Saturday, Nov. 29, 2008

Rebels run wild down road to Clemson

Lattimore carries Byrnes on his back, rushing for 268 yards on 38 carries

SPARTANBURG — Apparently, Marcus Lattimore’s back is strong enough to carry an entire football team to Clemson.

The Byrnes tailback rushed for 268 yards on 38 carries, scored two touchdowns, ate up the clock and helped the Rebels beat Dorman at its own game.

Five weeks after losing to the Cavaliers, the Rebels knocked off Dorman 24-13 in front of 17,000 fans at Cavalier Stadium on Friday night to advance to the 4A Division I state championship.

“I didn’t think I was going to get it that much, but I knew I was going to get the ball,” said Lattimore, who scored on runs of 38 and 2 yards. “As we started getting more yards on every carry, we just stuck to it.”

Byrnes (13-1) plays Sumter, which knocked off Rock Hill 35-14, at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Clemson’s Memorial Stadium. The Rebels will play for their sixth state championship in seven years.

Dorman (13-1) had a perfect season in tact, and a No. 12 national ranking, due to a rushing game that averaged almost 300 yards. Byrnes, though, was the dominant running team.

The offensive line opened holes for Lattimore to run past and over people and the junior tailback outran Dorman. The Cavaliers finished with 252 rushing yards.

“For a team that likes to throw the ball, they bit their lip and did what they had to do,” Dorman coach Dave Gutshall said. “I think they saw the Achilles heel last week against Lexington, when you run right at us it’s tough for us because we’re so small.”

Lattimore broke his own school record for rushing yards in a season. He set the mark last year at 1,884 yards. He needed 132 yards to top the mark and he got that in the first half with 144.

The offensive answer for Byrnes was to hand it off to the junior who every major college is after.

“If you had Marcus Lattimore, wouldn’t you do that?” Byrnes coach Chris Miller said. “We have to get the ball into our play-makers’ hands and Marcus was on tonight.”

At halftime, the Rebels took a 10-3 lead into the locker room, after quarterback Chas Dodd hit Jazz King from 35 yards out for a touchdown and Jordan Miller hit a 20-yard field goal.

Byrnes 0 10 7 7 — 24Dorman 3 0 10 0 — 13

First quarter

D — Bo Lindsey 40 yd field goal, 6:57

Second quarter

B — Jazz King 35 yd pass from Chas Dodd (Jordon Miller kick), 10:04

B — Jordon Miller 20 yd field goal, 2:48

Third quarter

D — Charon Peake 80 yd run (Bo Lindsey kick), 10:29

B — Marcus Lattimore 38 yd run (Jordon Miller kick), 9:10

D — Bo Lindsey 27 yd field goal, 3:35

Fourth quarter

B — Marcus Lattimore 2 yd run (Jordon Miller kick), 7:31

Get The State newspaper delivered to your home. Click here to subscribe.