Brookland-Cayce advances to second straight 3A Lower State championship; Hartsville ends Lower Richland’s season

Rasheed Taylor ran for almost 200 yards and three touchdowns as Brookland-Cayce overcame an early deficit to defeat Timberland, 28-12, on Friday in the Class 3A Lower State semifinals.

The Bearcats advance to the Lower State championship for the second straight year and face Dillon in a rematch of last year’s game, won by the Wildcats.

B-C trailed 12-0 late in the second quarter but took advantage of Timberland’s special teams miscue as the Wolves’ punter bobbled the snap and the Bearcats recovered at the 4-yard line. Taylor took it in from there to cut the lead to 12-7 at halftime.

After a Timberland turnover at the 50-yard line, B-C turned it into points as Taylor scored on a 7-yard run to make it 14-12 with 8:07 left in the third quarter.

B-C made it 21-12 with 4:01 in the fourth quarter on Daeveon Sistrunk’s 7-yard run. The score capped off a 91-yard scoring drive by the Bearcats.

Hartsville 41, Lower Richland 20

Hartsville scored 34 unanswered points in the second half to reach the Class 4A Lower State championship game.

The loss ends Lower Richland’s turnaround season. The Diamond Hornets finished with a 7-6 record, their first winning season in the more than 20 years.

The Diamond Hornets led 20-7 at the half. Tevaughn Higgins had a TD run, and Corey Webber returned a fumble for a touchdown.

But Hartsville picked off Higgins four times in the second half, which led to Hartsville scores.

Hartsville running back Tiyon Evans had 156 yards on 16 carries and scored four touchdowns, two on the ground and two through the air.

Barnwell 21, Batesburg-Leesville 14

Barnwell stopped Batesburg-Leesville quarterback Bishop Cannon on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard with 5:41 remaining and held on for the win in the Class 2A Lower State semifinals.

Mykal Lee led the Warhorses with 105 yards and two touchdowns.

Cannon ran for 132 yards and threw for 113. His 9-yard TD run pulled the Panthers within 21-14 with 1:08 left in the third quarter.

Emerald 28, Fairfield Central 14

Emerald jumped to a 21-0 lead and held off the Griffins in the Class 3A Upper State semifinals.

Emerald faces defending state champion Chapman in the Upper State final next week.

Keshawn Settles rushed for 189 yards and two touchdowns for Emerald, and Kaddaren Dean threw two scores.

Theron Byrd and Will Barber had TDs for the Griffins, who finish the season at 9-4.

Wardlaw Academy 72, Northside Christian 22

Wardlaw scored 64 straight points to claim its second straight SCISA 8-Man Division I championship.

Noah Powell had a 71-yard TD run and Nathaniel Smith a 10-yard pass for the Crusaders, who were making their first championship appearance.

This story was originally published November 17, 2017 at 11:09 PM with the headline "Brookland-Cayce advances to second straight 3A Lower State championship; Hartsville ends Lower Richland’s season."