Friday Rewind: How Spring Valley rallied past RNE to snap Vikings’ 24-game losing skid
The streak is over.
Grady Tucker hit a 19-yard field goal in overtime Friday as Spring Valley rallied to beat rival Richland Northeast, 22-19, at Harry Parone Stadium.
The victory snapped the Vikings’ 24-game losing streak dating back to 2022 and made a winner of Norman Washington in his first game as Spring Valley head coach.
“We’re backkkkkkkk!” said Washington, a Valley 2007 alum who was hired in the spring to come back and coach his alma mater.
During the preseason, Washington talked about restoring the pride back in the program. While it was only one game, it certainly energized the large Spring Valley crowd at the game and they were very active from the opening kickoff. Students rushed the field after the game and players lifted Washington up on their shoulders as he was holding the Sabre and Sword trophy given to the winner of the game between the Richland 2 schools.
“We put a lot of work in over the summer and we knew we were the better team out there,” Washington said. “We worked our tails off and got our guys prepared. The only thing I told my guys is that all I want to see is action. We talk with our pads and not with our mouths.
“They were able to overcome adversity and believe in each other. We were playing for a brother that wasn’t here with us, but this is a special win for these seniors.”
The brother Washington was referring to was Matthew Putnam, a member of the football team who died in car crash back in February. Spring Valley players wore No. 91 stickers on their helmets and dedicated the win to him.
Spring Valley’s victory didn’t come easy. They trailed 19-0 with nine minutes left in the third quarter after RNE’s Toreyon Livingston returned an interception 102 yards.
From there, the Vikings’ defense took over. Bryson Hugee intercepted a pass and returned it to the 1-yard line. Then Dylan Redden took it in to get within 19-9 with 2:42 left in the third.
Redden, the team’s starting quarterback last year, was used all over the field against the Cavs and played tight end, running back and defensive back.
Spring Valley closed it to within 19-16 on Brent Mills’ 2-yard run with 10:31 left.
RNE had a chance to run out the clock late in the game, but the Vikings’ defense stopped them and gave the offense the ball back at RNE 48 with 2:09 left.
SV was helped by a pass interference call. Then, freshman quarterback Elijah Williams ran the ball down to the 5-yard line with four seconds left. Tucker came out in and hit a 22-yard yarder to send it to OT.
In overtime, Kavion Dawson picked off a pass on RNE’s possession. The Vikings were able to drive it down to the 2-yard line, setting up Tucker’s game-winner and third field goal of the game.
“This means everything,” Tucker said. “I just did it for my team. We are brothers. First win in over two years, it feels great.”
It was the first game for the Cavs without South Carolina Mr Football Will Wilson, the team’s starting QB for the last four years. Kemarion Willingham handled most of the QB duties in the game.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Cavs scored a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter. Willingham hit Isaiah Smalls on a 69-yard touchdown to make it 6-0. The Cavs got the ball right back after they recovered the onside kick.
Camryn Buckley scored two plays later to make it 13-0.
Irmo 35, Oceanside Collegiate 28
The Yellow Jackets went on the road and knocked off the defending Class 3A champions.
QB Dre Dopson threw three TD passes to Demarion Arington for the Yellow Jackets. Jaiden Bryant had a TD run and Maleek Miller returned a fumble for a score.
Ridge View 40, Fairfield Central 0
Quarterback Tre Howard threw two touchdown passes and ran for another as the Blazers rolled to an opening win.
Howard’s TDs went to Carter Coleman and Omari Johnson. Ashton Chapman also had a touchdown pass to Jourdain Mack, and Davon Toney had a fumble return.
Blythewood 34, Nation Ford 27
Landyn Strong scored on a 2-yard with 45 seconds left as the Bengals came from behind to beat Nation Ford.
Blythewood trailed 27-14 at halftime but shut out NF in the second half. Nation Ford got to the Bengals’ 14 with 6.8 seconds left, but Blythewood got the stop for the victory.
QB James Veasey had two scoring runs and a TD pass to Ben Hendrix. Braden Marye had a TD run for the Bengals.
Hammond 17, Christ Church 0
Bubba Alexander had a 50-yard TD run and Ben Kiser threw a TD pass to Jackson Ross in the Skyhawks’ win.
Matthew Bellon also had a FG.
Lugoff-Elgin 28, Lower Richland 14
Zach Williams threw two long touchdown passes to Shamil Saadiq in the Demons’ opening win.
Williams finished with 200 yards passing, 186 of it went to Saadiq.
L-E’s Jarkese Grant also had a TD run and EJ Richardson ran for a score.
Gerald Gibson had a TD pass to Ziyear Yates for LR. The Diamond Hornets also blocked a punt for a score.
American Leadership 43, Thornwell 6
The Patriots captured their first win in program history with a win on the road.
Jackson Sherriff had two TD runs. Leonard Pressley, Nico Terry, Jeremiah Jordan and Nate Stewart also scored for ALA.
Keenan 30, Dreher 22
Hunter O’Neal rushed for 183 yards and two touchdown runs in the Raiders’ win.
