silver Foxes received the opening kickoff an marched straight down the field. They covered 80 yards in 12 plays, taking 5 minutes, 15 seconds, off of the clock. Pierce ended the drive with a 2-yard scoring run and senior placekicker Isaiah Chacon added the extra point with 5:45 left in the first quarter.
LHS was winning the field position battle, having the Raiders start from their 9 following a punt late in the opening stanza. After getting a first down. they went for bear to start the second quarter.
McMillan connected with Walker for a 79-yard touchdown pass. Breland added the extra point to tie the game at 7-7 with 11:49 to go in the first half.
B-E got to start at the Lamar 44 on its next possession and needed just four plays to get in the end zone. McGraw scored on a 9-yard run to make it 14-7 with 8:26 remaining.
The Silver Foxes’ score before halftime started at their 6 with just 2:09 left following a 49-yard punt by Breland. A few chunk plays got LHS out of the hole before Pierce connected with tight end Lamont Williams for a 43-yard gain to the Bamberg 2. On third and goal, but more importantly with a handful of seconds on the clock and no LHS timeouts left, Pierce ran it in from two yards out. A wet ball caused the snap on the extra point to be mishandled, leaving the score at 14-13.
“I thought it was a heck of a drive for us,” Boyd said. “With two minutes to go I was trying to run the clock out, get a first down and get out. But we had a couple of big plays and then we scored on the last play of the half.”
Pierce finished his 4-year career as a starting quarterback by completing 16 of 28 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown against two interceptions. He just missed rushing for 100 yards, finishing with 99 and two TDs on 14 carries.
Senior running back Nygel Eady rushed for 74 yards on 13 carries. Morris had six catches for 42 yards and a TD, freshman tight end Robert Cooper had two catches for 26 yards, junior HI back DeChayzar Green had three catches for 22 yards, and senior wide receiver Kamiil McCoy had two catches for 20 yards.
Junior inside linebacker Jaquez Dargan led Lamar with six tackles. Senior noseguard Da’vaughn Locust, inside linebacker Green and outside linebacker Eady each had five tackles. Eady had 1 ½ TFLs while Locust had one.
As Crosby stated, winning a state title wasn’t just for the team. It was for the community as well as family.
“It means a lot to win it,” McMillan said. “My brother got to the championship game (in ’21) but didn’t win it. It was great to be able to win it for him.”
However, by completing a perfect season, this B-E team accomplished something no other has.
“We’re the first to do it, and we can always be the team able to say that,” Youmans said.
