Friday Rewind: Passing attack fuels Lugoff-Elgin. RNE, Camden win last-second thrillers
Lugoff-Elgin’s football team hasn’t had a problem getting ahead in games this season, but they haven’t been able to finish off teams.
The Demons were able to do both on Friday as they used a big second quarter to defeat Spring Valley, 41-10, at Harry Parone Stadium.
Quarterback Aiden Fitzgerald threw four touchdowns, including three in the first half, as Lugoff-Elgin (4-6, 1-5) won its first region game in its regular-season finale for first-year coach Leon Boulware.
The Demons will have two weeks off before the first round of the Class 5A Division II playoffs begin.
Lugoff-Elgin had leads in three of its first five region games, including 24-12 at halftime last week against Westwood, but wasn’t able to seal the deal. That wasn’t the case Friday as they shut out the Vikings in the final two quarters.
“We talked about the last couple of weeks where our guys just have to finish the game and play a complete game,” Boulware said. “We finally learned how to put it all together and ball together. So, it was a good night for us.”
Leading 7-3 in the second quarter, Fitzgerald hit Eric Richardson on a 77-yard touchdown pass to put the Demons up 14-3. Spring Valley answered right back as Zion Bennett took a screen pass from Dylan Redden to go 73 yards to cut the lead to 14-10 with 7:32 in the second.
The Demons made it 21-10 on Fitzgerald’s second TD pass to Shamil Saadiq with 5:27 left in the second. Fitzgerald was 10-of-18 passing for 224 yards. Saadiq finished with five catches for 85 yards.
Lugoff-Elgin added three more scores in the second half, highlighted by Tyquwan Murphy’s 89-yard interception return for a touchdown to make it 34-10 with 10:45 left. The Demons had four interceptions in the game.
The loss extends Spring Valley’s losing streak to 22 games. The Vikings (0-9, 0-5) will close out the regular-season at West Florence on Nov. 8. Win or lose, Spring Valley should make the 5A Division I playoffs because of its RPI. Only one school won’t make in lower state playoffs, and the Vikings have a higher RPI than Stall (0-8).
Richland Northeast 23, York 20
Jorge Rodriguez field goal with 13 seconds left in the win over York.
Quarterback Will Wilson had a pair of touchdown runs and TD passfor the Cavs. Wilson had missed two games with a knee injury.
Wilson was 18-of-26 passing for 183 yards and also carried it 12 times for 90 yards. Receiver Blake Betette had 11 catches for 114 yards and a TD.
RNE (7-2) has back-to-back seven-win seasons for the first time since 2010-11.
Camden 27, Lancaster 22
Navier Boykin scored the go-ahead touchdown, a 5-yard run with 1:45 left, to give the Bulldogs a come-from behind win.
Lancaster had a chance to win it, but Camden stopped the Bruins at the 1-yard line as time expired.
Lancaster led 16-7 at halftime and then 22-21 with 5:28 left before Camden’s comeback.
Newberry 45, Keenan 20
Quarterback Kenton Caldwell threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more as the Bulldogs moved to 2-0 in the region and set up a big matchup next week at Swansea.
BJ Jones, Cash Brown and CJ Earl all had TD catches for Newberry. Backup quarterback Bryce Satterwhite had a TD pass to Isaiah Glymph in the fourth quarter for Newberry.
Desmond Washington threw two TD passes for Keenan.
Batesburg-Leesville 48, Pelion 0
Quarterback Tanner Watkins rushed for a pair of scores and threw for one as the Panthers moved to 8-0 heading into a big matchup with Saluda next week.
B-L and Saluda are both undefeated and ranked No. 1 and 2 in Class 2A.
Watkins was 8 of 13 passing for 167 yards and carried it five times for 50 yards. Amadre Wooden rushed for 155 yards and two scores. Jamerius Clark had three catches for 102 yards, including a 70-yard TD grab.
Saluda 35, Strom Thurmond 25
Brayden Williams rushed for 154 yards and two touchdowns as the Tigers stayed unbeaten heading into their showdown next against Batesburg-Leesville.