Keenan jumped out to a 24-0 lead. Jordan Wilson had a 93-yard punt return and Jamauri Johnson had a TD pass to Deion Hollis.
Darius Dixon led the Raiders with 14 tackles.
Saluda 28, Crescent 6
Brayden Williams had two touchdown passes as Greg Woerner won his debut as Saluda coach.
Tristan Daniels also rushed for 107 yards and a TD.
Newberry 62, Union County 14
Kenton Caldwell threw four touchdown passes and ran for three (all in one half) in the Bulldogs’ victory.
South Carolina commit Jamel Howse, Jamere Crooks and Cash Brown all had TD catches for Newberry.
Camden 19, White Knoll 7
The Bulldogs won a game that was started on Thursday and finished on Friday because of weather.
QB Greyson Rimpf had two TD runs and a pass for Camden.
Camden led 13-0 at halftime. Rimpf had a 1-yard scoring run and threw a TD pass to Bernard Green with 26 seconds left in the second quarter. Green’s TD came after White Knoll’s fourth turnover of the half.
Lexington 23, Gilbert 7
Freshman quarterback Easton Crocker had a pair of touchdowns for Lexington, which won the debut for new coach Stewart Young.
The game was started on Thursday but finished on Friday because of weather.
Crocker came in during the second half in place of Evan Geiger. The Wildcats played two quarterbacks as they try to find a replacement for starter Avery Coyle, who is expected to miss several weeks because of a wrist injury.
Crocker was 7-of-8 passing for 63 yards. Markel Byrd led Lexington with 100 yards rushing.
Wynn Meetze rushed for 96 yards and a TD for Gilbert.
Rock Hill 31, River Bluff 18
Brayden Moore had two touchdown passes to Darius Carter as the Gators lost their opener to Rock Hill.
Moore was 18-of-46 passing for 239 yards. Carter had seven catches for 130 yards.
Rock Hill quarterback Jonah Young threw for 209 yards and a TD. Marvin Randolph rushed for 132 yards and a score and Kameron Wilson had a 91-yard TD catch to put Rock Hill up 14-0.
Rock Hill also returned a kickoff back for a score and and an interception.
Columbia 22, CA Johnson 16 (OT)
Nycari Kinard had two touchdowns, including the game-winner in overtime as the Caps knocked off city foe CA Johnson.
Rondrecus Peterson also had a TD for Columbia, which trailed 14-8 at halftime.
North Central 26, Great Falls 0
Brayden Price had two touchdown passes and also rushed for a score in the Knights’ victory. Price was 10-of-18 passing for 177 yards.
Jackson Rodgers and Zayden Burch caught TD passes and Quayson Peoples returned an interception for a TD. Burch led the team with four catches for 74 yards.
The Knights’ defense forced six turnovers.
Catawba Ridge 30, Chapin 0
Boston Halpin had two touchdown runs as the Copperheads shut out the Eagles.
It was the first time Chapin has been shut out since 2022.
Eau Claire 14, Ridgeland 0
The Shamrocks opened up the season with a win over Ridgeland.
St. Joseph’s 41, Cardinal Newman 29
Liam Shuping threw four touchdown passes in the loss for the Cardinals, who rallied from down 41-7 to make things close down the stretch.
RJ Hughes had TD catches of 70 and 95 yards for CN.
Monday’s games
James Island 24, Gray Collegiate 8
Tyler Waller had a TD pass to Kaleb Berry in the loss for Gray Collegiate.
Baptist Hill 48, Clear Dot Charter 20
Lucas Tejada had TD passes to Corey Boyd and Torrey Pettigrew in the loss for Clear Dot.
Malachi Jackson also had a TD run.
Thursday’s games
AC Flora 30, Westwood 19
Quarterback Roper Wentzky threw three touchdown passes, including two to Kendall Byrd as the Falcons won their opener.
Blake Betette also had a TD run for AC Flora.
The game was delayed 30 minutes because of bad weather early in the third quarter.
Carrington Carter threw two TDs for Westwood, one to Angelo Rios and one to Quentin McGill. Rios also had a TD run.
Pelion 35, Williston-Elko 0
Jai Chuniesing and Tre Jackson each scored two touchdowns as Cory Helms won his debut as Pelion coach.
The game was called in the second half because of the weather.
Brady Cottingham also had a TD run for the Panthers.
Swansea 49, Mid-Carolina 7
Dante Caldwell and Trace Selfridge each had two touchdowns as the Tigers won their opener in a game shortened by bad weather.
Caldwell finished with 104 yards rushing, while Selfridge had a 34-yard TD run and 20-yard catch from QB Kendall Wright.
Daniel Graddick and PJ Larry also added TD runs for Swansea. Larry also had 11 tackles and a sack. Nick Riley led Swansea with two sacks.
Heathwood Hall 14, Hannah-Pamplico 0
Keon McKinley had a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown and had a 5-yard touchdown in the Highlanders’ opening win.
May River 37, Airport 8
The Sharks spoiled the debut of new Airport coach Chris Napier.
Sean Mitchell had two touchdown runs while Andrew Johnson ran for a score and caught a TD pass from Luc Tran.
This story was originally published August 23, 2025 at 12:27 AM.
