Blythewood holds on to defeat Irmo in region matchup
Blythewood started hot in its Region 5-5A opener with Irmo on Friday, then had to fight to hold on to a 20-12 victory at W.C. Hawkins Stadium.
Blythewood (4-1) got started with a bang, putting two scores on the board before the Irmo offense touched the ball.
Jordyn Adams took the opening kickoff and returned it to the Irmo 48-yard line. Seven plays later, Chris Woodall rushed into the end zone from 1-yard out at the 9:40 mark.
Irmo fumbled the ensuing kickoff, which set the Blythewood at the Yellow Jackets’ 34-yard line. Two plays later, Adams hit Kameron Riley in the end zone with a 31-yard TD pass with 8:49 left.
The Yellow Jackets finally got their offense, largely a ground attack, moving with 96 yards before the half. Irmo turned the ball over on downs inside the Blythewood 20-yard line on one drive, and James Dooley missed a 42-yard field goal attempt on another drive.
Irmo scored on a safety, a Mason Lassiter TD run in the third quarter, and a 45-yard Jason Dooley field goal in the fourth, but Blythewood held on to win.
TURNING POINT
After an Irmo safety, Lassiter capped a short drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to cut Blythewood’s lead to 13-9. Blythewood, which hadn’t scored since the first quarter, responded with an 8-play, 58-yard scoring drive. Adams scored on a 20-yard TD run with 11 seconds left in the third.
KEY PERFORMERS
Jeffrey Watkins: The Blythewood running back carried the ball 13 times for 102 yards.
Antonio Goins: The linebacker recovered a fumbled kickoff return for the Bengals after they had taken a 6-0 lead. Blythewood scored three plays later for a 13-0 advantage.
KEY NUMBERS
9: Penalties Blythewood committed in the first half, for 78 yards. Four of those flags were for holding.
3:11: Time it took for Blythewood to put up 13 points in the game. Irmo held the Bengals scoreless for the rest of the first half.
THEY SAID IT
“That was a pretty drive. (Blythewood’s scoring drive in the third quarter) Our OL stepped up. We had two guys with ankle sprains, but they did a great job blocking and opening up those holes. That drive is pretty much what put the game to where we were comfortable enough to where we could hold on with our injured guys.” – Blythewood coach Dan Morgan
“We got in the red zone twice and came up empty. We’ve got to make some plays. Against a team like you’ve got to come up with some kind of points. The team that makes plays is the team that wins.” – Irmo coach Reggie Kennedy
HOW THEY SCORED
1st Quarter
B – Chris Woodall 1 run (kick failed) 9:40
B – Kameron Riley 31 pass from Jordyn Adams (Ben Kline kick) 8:49
3rd Quarter
I – Safety 7:28
I – Mason Lassiter 3 run (James Dooley kick) 4:06
B – Adams 20 run (Kline kick) :11
4th Quarter
I – Dooley 45 field goal 10:21
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: Blythewood – Jeffrey Watkins 13-102, Jordyn Adams 18-74, Chris Woodall 3-19, Kenny Benton 1-3. Irmo– Mason Lassiter 11-44, Shakem Bradley 12-51, Jeffery Tharp 17-81.
Passing: Blythewood – Jordyn Adams 16-7-0. Irmo– Mason Lassiter 19-9-1.
Receiving: Blythewood – Kameron Riley 1-31, Chris Woodall 1-5, Jeffery 1-9, Roger Carter 1-5. Kenny Benton 3-25. Irmo– Raekwan Heath 3-24, Kendrell Flowers 3-41, Jeffery Tharp 2-10, Shakem Bradley 1-0.