Midlands playoff roundup: Camden wins shootout. Hammond back in state title game
Camden and Brookland-Cayce have two of the top offenses in the Midlands, and it showed Friday night in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs.
Camden quarterback Jaffari Pearson ran for four touchdowns and threw for another as the Bulldogs held on in the final seconds to defeat the Bearcats 52-44 at Zemp Stadium. Camden will head to Oceanside Collegiate next week.
Camden’s Joseph Byrnes had two interceptions, including one with less than 30 seconds left. The game lasted more than 3 1/2 hours and featured almost 1,000 yards of offense several tense moments between the two teams.
“It got wild, that is a good way to put it,” Camden coach Brian Rimpf said. “TV games always seem to be wild. It was a three-and-half hour football game and we were on the field for a long time. I’m proud of the guys for the resilency we showed. We had to show resilency all week. One of our teammates (John Hawks) was in car accident and has been in the hospital so tonight we had to show come resilency and come through.”
Hawks, a backup running back for Camden, and his sister were involved in a car accident on Monday. Hawks’ sister died in the accident while Hawks suffered internal injuries and has variety of surgeries so far. Hawks spoke to his team via video chat on Thursday and his teammates had his No. 24 jersey on the sidelines.
Pearson was 7-of-10 passing for 105 yards and a TD to go along with 78 yards on the ground for Camden, which led 32-7 early in the third quarter.
Willis Lane’s second touchdown of the game put Camden up 52-36 with 3:56 left in the game. Lane finished with 181 yards on the ground. The Bulldogs decided to go for two-point conversion but failed; that left B-C down by only two scores.
On B-C’s next possession, quarterback Tanner Staton hit Jordan Wise on a 78-yard pass on fourth-and-19 for a touchdown. Will Way ran in the two-point conversion to make it 52-44 with 2:44 left. Staton was 13-of-25 for 237 yards, two touchdowns and also ran for two scores. Way added 126 yards and two scores.
The Bearcats recovered the onside kick and had a chance to tie the game. B-C got down to the Camden 17-yard line. But after a penalty and a sack backed them up, B-C tried a double reverse pass that was picked off by Joseph Byrnes with 22 seconds left to seal the win.
Hammond 31, Augusta Christian 0
In the SCISA 3A semifinals, running back CJ Stokes ran for 100 yards and three touchdowns and Cannon Dorsey recovered two fumbles to lead the Skyhawks back to the state championship game.
Hammond will go for the state title next Friday against Laurence Manning at Charleston Southern University.
Laurence Manning 18, Ben Lippen 13
In the SCISA 3A semifinals, Gabe Harris ran for two touchdowns and threw another as the Swampcats advanced to the championship game for third time in last four years.
Stryker Gandy had two TD passes to Will Owens for Ben Lippen, which scored with 15 seconds left but couldn’t recover the onside kick.
Richard Winn 22, Andrew Jackson 16
In the SCISA 8-man semifinals, the Eagles jumped out to a 22-8 halftime lead and advanced to the state title game.
Zack Taylor had two TD passes before leaving the game with an injury. Dru Caldwell threw and caught a TD for the Eagles.
Dutch Fork 42, Summerville 7
In the Class 5A playoffs, Will Taylor ran for two touchdowns and threw for one as the top-ranked Silver Foxes extended their unbeaten streak to 46 games.
Taylor finished with 206 yards passing. Senior Elijah Spencer had eight catches for 114 yards and a TD. Running back Jarvis Green added 75 yards and two touchdowns.
River Bluff 14, Fort Dorchester 12
In the Class 5A playoffs, River Bluff scored 14 first-half points and held on to win on the road and advance. Tailback Riley Myers rushed for 155 yards and a score, and Thomas Powell threw a touchdown to QB Jackson Stone on a trick play.
The Gators held Fort D to 78 yards passing in the game.
TL Hanna 28, Ridge View 20
In the Class 5A playoffs, the Blazers jumped out to a 14-0 lead but couldn’t pull the game out on the road.
Andre Washington had a TD pass, Jordan Smith and Darius Footes each ran for touchdowns in the loss. TL Hanna rushed for more than 350 yards.
