Ridge View, Camden, Saluda earn spots in state football semifinals
Camden rode its punishing ground game to a trip to the Class 3A Upper State championship.
The Bulldogs rushed for 351 yards and got big performances from Willis Lane and Mikah Davis to defeat Union County, 42-27, in the third round of the Class 3A playoffs.
Camden will travel to Chapman next week in the Upper State championship. It’s the Bulldogs’ first state semifinal appearance since 2002.
Running back Willis Lane rushed for 215 yards and went over 2,000 for the season and Mikah Davis accounted for five touchdowns in the win.
Davis rushed 111 and three scores and caught four passes for 32 yards and two touchdowns.
Quarterback Jafari Pearson was 13-of-18 passing for 178 yards and three touchdowns.
Saluda 56, Southside Christian 42
Noah Bell ran for three touchdowns and threw for a pair of scores as Saluda advanced to the Class 2A Upper State championship.
The Tigers travel to defending champion Abbeville next week.
Saluda also returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, the second one put the Tigers up 49-35 in the fourth quarter.
Bell finished 22-of-30 for 297 yards passing and also rushed for 74. Dallan Wright caight seven passes for 201 yards and and two touchdowns.
Montrevious Baker and Tyleke Mathis returned kickoffs for scores. Baker also rushed for 94 yards and a TD.
Myrtle Beach 35, Airport 10
Myrtle Beach rallied from a 10-0 deficit to defeat Airport in the third round of the 4A playoffs.
The Sehawks will host Hartsville for the Lower State championship next week.
Back-up quarterback Ryan Burger threw for three touchdowns and Xayvion Knox ran for two in the win.
Airport led 10-0 in the first quarter. Kenyatta Drafts had a 45-yard interception for a score and Hayden Rimer kicked a 19-yard field goal.
Ridge View 35, Daniel 28
For the first time in more than a decade, Ridge View football is headed to state semifinals.
Andre Washington threw two touchdowns to Jordan Smith and the Blazers defense forced four-first half turnovers to defeat Daniel on Thursday in the third round of the Class 4A playoffs.
Ridge View travels to Wren next week in the 4A Upper State championship. It is Ridge View’s first trip to the state semifinals since 2007. The Blazers haven’t made it to the state title game since 1998.
It was the second meeting of the season between the Lions and the Blazers. Daniel won, 45-26, on Sept. 20.
Ridge View jumped out early and converted a Daniel fumble into an Adrian Ross TD run. Ross finished with 87 yards rushing. The Blazers made it 21-7 in the second quarter on Miquel Mason’s interception return for a touchdown.
Leading 28-21 in the fourth quarter, Cincere Scott scored on a TD run to make it 35-21. Daniel answered on Tyler Venables’ 2-yard run to cut the lead to 35-28 with 1:15 left. But the Blazers recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.
Venables threw for 327 yards, two touchdowns and also ran for two scores but was picked off three times.
Washington was 10-of-16 for 122 yards. Smith had four catches for 95 yards.
The Seneca Journal’s Eric Sprott contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 21, 2019 at 9:50 PM.
