Saluda football stuns Abbeville with late rally, advances to Class 2A title game

For the first time since 2014, Abbeville won’t be playing for a state football championship.

Noah Bell scored on a 1-yard run with 2:30 left as Saluda rallied to defeat Abbeville, 32-28, on Friday in the Class 2A Upper State championship.

Saluda faces Barnwell for the state title next Friday at 5 p.m. at Benedict College. The Tigers haven’t won a state title since winning back-to-back titles in 1962-63.

It was Abbeville’s first loss since 2017 and first home loss since 2014. The Panthers were trying to become the first team in state history to win five straight titles and led 27-17 with 8:38 left.

But Bell scored on a 4-yard run and then found Dallan Wright on a two-point conversion to get the Tigers within 28-25 with 5:34 left.

After stopping Abbeville on its next possession, Saluda got the ball on its own 32 with 3:52 left. The Tigers scored in just over a minute as Bell accounted for his fourth TD of the night. The Mr. Football finalist threw for 336 yards and two scores and also rushed for 70 and two more.

“We came here in ninth grade. We had a goal,” Bell told the Greenwood Index Journal following the game. “We knew Abbeville was the team to beat. They got the better of us the last couple of years, but they didn’t tonight. We wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. We knew we wanted Abbeville at Hite Stadium, and we took care of them.”

Wright led Saluda with 10 catches for 197 yards and two touchdowns.

Bell hit Wright on a 20-yard pass to get Saluda closer at 21-17 with 4:32 left in the third. Saluda was down 21-3 earlier in the third.

Tyrell Haddon put Abbeville up 28-17 on a 12-yard run with 8:38 left. Haddon finished with two scores. Navi Marshall led Abbeville with 121 yards rushing.

This story was originally published November 30, 2019 at 1:10 AM.