Tristan Daniels added two TDs, including a 41-yard run to put the Tigers up 35-25 with 1:25 left.
Saluda QB Drew Arant threw for 139 yards and a TD.
Swansea 21, Fox Creek 7
The Tigers kept their hopes of a region title alive with a win over Fox Creek.
Teysean Charley rushed for 215 yards and two touchdowns to lead Swansea. Jacob Harper also had a rushing TD.
Swansea held Fox Creek to 122 yards of total offense.
Hammond 49, Ben Lippen 17
The Skyhawks extended their winning streak to 19 games and wrapped up home-field advantage up until the championship game in SCISA 4A.
Quarterback Andrew Turner had a couple of early touchdown runs for the Skyhawks. Turner finished 11 of 17 passing for 138 yards and a TD. He also carried it 15 times for 118 yards and three scores.
Manny Johnson and Kinson Holland also had touchdown runs for Hammond. Jack Croft had six catches for 85 yards and a TD.
South Pointe 58, Dreher 10
The Stallions wrapped up the Region 3-4A title with a win at Dreher.
West Florence 13, Westwood 8
Kielen Thomas and Tristan Collins each had touchdowns for West in the win over the Redhawks.
Angelo Rios had a TD for Westwood late in the second quarter. Neither team scored in the second half.
South Florence 36, Lower Richland 19
South Carolina commit Jayden Sellers caught a TD pass and returned a punt for a TD in the win over Lower Richland.
Columbia 28, Eau Claire 8
The Caps won their fifth game in defeating the Shamrocks.
It is the first time Columbia has won five games in a season since 2011.
Heathwood Hall 48, Camden Military 0
Tennessee commitment Onis Konanbanny scored a pair of defensive touchdowns and caught a 48-yard pass in the Highlanders’ victory.
QB Patrick Belk threw for over 300 yards and a TD. Keon McKinley threw a TD and also caught one. Hill Belser had a TD run.
Richard Winn 62, Laurens Academy 12
The Eagles broke open a close game in the second quarter to stay unbeaten.
After Laurens cut RW’s lead to 16-12, the Eagles responded with 31 points to lead 47-12 at halftime.
Charlie Bonds and Eli Smith each had two touchdown runs. Bonds also threw a TD pass to Josh Tyndall. Bennett Nicholson also returned an interception for a score.
Northside Christian 34, Florence Christian 7
Sam Burks had two touchdown runs in the Crusaders’ road win.
Burks finished with 118 yards rushing.
JR Kinard and BJ Suits each had TD runs for Northside and Jake Jeffrey returned an interception for a score.
Gray Collegiate 55, Aiken 0 (Saturday)
The War Eagles did all of their scoring in the first half including returning two interceptions for touchdowns to stay in a first-place tie in the region with North Augusta.
Aiden Legger and Corey Gleaton had first-quarter INTs for Gray. QB Tyler Waller threw two TDs and ran for one. Running back BJ Montgomery ran for two scores.
Hiszari Gantt and Kaleb Berry caught TD passes and Zion Job returned a punt for a touchdown.
Gilbert 31, Airport 18 (Saturday)
Jaylen Jay ran for three touchdowns in the Indians’ win over Airport.
Gilbert trailed 10-7 before Connor James hit Tyzai Smith on a 35-yard pass on fourth-and-11 with 1:24 left in the second quarter.
Quarterback Jay Eady had a TD run and Isiah Clemons returned a punt for a TD for Airport.
North Augusta 56, Brookland-Cayce 28 (Saturday)
The Yellow Jackets broke open a close game in the fourth quarter to beat the Bearcats.
The game was tied 28-28 before Michael Doe scored on a TD run to make 35-28 with 24 seconds in the third quarter.
Doe finished with five touchdown runs and has 16 in NA’s last four games. Quarterback Corey Tillman threw two TD passes and ran for one.
B-C quarter Dre Dopson had three TD runs.
This story was originally published October 25, 2024 at 11:31 PM.
