Midlands football scores, roundup: Region titles, upset wins, thrilling finishes
It’s almost a given that the two playoff representatives from Region 4-5A will come down to the final weeks of the season.
Angelo Donato scored on a 1-yard run late and the Blythewood defense did the rest as the Bengals hung on for a 21-17 victory over Spring Valley Friday night. It was the Blythewood seniors’ first win over the Vikings in the last four seasons.
“Everything is wide open. Every team (in the region) is even and we’re going to beat on each other. This was a big one,” Blythewood coach Jason Seidel said. “It’s big for our seniors. They haven’t beat them since they’ve been here. This was something they really wanted.”
The win didn’t come without some tense moments.
The Bengals lost starting quarterback Jordan Burrell on the opening series of the second half. Donato, who transferred to Blythewood from North Carolina less than two weeks before the start of the season, helped engineer the winning drive along with running back Dhani Dixon.
Spring Valley (1-2) took a 17-14 lead on a 24-yard touchdown from DQ Smith to Evan Javis with 11:13 remaining. The Vikings had a chance to extend the lead on their next possession but missed a 38-yard field goal.
That’s when Donato and Dixon went to work. They led much of the eight-play, 80-yard drive for the winning score. Dixon, who finished with 126 yards on 23 carries, ripped off a 53-yard run on the first play to move the ball into the Vikings territory. Donato then powered his way in from a yard out with 5:21 remaining.
“I thought the offense did a great job driving the ball, eating the clock,” Seidel said. “That quarterback is one of the best in the state, so keeping him off the field was one of our concerns and our kids did it. They take the lead and our kids go right back down the field. It shows how competitive both teams are.”
The Vikings had one final chance. They drove to the Bengals 41-yard line but Chanceler Robertson made a diving interception at the 2-yard line with 1:47 remaining. Donato ran for one first down and Blythewood (2-1, 1-1) was able to run out the clock.
Spring Valley had to postpone their game with Northwestern last week. They lost the last time out by one to Ridge View.
“We had an opportunity to make that pass and it was right off our kids fingertips,” Spring Valley coach Robin Bacon said. “We catch that and maybe it’s a different ball game. Give Blythewood a lot of credit. We’ve been close the last two games. It’s hard to stomach.”
Smith finished with 273 yards and two touchdowns.
Dutch Fork 55, Lexington 13
Clemson commit Will Taylor threw three first-half touchdowns and Jarvis Green ran for two TDs as the Silver Foxes clinched the Region 5-5A championship. It also extended Dutch Fork’s unbeaten streak to 44 games.
Taylor finished with 177 yards passing, all in the first half, and Elijah Spencer had five catches for 104 yards and a TD. Green rushed for 96 yards and had 35 yards receiving.
The Silver Foxes scored two defensive touchdowns and Antonio Williams had a 77-yard punt return for a score.
Gilbert 28, Strom Thurmond 21
Izayah Whiteside threw two touchdown passes and ran for one as Gilbert clinched the Region 5-3A championship.
It was the first time in school history Gilbert has won back-to-back region titles. The Indians lost 18 of 22 starters from last year’s team.
Colton Mason added 228 yards and a TD for the Indians. Mason’s TD put Gilbert up 28-14 with 8:55 left.
Strom Thurmond scored less than a minute later on Patrick Westbrook’s 68-yard pass to Gregory Bryant. But the Indians got a big defensive stop with a minute left to seal the win.
River Bluff 37, Chapin 7
Three different Gators running backs scored TDs and River Bluff bounced back from last week’s season-opening loss.
River Bluff missed the first two weeks because of COVID-19 postponing its games but is in a good spot for the second position in Region 5-5A if it wins its next two region games.
“We haven’t had a whole lot of time with our kids so we are trying to find out the personality of our team,” River Bluff coach Blair Hardin said. “We got awesome kids but there are some things we want to continue to get better at.”
Cooper Johns ran for two TDs while Gray Herring and Riley Myers also had one. Myers led the team with 134 yards rushing.
River Bluff’s defense forced five turnovers and held the Eagles to 78 yards of offense in the first half.
Ridge View 47, Rock Hill 44 (2 OT)
Andre Washington threw a TD to Nasir Butler to give the Blazers a thrilling double-overtime victory.
Rock Hill tied it at 34 with a field goal with less than a minute left in regulation. Both teams scored touchdowns on their first possession of overtime with Washington finding Jordan Smith for the Blazers’ TD. Smith finished with 335 all-purpose yards and five TDs.
Washington was 20-of-37 for 294 yards and seven TDs.
Rock Hill got a FG on its second possession of overtime to make it 44-41.
