Sumter’s Dyson Roberts kicks East to victory in second annual Metro Bowl
Dyson Roberts will remember Friday night for at least a little while.
The Sumter High placekicker joined the ranks of the East squad this past week to prepare for the second annual Metro Bowl. When it came time for a game-winning field goal, his leg proved true.
With his team down 17-16, Roberts capped a long East drive in the final 1:35 with a 33-yarder to give the East a 19-17 victory and its second straight win to go with its 22-16 win in the inaugural game.
“Thank God, that’s all I gotta say,” Roberts said. “Coach (Treigh Sullivan of Dreher) told me this game was on me, so I had to step up and do my job.”
With Blythewood’s Josh Strickland under center on the final drive, East took the ball at its own 20-yard line following West’s missed field goal from Mid-Carolina’s Drew Dominick.
Stickland marched East down the field in seven plays, completing passes to Blythewood teammate David Patten, Spring Valley’s Hunter Rogers and Camden’s Landon Goodwin. Keenan’s Jevaris DeSant caught Strickland’s last pass of the night, a 23-yard catch-and-run play to the West 16-yard line, which set up Roberts’ game-winner.
“We just had to get something going; we hadn’t done a lot on offense,” Strickland said. “We got on the same page, and it went well.”
East’s win put only a slight blemish on West’s Deonte Baker. Running on his home field, the Brookland-Cayce running back powered the West offense for 154 yards on 16 carries and claimed the West MVP honors.
“Everybody came out and did their job, especially the offensive line,” Baker said, reflecting on Chapin quarterback Roger Pedroni’s effort. “The quarterback, he’s a good leader. He came out and pushed us every day in practice. He led us. Even though we didn’t get the win, we stood up and did good.”
Pedroni’s passing numbers were 8-of-15, but he passed for a touchdown and rushed 11 times for 46 yards.
The score was tied at 10 at halftime.
The East struck first when Lower Richland’s Jamizon Ganzy connected with Blythewood’s Patten for a 3-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.
The West tied it up when Batesburg-Leesville’s Shauntrel Hendrix burst into the end zone from 6 yards out at the 8:12 mark of the second.
Sumter’s Dyson Roberts made a 36-yard field goal for the East with 5:52 left, then Mid Carolina’s Drew Dominick hit a 37-yarder for the West two minutes later.
Both squads found the end zone in the third quarter. West receiver DeIrvin Grate, caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Pedroni, and Ganzy rushed in from four yards out at the 1:58 mark of the third.
That missed extra point set up the drama in the late fourth quarter, which Roberts, the East MVP kicked through.
Ganzy, with two touchdowns, 103 yards passing and 30 yards rushing on the night, claimed game MVP honors.
“It was an incredible experience all week,” Ganzy said. “Hard work on offense and defense the whole week. I loved it. The game, there’s nothing better than that.”
HOW THEY SCORED
East 7-3-6-3—19
West 0-10-7-0—17
1st Quarter
E – David Patten 3 pass from Jamison Ganzy (Dyson Roberts kick) 3:35
2nd Quarter
W – Shauntrel Hendrix 6 run (Drew Dominick kick) 8:12
E – Roberts 36 field goal 5:52
W – Dominick 37 field goal 3:16
3rd Quarter
W – DeIrvin Grate 15 pass from Roger Pedroni (Dominick kick) 8:33
E – Ganzy 4 run (kick failed) 1:58
4th Quarter
E – Roberts 33 field goal :00
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: E – Marquel Brown 8-86, Jamison Ganzy 11-30, javaris DeSant 4-3, Josh Strickland 1-0. W – Deonte Baker 16-154, Roger Pedroni 11-46, Markco Gilmore 5-24, Shauntrel Hendrix 1-6.
Passing: E – Josh Strickland 9-15-0-154, Jamison Ganzy 6-12-0-103. W – Roger Pedroni 8-15-0-62, Marcko Gilmore 0-3-0-0.
Receiving: E – David Patten 5-60, Davea Cauthen 3-44, Deiondre Patton 3-9, Landon Goodwin 2-48. W – Jamias Holloway 4-24, Jervon Whitt 1-15, Matt Reed 1-10, Noah Bell 1-8.