North extends dominance over South in annual SC all-star game
It’s been a pretty good week for Steven Gilmore.
The senior two-way standout helped South Pointe High to its fourth consecutive state title Dec. 2. On Saturday, Gilmore picked up offensive MVP honors for the North team in its 24-12 victory against the South in the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl at a chilly Doug Shaw Stadium.
“I just wanted to have fun in my last two high school games,” Gilmore said. “It is settling in that my high school career is coming to an end, so I have been just trying to take it all in.”
It was the North’s 12th win in the past 14 games of the all-star contest. North leads the series all-time 41-27-2.
Gilmore, the younger brother of former South Carolina standout Stephon Gilmore, caught seven passes for 83 yards and a TD. He also had 57 yards combined on three kickoff and punt returns.
Gilmore’s 5-yard touchdown catch from Eastside’s Jordan Morgan gave the North a 24-12 lead with 19 seconds left in the third quarter.
Morgan finished 12-of-15 through the air for 125 yards.
Greenwood’s Dre Yarbough also threw a TD pass, a 46-yarder to Seneca’s Coleman Smith, to put the North up 7-0. Chapman’s DJ Twitty scored on a 4-yard run on the North’s next possession to make it 14-3 with 1:28 left.
“I’m so proud of our kids,” North coach Jet Turner said. “First of all, I had a great staff. Our coaches did a great job of selecting them, and it was just fun to watch these kids play.”
South chipped away at the lead and got within 17-12 in the third as Colleton County’s Craig Grant hit White Knoll’s Keon Clary on 4-yard touchdown pass. South had 80 of its 163 total yards on that drive.
“I told Craig, if it was there to just throw it, and he trusted me with it,” Clary said. “We worked on it the last week in practice and it worked in the game.”
Clary led the South with five receptions for 18 yards. He was one of 17 Midlands players who appeared in the game.
Irmo’s Dalyon Guess shared team-high honors for the South with nine tackles. Lower Richland’s Malich Jacobs had seven.
HOW MIDLANDS PLAYERS FARED
NORTH
Amir Abrams, Newberry – Carried it eight times for four yards.
Dermonti Romney, Westwood – Had two tackles
SOUTH
Erikson Abney, Gilbert – Played on offensive line
Kendell Brooks, Swansea – Had four tackles
Keon Clary, White Knoll – Caught five passes for 18 yards and TD
Dalyon Guess, Irmo – Tied team lead in tackles with nine, TFL
Malik Harkness, Lugoff-Elgin – Played on offensive line
Tevaughn Higgins, Lower Richland – Caught two passes for 14 yards
Malich Jacobs, Lower Richland – Had seven tackles
KeAndre Jacobs, Spring Valley – Had four tackles
Jon Erik Kirkland, White Knoll – Was South’s long snapper
Alex Smith, Dutch Fork – Had five tackles
Jay Washington, Dreher – Ran six times for 16 yards
Xzavion Gordon, Chapin – Caught one pass for four yards
Jerrell Moore, Brookland-Cayce – Played on offensive line
HOW THEY SCORED
1st Quarter
N – Smith 46 pass from Yarborough (Gandis kick), 8:26
S – McMurry 43 FG
N – Twitty 4 run (Gandis kick), 1:28
2nd Quarter
N – Gandis 27 FG, 4:46
S – McMurray FG, 0:19
3rd Quarter
S – Clary 4 pass from Grant (pass failed), 4:38
N – Gilmore 5 pass from Morgan (Gandis kick), 0:41
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: N: Twitty 18-60, Yarbough 11-31, Morgan 3-14, Abrams 8-4. S: Fields 4-22, Washington 6-16, Grant 5-14, Lee 3-12, Mitchell 3-10. Class 6 (-10)
Passing: S: Morgan 12-15-0 124, Yarbough 3-6-1 65. S: Grant 9-15-0 55, Fields 4-8-0 44
Receiving: N: Gilmore 7-83, Smith 2-56, Rapley 2-24, Starkes 2-12, Heriot 1-9, Walker 1-5. S: Clary 5-17, Copeland 3-38, Perry 2-26, Higgins 2-14, Gordon 1-4.
MVPs – North: Steven Gilmore and Dawon Joyner
MVPs – South – Nick Hughes and Kris Copeland
This story was originally published December 9, 2017 at 4:38 PM with the headline "North extends dominance over South in annual SC all-star game."