Ridge View will play Blythewood next week with a possible playoff spot up for grabs.
Fairfield Central 53, Chester 40
Fairfield Central QB Stephon Gadsden rushed for 219 yards and threw for 113 with six total touchdowns to help the Griffins to a win over Chester.
With the win, Fairfield Central has clinched a share of the region title and can win it outright with a win over Mid-Carolina. The win snapped the Griffins’ two-game losing streak to the Cyclones.
Zan Dunham ran 17 times for 192 yards and 2 TDs for Chester before leaving the game with an injury in the fourth quarter.
Pelion 34, Barnwell 26
The Panthers returned a pair of interceptions for touchdowns and had two special teams scores to knock off the No. 2-ranked team in Class 2A.
Azwan James had an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and had a 1-yard TD run. Jacob Osmanski had a 40-yard interception return for a TD and also had a 62-yard fake punt for a TD. Michael Fields had a 40-yard interception return for a TD to seal the win.
Irmo 28, Lower Richland 20
Dylan Williams threw two fourth-quarter TD passes to Dedrick Starkes to help the Yellow Jackets to a come-from-behind win.
Williams hit Starkes on a 28-yarder to put Irmo up 21-20 with 7:45 left. The duo connected again on a 12-yarder with 2:42 left. Williams finished with three TD passes and Jaylon Chambers had a TD run.
Jeremy Barney had two TD runs and Robert Adams had one for LR.
Camden 58, Crestwood 29
Quarterback Jaffari Pearson threw for three TDs and ran for another in Camden’s win.
Pearson was 9-of-16 passing for 182 yards and also ran for 72 yards. Running back Willis Lane rushed for 124 yards and a score.
Leroy Bracey rushed for 82 yards and also had two catches for 73 yards with two total TDs.
Gray Collegiate 59, Eau Claire 0
KZ Adams ran for three touchdowns and Tre Robinson threw two TDs to Chris Rhone in the War Eagles’ win. Adams finished with 104 yards on the ground. Robinson added 165 through the air with Rhone hauling in four passes for 109 yards.
With the win, Gray clinches a playoff spot and can win the region title next week against Newberry.
Hammond 38, Augusta Christian 19
CJ Stokes returned to the lineup after missing the last two games and provided a big lift for the Skyhawks offense. Stokes ran for 260 yards and three touchdowns in the Hammond win.
Dreher 17, Richland Northeast 14 (OT)
Blake Craig kicked a field goal on the first possession of OT to give Dreher its first win of the season. Dreher trailed 14-3 going into the fourth quarter.
Craig kicked three field goals in the game.
Saluda 22, Columbia 6
Naim Butler ran for 133 yards and three touchdowns for the Tigers’ win. Omari Brown had an 8-yard TD run in the loss for Columbia.
Nation Ford 35, White Knoll 6
Carson Black threw for 320 yards and five touchdowns in the non-region win. Jerrick Foster and Quadeir Hand each had two TD catches for Nation Ford. Foster’s 42-yard catch put Nation Ford up 14-6 at half.
Kennedy Ramsey had a TD pass to TJ Peebles for the Wolves’ lone score.
Trinity Collegiate 54, Heathwood Hall 34
Region Bennett ran for 246 yards and four total TDs as Trinity pulled away in the second half against Heathwood.
Heathwood pulled within 41-34 in the second half before Trinity scored the final 13 points of the game. Ronnie Porter had four rushing TDs to lead the Highlanders.
Porter-Gaud 56, Cardinal Newman 12
Walker Carswell and Freeman Barber each ran for two TDs and Matt Kelly threw for two scores for Porter-Gaud.
South Aiken 17, Airport 14
Ethan Youmans hit the go-ahead, 29-yard field goal in the third quarter and the T-Breds were able to hold on for the region win.
Tyler Dasher threw for 132 yards and a TD and Immanuel Bovain rushed for 94 yards and a TD. Bovain’s TD put Airport up 14-7 in the second quarter.
CA Johnson 22, Keenan 20
On Thursday, the Green Hornets rallied from a 20-2 second-half deficit to improve to 4-0 on the season.
Isom Harris hit Desmond Martin for a TD to tie it at 20-20 with three minutes left. On the extra-point attempt, Martin took the high snap and raced into the right corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion.
Brian McEntire sealed the win with an interception on Keenan’s final possession.
Harris finished with two TD passes and CeCe Bailey also had a TD run for CAJ, which hosts Lamar next week for the region title.
Joshua White, Marquise Williams and Hernandez O’Neal had TD runs for Keenan.
This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 11:54 PM.
