Hartsville beats Crestwood 34-21 for third straight victory

       Kelleytown – The start of the season was not a good one for the Hartsville High School football team. The middle of the season has been outstanding though, and the Red Foxes are hoping that sets the stage for a great end to the regular season.

           After starting the season with a 1-3 record and giving up 196 points in the process, HHS has reeled off three straight victories. The most recent was a 34-21 triumph over Crestwood on Friday on Kelleytown Stadium’s Billy Seigler Field.

           More important than the winning streak itself is the fact that all three games were Region 5-AAAA contests. The defending region champion, Hartsville is tied with defending state champion South Florence for first place at 3-0.

           Red Foxes head coach Jeff Calabrese is proud of how his team has been able to block out the naysayers.

           “These kids got together, they worked harder, they became tighter and they continue to get better,” said Calabrese. “We still have a lot of things to fix. My gosh, there were plenty of mistakes.

“I’m proud of our kids, proud of our team for being 3-0 in the conference, which is very difficult to do.”

           Both teams moved the ball up and down the field but found it difficult to make enough plays to pile up the points. The Knights, who fell to 4-4 overall and 1-3 in region play, actually outgained HHS in total offense, 495-485.

           CHS ran for 380 yards and had 105 passing yards. However, it had two touchdown passes come off the scoreboard due to penalties in the third quarter with neither drive resulting in points while turning the ball over on downs at the Hartsville 7-yard line on another possession.

           The Red Fox defense came up with two turnovers in the fourth quarter, one of them a fumble recovery at their 1 with 4:18 still left in the game and the score 34-21.

           Calabrese praised his defense for its ability to move on from one play to the next.

           “You’ve got to keep playing,” Calabrese said. “They got really beat up those first couple of games. They’ve really responded well. They’ve battled hard, they’ve made some plays. We gave up some things, that’s for sure, but they keep going.

“Our kids are trying to practice really hard. Defensively, we’ve gotten so much better. Even tonight we were out three starters on defense, and we had three kids who came in and really battled and that’s great. You didn’t even have your full crew and they still battled like that.”

HHS came storming out the gates, opening a 14-0 lead less than five minutes into the contest. Sophomore quarterback Ford Wallace connected with sophomore wide receiver CJ Hickmon for a 64-yard touchdown pass less than a minute into the game. Sophomore placekicker Gerardo Segura added he extra point to make it 7-0.

Wallace then connected with wide receiver Dorian Mason for a 30-yard scoring pass to make it 14-0 with 7:33 still remaining in the first quarter.

It didn’t take long for Crestwood to swing the momentum in its favor though. Sophomore Jayden Martin, who plays quarterback and wide receiver, scored on a 1-yard run with 5:33 left in the quarter. Sophomore placekicker Anthony Kiggins added the extra point to make it 14-7.

Martin then made his presence felt on defense, intercepting a Wallace pass in the end zone. That helped set up an 86-yard touchdown run by junior running back Calvin Wolford on the final play of the quarter to help tie the game at 14-14.

           Hartsville put together a scoring drive on the ensuing possession. It ended with Wallace throwing his third TD pass, this one a 15-yarder to Mason with 9:24 to go in the second quarter to make it 21-14.

           The Red Foxes caught a break when Crestwood mishandled a snap on a punt, setting them up deep in CHS territory. HHS was unable to put it in the end zone but did get a 29-yard field goal from Segura to make it 24-14.

           The Knights cut the deficit to 24-21 when Martin made a tremendous catch for a 10-yard scoring pass from sophomore quarterback Marek Yates.

           Hartsville got three more points right before halftime on an obscure play: a free kick.

           Crestwood had to punt the football and the Red Foxes called a fair catch at the CHS 39. There is a rule in high school football that allows a team to attempt a free kick following a fair catch.

           The kicker is kicking off of a tee, and if he splits the uprights it’s worth three points. Calabrese chose to go that route at that juncture of the game, the first time he had called for a free kick in his 25 years as a head coach. Segura came through with a 49-yarder to make the halftime score 27-21.

           Segura, who is nicknamed “Goo Goo,” said he had seen a National Football League kicker do a free kick before so it wasn’t completely foreign to him.

           “I thought I was going to end up in some sort of situation like this,” Segura said was his thought while watching Calabrese conversing with the officiating crew. “I said to myself you’ve got to make this.”

           In the second half, both teams moved the ball well but were unable to turn it into points until the fourth quarter.

           After junior defensive back Kayson Dawson intercepted a pass and returned it to the Crestwood 44, HHS foundd itself facing fourth down and three yards to go from the 37. Wallace connected with Hickmon for a 33-yard gain to the 4. Sophomore running back Trace Hillian scored on the next play and Segura added the extra point to make it 34-21 with 5:22 remaining in the game.

           The Knights quickly moved the ball down the field before fumbling near the goal line after a 23-yard run. HHS junior defensive back Rod Cranford recovered at the 1 with 4:18 left in the game. Hartsville was able to run out the clock.

           Hartsville ran for 289 yards and passed for 196. Wallace had 165 of the passing yards, hitting on 8 of 16 passes for three scores. He rushed for 43 yards on three carries.

           Mason was the leading receiver with three catches for 84 yards, Hickmon had two catches for 95 yards and senior wide receiver Tristan Spann had three catches for 21 yards.

           Miller was the leading rusher, picking up 121 yards on 16 carries while completing a pass for 32 yards. Hillian ran for 79 yards on 16 carries, and Mason had 30 yards on five carries.

           Leading the way for the Crestwood offense was Wolford, who had 175 yards and a TD on 11 carries. Martin ran for 101 yards and a TD on five carries while catching five passes for 47 yards and another TD.

Freshman running back Brayden Boultz had 12 carries for 80 yards and caught trhee passes for 39 yards. Yates completed 11 of 19 passes for 105 yards while running it three times for 24 yards.

Hartsville plays at Darlington on October 17 before playing host to Lakewood on October 24. The Red Foxes will travel to South Florence on October 31, and the region title will more than likely be on the line.

Crestwood is off this week before finishing the regular season with home games against Darlington on October 24 and Lakewood on October 30.