Irmo 43, Westside 35
In the Class 4A playoffs, the Yellow Jackets went on the road and knocked off the fourth-ranked team in the state for their first postseason win since 2012.
Irmo took the lead with 8:10 left on a TD and two-point conversion by Dylan Williams and sealed the game with an interception with 1:12 to go. Williams finished with 127 yards rushing and 102 passing with two rushing TDs. Dedrick Starkes rushed for 127 yards and a TD and Jayon Chambers added 66 yards and two scores.
AC Flora 41, Travelers Rest 0
In the Class 4A playoffs, Chris Lofton and Markel Townsend each had two touchdowns in the Falcons’ first-round victory.
Ethan Beamish threw a TD pass and Tyrell Coleman had a TD run in the win. Bryce Bankhead intercepted two passes.
Gilbert 48, Lake City 12
In the Class 3A playoffs, Colton Mason ran for 253 yards and four touchdowns to help the Eagles advance. Gray Leaphart and Jaden Allen-Hendrix added rushing TDs for Gilbert.
Gilbert QB Izayah Whiteside threw for 125 yards and a TD.
Wren 28, Fairfield Central 26
In the Class 3A playoffs, Wren stopped the Griffins on a two-point conversion with 5:04 left to help seal the first-round win.
Wren’s Zorian Young had 124 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns, including one to put the Hurricanes up 28-20 with 11:04 left. Fairfield answered with Will Barber’s 9-yard run but the conversion failed. Barber finished with 76 yards and two TDs.
Fairfield QB Stephon Gadsen rushed for 199 yards and threw for 55 with two total touchdowns in the loss.
Abbeville 56, Batesburg-Leesville 0
In the Class 2A playoffs, Abbeville continued its shutout streak against S.C. schools this year with a win over the B-L.
Abbeville has only allowed 21 points, all in one game against Christ School, a team from North Carolina. Abbeville’s Tyrell Haddon ran for two TDs, Navi Marshall returned had a punt return and rushed for a TD.
Chesnee 14, Newberry 12
In the Class 2A playoffs, the Bulldogs rallied from 14-0 deficit in the fourth quarter but were stopped on a two-point conversion with five minutes left.
Craig Austin scored on a 10-yard run for Newberry to cut it to 14-12 but Zy Epps’ pass fell incomplete on the conversion. KJ Robinson also had a TD run for the Bulldogs. Nyquille O’Fair and Camden Burns had first-half TD runs for Chesnee.
Gray Collegiate 47, St. Joseph’s 22
In the Class 2A playoffs, KZ Adams rushed for 175 yards and four touchdowns and also had 70 yards receiving for Gray. QB Tre Robinson threw for 175 yards and Kamarre Johnson had two sacks and returned a fumble for a touchdown.
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Pelion 12, Phillip Simmons 7
In the Class 2A playoffs, Jacob Osmanski had a go-ahead 88-yard kickoff return in the second-half and sealed the game with an interception.
Azwan James had a TD run for Panthers, who rushed for 310 yards in the game.
Spring Valley 30, Lexington 7
In a regular season game, DQ Smith threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns to help the Vikings past the Wildcats.
Tysean Osby had four catches for 104 yards and PJ Ulengchong kicked three field goals. SV finishes the year at 3-4.
Chapin 41, Mid-Carolina 25
In a regular season game, Jayden Bradford threw three touchdown passes and ran for one as the Eagles won the “Battle for the Bell” to cap their season.
Bennett Galloway and Conner Lehman also had TD runs for Chapin, which finished the year at 6-2.
Keenan 34, Columbia 0
In a regular season game, Marquece Williams rushed for 212 yards, a TD and also caught a 50-yard TD pass for the Raiders (2-5).
Joseph Gilmore and Marquel Jackson each had TD runs and Javion Robinson returned interception for a TD.
South Florence 35, Lugoff-Elgin 27
On Thursday in a regular-season game, LaNorris Sellers threw for three TDs and ran for one in South Florence’s win in the season finale for both teams. Tyler Dixon ran for two touchdowns for L-E and Jamari Harris threw a TD and ran for one. The Demons finish the season at 2-4.
This story was originally published November 14, 2020 at 12:10 AM.
