Midlands football roundup, scores: Region titles for some, heartbreak for others
Ridge View clinched a playoff spot in their first year in Class 5A with a 7-0 win over rival Blythewood on Friday night.
Ridge View will be the No. 2 seed in Region 4-5A after Northwestern clinched the region title with a win over Rock Hill.
“We knew when they put us in 5A and everyone started talking, but we knew we would be fine,” Ridge View coach Perry Parks said. “Been here six years and made the playoffs five times, so we didn’t change nothing because we were a different type of classification.”
Quarterback Andre Washington scored on a 1-yard run with 5:08 left in the third quarter for the game’s only score in a defensive battle between the two Richland 2 District rivals.
Both teams had a goal-line stand in the game, with Ridge View’s coming with the game in the balance in the fourth quarter.
Blythewood recovered a fumble at the Ridge View 40-yard line and drove it to the 3-yard line. On fourth-and-goal with 7:23 left, Bengals quarterback Angelo Donato was stopped at the 1-yard line by Ridge View’s Darius Footes.
Ridge View didn’t give the ball back to Blythewood, picking up first down after first down and eventually running out the clock.
Washington finished with 108 yards rushing as the Blazers had 198 of their 253 rushing yards in the second half. Ridge View held Blythewood to 116 yards of total offense.
Ridge View hosts Mauldin in a non-region game and has a bye in the final week before the playoffs.
Blythewood hosts Rock Hill on Thursday.
Lamar 50, CA Johnson 44 (OT)
The C.A. Johnson football team sat in the north end zone at Bolden Stadium with heads down, dejected and thinking about what might have been against perennial power Lamar Friday night.
With the Region 2-A title on the line, the upstart Green Hornets came up just short when the Silver Foxes got a 2-yard touchdown run by Rashad Johnson in overtime to claim the region title and No. 1 seed from the region in the upcoming playoffs. The Green Hornets finish second in the region and qualify for the playoffs as well.
“We took a powerhouse (to the limit). We weren’t supposed to be here,” C.A. Johnson coach Walt Wilson said. “They know they’ve been in a battle. My hats off to Lamar because they earn everything they get. One day, this program will take that step. We have to do all the little things right and some things will get where they need to be. In life, there’s no switch and sometimes we think it is. But I’m so proud of them.”
It looked like Wilson was going to take C.A. Johnson (4-1, 3-1) where they needed to be way sooner than anyone imagined. The Green Hornets took a 44-38 lead with a 77-yard scoring pass from Isom Harris to Desmond Martin with 4:40 to play and were poised to pull off the upset of the No. 2 ranked team in Class A.
But the Silver Foxes put together a methodical 11-play, 71-yard drive that ended with Tavaris Dolford’s 2-yard run with 17 seconds remaining that tied it at 44. The Green Hornets, who came in ranked No. 10, forced the extra period by stopping the two-point conversion in the backfield.
Lamar (4-1, 4-0) won the toss to start the overtime and elected to play defense first and it paid off. A holding penalty on the first play pushed the ball back to the 20-yard line and C.A. Johnson never recovered as Harris had to scramble on fourth down from the 25.
It only took the Silver Foxes two plays to score. Johnson took the handoff and powered in behind the left side of the line.
“We still have kids that have state championship rings,” Lamar coach Chad Wilkes said. “And we’ve had a bunch play in state championships, and they don’t have that. Down the stretch, that may have made a difference. We might have had a little bit more depth than they did. I’m proud with what we did with some kids with big-game experience and hopefully we have some bigger ones to play this year.”
Wilson was proud of the effort of his team, but he looked back at the missed opportunities the Green Hornets had early. Lamar turned it over six times total with five of those coming in the first half. Three first quarter fumbles came on three consecutive offensive plays, but C.A. Johnson could only convert those into 14 first half points.
“I looked at my offensive coordinator and he thought I was crazy,” “Wilson said. “I told him we would need 60 tonight. I was close. I know every time they turned the ball over, we should have taken advantage of it.”
C.A. Johnson didn’t trail until the third quarter. They jumped out to leads of 16-0, 22-8 and 30-14 behind the play of Harris, Martin and CeCe Bailey.
But Lamar, winners of two state title since 2016, responded. They pulled within 30-22 by the half and then scored on its first two possessions of the third quarter to take a 38-30 lead. Dolford scored on a 7-yard run and Tyler McManus added a 4-yard run to set the stage for the furious finish.
“This was good for them,” Wilson said. “Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to win. But I’m proud of them. We don’t give moral victories but like I told them, I’m still proud to be their coach.”
Gray Collegiate 34, Newberry 28
Running back KZ Adams rushed for 329 yards and four touchdowns as Gray Collegiate defeated Newberry in a matchup of top teams in Class 2A.
The win helps the War Eagles clinch the Region 3-2A championship. It is their third-straight region title.
Adams scored his fourth TD with about a minute left to give the War Eagles a 34-21 lead with a minute left.
Dutch Fork 21, Spring Valley 0
The Silver Foxes ran their unbeaten streak to 45 games in a non-region win over the Vikings. Jarvis Green ran for 87 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Will Taylor threw for 218 yards.
