Daniel does it again, takes down Camden to claim Class 3A high school football title
Camden got another shot to knock off Daniel in a high school football state championship game.
But for the second year in a row, the Lions proved to be the best in South Carolina in Class 3A with a 45-20 win over the Bulldogs on Friday at Benedict College’s Charlie W. Johnson Stadium. It was Daniel’s seventh championship in school history.
“Great season by these guys. I am so proud for making it to this game,” Camden coach Brian Rimpf said. “We ran into another good Daniel team again. .Just made too many mistakes to try and come back on them. But I am proud of this team, and I am so proud of them for all the adversity they fought through. Back-to-back state championship appearances, I am proud of them.”
It was the second straight year the two teams met in the state title game. Daniel won 52-31 a year ago at Spring Valley High’s Harry Parone Stadium.
Getting back to the title game was no easy task for Camden, which lost 15 starters from the 2020 team and was hit by a rash of injuries this season to five skill players at the quarterback, running back and receiver positions. The Bulldogs rode a tenacious defense and a revamped offense to make back-to-back championship appearances for the first time since 2001-02.
“To make it here, just shows the heart of the rest of them and how well they filled in,” Rimpf said. “Guys that weren’t starting at the beginning of the year had to fill and get us to this point.”
Camden showed its resiliency in the title game. After falling behind 24-7 at halftime, the Bulldogs got within two scores twice, including 24-14 after Katrez Bracey’s 56-yard touchdown on a reverse with 9:54 in third.
Camden got to the Daniel 17 on the next drive and just missed a touchdown pass from Grayson White to Anthony Lyles. Then the Bulldogs missed a field goal.
Daniel put it away with a Trent Pearman TD pass to Jayden Brown-Wallace and a 71-yard TD run from Misun Kelley to make it 38-20 with 4:34 left.
Kelley also had 11 catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns.
“I just wanted to make plays, make plays and keep working hard,” Kelley said. “I knew they were going to fight back. They are Camden and did that last year. We just had to keep making plays.”
Pearman, the 2020 S.C. Gatorade Player of Year, was 27 of 36 for 272 yards and four touchdowns. In two title games, he was 56 of 69 for 744 yards and 10 TDs. The Lions won Pearman’s last 24 starts at quarterback.
“The first thing I’m going to say is how much I am going to miss him,” Daniel coach Jeff Fruster said of Pearman. “I said the same thing about Tyler Venables when I lost him. Somebody else will pick up. But at the same time, what he was able to do as a two-year starter at Daniel High School will be unrivaled for some time.”
White, who started the year on the defensive line for Camden, threw for 175 yards, ran for 90 and had two touchdowns.
Daniel vs. Camden 2021: How they scored
1st quarter
DANIEL: Shane Forrester 37-yard field goal
CAMDEN: JaQuarius Mayrant 18 yd pass from Grayson White (Van Blank kick)
DANIEL: Misun Kelley 12 yd pass from Trent Pearman (Shane Forrester kick)
2nd quarter
DANIEL: Kelley 14 yd pass from Pearman (Forrester kick)
DANIEL: Tory Shaw 1-yard run (Forrester kick)
3rd quarter
CAMDEN: Katrez Bracey 56-yard run (Van Blank kick)
4th quarter
DANIEL: Jaylen Brown-Wallace 26-yard pass from Pearman (Forrester kick)
CAMDEN: Grayson White 1-yard run (Van Blank kick blocked)
DANIEL: Kelley 71-yard run (Forrester kick)
DANIEL: Brown-Wallace 48-yard pass from Pearman (Forrester kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — C: White 19-90, Myrant 8-81, Bracey 1-56, Lyles 3-51, Hickmon 4-32, Parker 2-4. D: Shaw 17-81, Kelley 1-71, Pearman 3-5.
PASSING — C: White 19-36-2 175. Mellichamp 0-1-0. D: Pearman 27-36-0 272.
RECEIVING — C: Lyles 9-82, Bracey 5-37, Mayrant 3-46, Jordan 2-10. D: Kelley 11-112, Brown-Wallace 8-111, Merck 4-27, Swinney 3-16, Shaw 1-6.
This story was originally published December 3, 2021 at 5:09 PM.
