NOVEMBER 29 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL ROUNDUP
Manning, Barnwell to meet for AA lower state championship after third-round wins
Manning – Manning High School advanced to the semifinals of the AA football state playoffs with a 34-21 triumph over Philip Simmons in a third-round game on Friday at Ramsey Stadium.
The Monarchs, who improved to 12-1 on the season, will play at Barnwell on Friday for the lower state championship. Barnwell advanced with a 28-27 win over Cheraw.
MHS rushed for 328 yards and was led by Jontavious Canty, who had 165 yards and two touchdowns 22 carries. Jaylnn Coard had 20 carries for 120 yards and a TD.
Jeffery Ceasar ran for a 13-yard touchdown, caught four passes for 98 yards and returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. Defensively, Ceasar had two interceptions and three tackles from his cornerback position.
Linebacker Lamar Hilton led in tackles with 10 and tackles for loss with two. Canty had nine tackles from his linebacker slot, while Jaron Hammett and Daniel Robinson both had six tackles.
Barnwell 28
Cheraw 27
Barnwell – Barnwell High School advanced to the AA lower state championship game with a 28-27 victory over Cheraw in a semifinal game on Friday at the BHS field.
The Warhorses took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Cameron Austin to Jaquan Peeples. Lane Evans added the extra point.
CHS tied the game on a 43 -yard pass from Kadin Thomas to Zay Campbell. Charlie Phillips added the PAT. The Braves took a 13-7 with a pair of second-quarter field goals, a 40-yarder by Daniel Rhodes and a 27-yarder from Phillips.
Barnwell took a 14-13 lead into halftime though as Dylan Johnson returned an interception 73 yards for a score. It pushed the lead to 21-13 with a 1-yard run by Austin in the third quarter.
Cheraw pulled within 21-19 in the fourth quarter on an 11-yard run by Thomas. The pass on the 2-point conversion failed. The Braves took the lead on a 65-yard TD pass from Thomas to Desean Drake. Nick Gordon then threw to Drake for the 2-point conversion and a 27-21 lead.
Austin threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to William Robinson to tie the game at 27-27. Evans added the extra point for the game-winning point.
Austin completed 10 of 2e passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 37 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. Robinson had three catches for 72 yards and Peeples had three catches for 34 yards. Jordan Peeples had three rushes for 45 yards.
Thomas completed 16 of 25 passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns while carrying the ball 11 times for 63 yards and a score. Gordon had six catches for 113 yards, while Drake had four catches for 85 yards and Derrick Isaac had five catches for 33 yards.
Amari Short had 19 carries for 64 yards. Gordon also had an interception as did Deman Ellerbe.
Gaffney 21
T.L. Hanna 7
Gaffney – Gaffney High School scored 14 points in the first quarter to go on to a 21-7 victory over T.L. Hanna in the third round of the AAAAA Division II state playoffs on Friday at The Reservation.
The Indians will play at Northwestern on Friday for the upper state championship. The winner will advance to the state championship game.
Gaffney got on the scoreboard with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Jayvon Gilmore to running back Jaiden McDowell with 8:50f left in the first quarter. Evan Olson added the extra point.
GHS limited the Yellow Jackets’ high-powered to 138 yards on 39 carries. Gilmore threw a 14-yard TD pass to wide receiver Shane Davidson at the 4:04 mark of the first quarter to make it 14-0. The Indians pushed the lead to 21-0 on a 15-yard scoring pass from Gilmore to wide receiver Jamarcus Smith.
Hanna’s only score came at the 5-minute mark of the third quarter on a 5-yard run by Dylan Williams. David Gorzyca added the PAT to make it 21-7.
Gilmore completed 11 of 21 passes for 113 yards. Smith had four catches for 67 yards. McDowell rushed for 121 yards on 17 carries to go with four catches for 13 yards. Smith had three carries for 41 yards.
KD Patterson rushed for 70 yards on 15 carries to lead the Yellow Jackets. Williams rushed for 52 yards on nine carries.
Zyon Ratchford led Gaffney in tackles with 11. Emari Nance led Hanna with five tackles and a quarterback sack. Shodriques Vance had a sack as well.
Clinton 31
Batesburg-Leesville 14
Clinton – Clinton High School shut out Batesburg-Leesville in the second half and scored 17 points of its own for a 31-14 victory in the third round of the AA state playoffs on Friday at Wilder Stadium.
The Red Devils, who improved to 10-2, will play host to Fairfield Central on Friday for the upper state championship. The winner will advance to the state championship game.
B-L finished the year with a 12-1 record.
The Red Devils took a 7-0 lead on a 4-yard run by Javen Cook with 9:31 left in the first quarter. Lukas Kuykendall added the extra point. The Panthers tied the game on a 3-yard run by quarterback Tanner Watkins and he added the extra point with 4:17 left in the opening quarter.
B-L took its only lead on a 8-yard TD pass from Watkins to KD Whitt with 5:14 left in the second quarter. CHS tied the game on the final play of the first half with quarterback Tushawan Richardson scoring from nine yards out.
Cook, who ran for 269 yards and three scores on 24 carries, scored on a 10-yard run with 4:34 left in the third quarter to give Clinton the lead for good. The Red Devils pushed the lead to 24-14 with an 18-yard field goal from Kuykendall with 7:10 remaining in the game.