Receiver Antonio Williams threw a TD pass to Elijah Spencer and also had seven catches for 126 yards.
AC Flora 63, Dreher 0
Ethan Beamish threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as AC Flora clinched the Region 4-4A championship.
Markel Townsend also had two touchdowns, one defensively, as the Falcons led 56-0 at halftime.
Camden 52, Marlboro County 14
Jaffari Pearson ran for three touchdowns and running back Willis Lane had two as the Bulldogs clinched the Region 6-3A title.
Pearson was 6-of-10 for 123 yards throwing and also rushed for 28 yards. Lane finished with 128 yards rushing.
Camden led 37-7 at halftime.
Gilbert 55, Swansea 7
Quarterback Izayah Whiteside threw for 277 yards and four touchdowns and Gilbert did all of its scoring in the first half to move to 6-0 on the season.
Colton Mason added 105 yards rushing and three touchdowns and went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season. Gage Gunter had 118 yards receiving and a TD, and Chance Jennings caught two TD passes.
Chapin 35, Lexington 21
Hunter Sheppard threw for 220 yards and three first-half touchdowns as Chapin kept its playoff hopes alive.
Zavier Short had eight catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns and Matthew Becker also caught a TD pass. Bennett Galloway ran for 124 yards and a TD for the Eagles.
Reese Marcum threw TD passes to John Mark Deason for Lexington.
Hammond 49, Cardinal Newman 7
Whit Muschamp threw three touchdowns and CJ Stokes ran for two as the Skyhawks won their second straight game. Muschamp, the son of Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp, was 11-of-14 for 272 yards in the air.
Stokes rushed for 82 yards and receiver Cam Scott had four catches for 96 yards and two touchdowns. Jack Weston had three catches for 106 yards
Pelion 27, Edisto 0
Jacob Ozmanski had a 58-yard TD run and also threw a touchdown pass to Julian Tyler in Pelion’s win. The Panthers moved into first place in Region 5-2A standings with two games left.
Azwan James added a pair of rushing touchdowns for Pelion. The Panthers held Edisto to negative total yards of offense.
River Bluff 45, White Knoll 14
Riley Myers rushed for 212 yards and four touchdowns in the Gators’ victory. River Bluff can clinch a playoff spot with a win in its final region game against Lexington on Nov. 6.
Syracuse commit Kendall Long had a TD catch and the Gators had 425 yards of offense.
Kennedy Ramsey threw 2 TD passes for White Knoll.
Brookland-Cayce 24, Orangeburg-Wilkinson 0
Jordan Wise caught two touchdown passes and Will Way ran for a score as Brookland-Cayce wrapped up a playoff spot with a win at O-W.
The Bearcats will be the No. 2 seed from Region 5-3A. Wise TD catches came on passes from Tanner Staton and Skyler King.
Irmo 33, Lugoff-Elgin 14
Jaylon Chambers and Dylan Williams each had TD runs and Zeke Haire returned an interception for TD as Irmo moved a win away from clinching a playoff berth with a win over the Demons.
Westwood 52, Richland Northeast 6
Rashad McCain threw three touchdowns and Jayden Harrison returned a kickoff for a score and had a rushing touchdown in Westwood’s win.
AJ Reyes ran for more than 100 yards on ground and a TD and Chris Herrin had a defensive touchdown.
Lower Richland 43, Keenan 14
The Diamond Hornets picked up their first victory of the season and kept their postseason hopes alive with a win over Keenan.
Lamarion Pearson ran for two scores while Jeremy Barney and Robert Adams each had TD runs for LR. Monterrio Hood returned an interception for a touchdown.
Heathwood Hall 33, Wilson Hall 14
Ronnie Porter ran for three touchdowns and his brother Ronadrius added one in Heathwood’s victory.
Ronnie Porter finished with 290 yards rushing.
Richard Winn 80, Jefferson Davis 20
Zack Taylor threw three touchdown passes and also ran for a couple in Richard Winn’s victory.
Drew Spires caught two TD passes and Dru Caldwell, Joey Bannister and B Baker had TD runs for RW.
Chesnee 31, Airport 20
Nyquille O’Fair ran for two scores and had a TD pass for Chesnee.
Tyler Dasher threw TD passes and Immanuel Bovain had an 87-yard TD run for Airport.
Porter-Gaud 38, Ben Lippen 28
Will Owens had 128 yards and two TDs for Ben Lippen, which trailed 31-14 at halftime in the loss to the Cyclones.
Stryker Gandy threw for 154 yards and a TD and Jack Austin caught five passes for 110 yards for Ben Lippen.
Northside Christian 42, New Hope 20
On Saturday, Max McKenna threw for five touchdowns and ran for one in Northside’s win.
Batesburg-Leesville 52, Saluda 28
On Saturday, Marvin Gantt ran for 187 yards and four touchdowns and the Panthers benefited from eight Saluda turnovers in the region win.
B-L now moves into second place in Region 3-2A standings. Amah-Dre Leaphart added two rushing touchdowns for the Panthers.
This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 11:36 PM.
