Airport ran, ran and ran some more to knock Lower Richland from playoffs
Airport coach Kirk Burnett knew what to expect when he took his Eagles across town to face Lower Richland in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs Friday night.
The two teams met in late September with the Eagles giving the Diamond Hornets their last loss before LR ran off six wins in a row.
This one wasn’t as close, as Bruce Staley led an offense that rushed for 444 yards to give the Eagles a dominating 42-12 victory. Airport advances to face Myrtle Beach next week in the third round of the playoffs. The game will be played at Myrtle Beach.
The running game “is huge this time of year,” Burnett said. “You know you’re going to face better and better defenses. LR has had a great year and has a great team, (but) we were able to do a great job up front. All the guys who ran the ball knew the hole and what we were doing up front and ran hard to the goal line.”
Staley was the catalyst. The senior tailback ran for 231 yards on 13 attempts with touchdown runs of 44, 70 and 18 yards. His 62-yard run on the second play of the game set the tone and led to Markco Gilmore’s 11-yard touchdown run just 1:13 into the contest.
Nanders Lawrence finished with 123 yards on eight carries with a 90-yard scoring run, while Gilmore added 78 yards on 14 attempts and scores of 11 and 5 yards.
“We haven’t been doing too well running the ball, but establishing our dominance in the run game was really key,” Staley said. “We can throw the ball and return kickoffs and everything, but you honestly need a running game no matter what team it is, what league it is because a running game establishes the passing game.”
Field conditions also played a factor. A steady rain fell in Columbia for most of the day and for nearly the entire game. It seemed to bother Lower Richland more than Airport. The Diamond Hornets turned it over four times to only once for the Eagles.
The biggest of those turnovers might have come just before half. Lower Richland went for it on fourth-and-goal from the one but fumbled into the end zone and the Eagles recovered.
“I think the biggest thing is we had some shots early to score, even make it 14-7 going into the half, and that was big, especially with momentum,” Lower Richland coach Rodney Barr said. “They had momentum all night for the most part. They didn’t make mistakes and we played a sloppy game.”
Airport limited the Diamond Hornets (7-5) to 62 yards in the first half.
“I was worried about getting into a 42-40 game,” Burnett said. “We hadn’t played well on offense the last couple of weeks and I was really worried about their quarterback and running back. But our defense is so much improved. Where they’ve come from game one to game 12 is outstanding.”
Airport (9-3) put it away in the third quarter. After Kenyatta Draft recovered a fumble near midfield, the Eagles only took three plays to cover 52 yards with Gilmore punching it in from the 5-yard line just 1:47 into the second half.
Noah Anderson set up the next score with an interception at the Eagles 7-yard line. Staley capped the four-play, 93-yard drive with a 70-yard scamper up the middle for a 28-0 lead.
Burnett said again that playing good defense and being able to run the ball so well made the difference.
“I thought our defense kept improving all year,” he said. “They’ve played really hard and been the heart of our team. Offensively, we’ve struggled the last couple of weeks but tonight we put pad on pad, and I thought our backs did a heck of a job hitting those holes and running full speed.”
AIR-7-7-14-14—42
LR-0-0-6-6—12
HOW THEY SCORED
1st Quarter
Air – Markco Gilmore 11 yards (Haden Rimer kick) 10:47
2nd Quarter
Air – Bruce Staley 44 run (Rimer kick) 7:08
3rd Quarter
Air – Gilmore 5 run (Rimer kick) 10:13
Air – Staley 70 run (Rimer kick) 7:11
LR – Jamison Ganzy 11 run (pass failed) 1:17
4th Quarter
Air – Staley 18 run (Rimer kick) 11:52
Air – Nanders Lawrence 90 run (Rimer kick) 6:33
LR – Tyleek Sealey 2 run (pass failed) 1:43
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: Air: Bruce Staley 13-231, Nanders Lawrence 8-123, Markco Gilmore 14-78, SeQuan Washington 2-12. LR: Jamison Ganzy , Jeremy Barney 9-34, Mark Davis 6-37, Tyleek Sealey 6-39, Jabez Taylor 9-71.
Passing: Air: Gilmore 2-4-0- 55 yards. LR: Ganzy 8-22-2 94 yards, Davis 1-1-0 5 yards.
Receiving: Air: Bryce Rucker 1-55, Lawrence 1-5. LR: Fred Archie 1-11, Dustin McCombs 4-20, Nate Branch, 1-26, Taylor 1-14, Jalen Brown 1-5, Jurni Lucas 1-23.