Cook scored on a 10-yard run with 2:24 left in the game.
Richardson rushed for 86 yards on 13 carries.
Amadre Wooden ran for 85 yards on 21 carries to lead Batesburg-Leesville. Watkins rushed for 52 yards on seven carries while completing 7 of 17 passes for 79 yards. Jamerius Clark had three catches for 47 yards.
Dutch Fork 52
River Bluff 14
Irmo – Dutch Fork High School remained undefeated with a 52-14 victory over River Bluff in the third round of the AAAAA Division I state playoffs on Friday at Dutch Fork Stadium.
The Silver Foxes, who improved to 11-0, will play host to Spartanburg on Friday for the upper state championship.
Maurice Anderson led DFHS with 152 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 11 carries while catching five passes for 45 yards. Ethan Offing completed 13 of 16 passes for 181 yards while rushing for 52 yards and two TDs on eight carries.
KJ Smith had four catches for 76 yards and scored on a 4-yard run. Jarvis Jackson returned a missed field goal 76 yards for a score, and Quintin Wilson scored on a 10-yard run. Justin Welch booted a 41-yard field goal for the game’s first points and was 7-for-7 on extra point attempts.
Brayden Moore threw a 68-yard scoring pass to Aaron Griffin for River Bluff’s first TD. The other score was a 37-yarder from Parker Murray to Stephen Collier. Hayden Myers ran for 90 yards on 24 carries.
River Bluff finished with a 10-3 record.
Northwestern 35
Greenwood 6
Rock Hill – Northwestern High School remained undefeated on the season with a 35-6 victory over Greenwood on Friday in the third round of the AAAAA Division I state playoffs at District 3 Stadium.
The Trojans, who improved to 12-0, will play host to Gaffney for the upper state title on Friday.
NHS led 15-0 after one quarter, 25-0 at halftime and 35-0 after three quarters. Greenwood, which finished 9-3, got its lone score in the final stanza.
Finley Polk led the Northwestern offense, completing 22 of 34 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 29 yards and a score on nine carries. Jayden Nichols had nine catches for 105 yards and a TD, and Daniel Caldwell had four catches for 42 yards and a score.
Zymeir Gordon-Miles ran for a score and 75 yards on 11 carries. Matthew Fish kicked two field goals, an 18-yarder and a 36-yarder, and was 3 of 3 on PATs.
Mason Grier led the Trojan defense with seven tackles and 3 ½ tackles for loss. Will Massey had seven tackles and returned a fumble 37 yards.
Triston Lewis completed 12 of 32 passes for 136 yards and a 27-yard scoring pass to Alijah Wade. Lewis rushed for 72 yards on 19 carries. Landen Still had five catches for 54 yards.
Sumter 34
James Island 17
Sumter – Sumter advanced to the semifinals of the state playoffs for the first time since 2020 with a 34-17 victory over James Island on Friday in the third round of the AAAAA Division playoffs at Memorial Stadium.
The Gamecocks, who are 12-0, will be on the road against Summerville, also 12-0, on Friday for the lower state championship. The winner will advance to the state championship game.
SHS led 13-3 at halftime. The Trojans pulled within 13-10 and 20-17 in the third quarter. After JIHS’ second TD, Sumter quarterback Franklin Richardson broke off an 80-yard scoring run on the next play to make it 27-17.
Richardson rushed for 176 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries. Running back John Peeples scored three touchdowns and had 108 yards on 17 carries and caught Richardson’s only completion of the game for 21 yards.
Jeremiah Burson had a 66-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter for the game’s first points. Burson also had 18 tackles and forced a fumble.
Tymaries Durant and Jordan Lowery both had nine tackles. Lowery had 2 ½ TFLs while Durant had one. Anthony Addison had five tackles, 1 ½ sacks and 1 ½ TFLs. Ra’Shaun Dickey had three tackles, one sack and 1 ½ TFLs.
Loris 30
Keenan 13
Loris – Loris High School advanced to the AAA lower state championship game with a 30-14 victory over Keenan on Friday at the LHS field.
The Lions, who improved to 11-1, will play host to Oceanside Collegiate Academy on Friday.
Keenan finished the year with an 8-5 record.
Loris took a 7-0 lead on an 8-yard scoring pass from Moon Gerald to Grim Lewis in the first quarter. Jagger Suggs added the extra point. Deuce Stephens scored from two yards out later in the quarter to make it 14-0.
The Raiders cut the lead to 14-8, still in the first quarter, on a 69-yard pass from Desmond Washington to Nykeim O’Neal. Suggs booted a 27-yard field goal in the second quarter to give LHS a 17-8 halftime lead.
After a scoreless third quarter, Gerald connected with Lewis again, this time for 32 yards, to make it 24-8. Washington threw a 5-yard scoring pass to Jordan Wilson to make it 24-14 before the Lions put the game away on a 2-yard run by Javon Johnson.
Gerald completed 8 of 17 passes for 124 yards while rushing for 58 yards on 10 carries. Lewis had four catches for 75 yards, while Stephens had 79 yards on 16 carries.
Landon Conner led the defense with four sacks and a fumble recovery.
Washington completed 13 of 24 passes for 134 yards and rushed for 52 yards on eight carries to lead KHS. McNeil caught three passes for 82 yards and Wilson had six catches for 40 yards.
