River Bluff stays perfect, tops last year’s win total. Dutch Fork wins in Georgia
River Bluff passed its toughest test of the season Friday night — and surpassed its win total from a season ago.
Sophomore quarterback Parker Murray threw for three touchdowns and running back Cooper Johns ran for two and caught one in the Gators’ 49-6 win over Irmo.
With the win, the Gators are 3-0 on the season after winning just two games last season.
“Great way to come back from a losing season last year. .... It feels great to be 3-0. We just gotta keep it up,” Johns said.
Irmo played the game without star quarterback AJ Brand, who suffered an ankle injury in last week’s win against Lancaster. Brand was in a boot Friday and said he hopes to return to action in two weeks for the Yellow Jackets’ next game against Hartsville.
Without Brand, Irmo relied on running back Eric Tucker, who carried the ball for much of Irmo’s first drive, which lasted more than 13 minutes and resulted in a 26-yard field goal that put the Jackets up 3-0 with 8:22 left in the second quarter.
It took River Bluff just one play after the kickoff to respond as Johns scored on a 74-yard run to make it 7-3. Irmo answered with another field goal to get within 7-6.
But Murray hit Stephen Collier on a 22-yard touchdown to put the Gators up 14-6 with 10 seconds left in the second quarter. The Gators poured it on in the second half with 35 points.
“We got in the locker room (at halftime), said some things, but we had to come out and compete,” Johns said.
Johns finished with 135 yards rushing and Gray Herring added 109 and a TD. Murray was 5-of-7 for 37 yards.
Irmo quarterback Mason Burdette was 9-of-13 passing for 136 yards. Telvin Smith had six catches for 114 yards. Tucker finished with 87 yards rushing.
Dutch Fork 21, Creekside (Ga.) 13
Jarvis Green ran for two touchdowns Dutch Fork extended its regular-season winning streak to 41 games with a win over Creekside (Ga.) on Saturday in the Cam Newton Classic in Atlanta.
Dutch Fork (3-0) has beaten teams from three different states - North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia over the first three weeks.
The Silver Foxes played without starting quarterback Aliam Appler, who missed the game with a shoulder injury. Green, Landon Danley and Jonathan Hunt all took snaps at QB.
Green finished with 177 yards on 16 carries. His second touchdown put the Silver Foxes up 21-13 with 1:59 left in the third. Creekside had a chance to tie on final possession but Jaylen Hinton picked off a pass on the Silver Foxes’ 30-yard line.
Dutch Fork picked off four passes.
Danley had Dutch Fork’s other touchdown, a fumble recovery to put Dutch Fork up 14-0 in the first half. He also had an interception and seven tackles.
South Atlanta 48, Gray Collegiate 35
Quarterback Riley Staton threw for a career-high 401 yards and three touchdowns in the loss for Gray Collegiate on Saturday at the Cam Newton Classic.
The defending state champions drop to 0-3 and are at Camden next week.
Staton was 21-of-30 passing. Jamarious Lockett had six catches for 152 yards and a TD.
Running back BJ Montgomery rushed for 115 yards.
Gaffney 14, Hammond 7
Hammond’s bid for an upset victory came up just short Friday in a matchup of two of the top public and private school programs in the state.
Gaffney’s Quashon Tate scored on a 5-yard run with 1:28 left in the game to knock off the Skyhawks, the defending SCISA 3A champions. Gaffney is the defending Class 5A champions among public schools.
Hammond trailed 7-0 going into the fourth quarter before Dylan Richardson’s 60-yard pass to Omari Bennett tied the game with 6:30 left. Richardson was 9-of-17 for 110 yards. Bennett had four catches for 101 yards.
But Gaffney asnwered with a 14-play, 80-yard drive to win the game. The Skyhawks had a chance to tie but Hoey Kaliber picked off Richardson to end it.
Gaffney quarterback Grayson Loftis, a Duke commit, was 16-of-31 for 163 yards.
Ridge View 46, Lower Richland 14
Quarterback Donald Tomlin threw for more than 300 yards and had four touchdown passes as the Blazers (2-1) overcame an early deficit to defeat the Diamond Hornets (1-2).
Lower Richland led 14-10 after Nate Branch’s 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
But Ridge View answered with Tomlin’s 29-yard TD pass to Adonis McDaniel to make it 17-14. Tomlin added an 88-yard touchdown pass to Zion Agnew to make it 24-14 just before halftime. The two connected in the third quarter on a 29-yard pass to make 33-14.
Marcus Kelly and Braylon Boyd also had TD runs for the Blazers.
Northwestern 65, Brookland-Cayce 31
Northwestern broke open a close game in the second quarter with 21 straight points to defeat the Bearcats.
The Trojans led 22-14 after the first but scored three touchdowns to lead 43-14. Zion Arnold rushed for 94 yards and three scores. Quarterback Greer Hopkins threw for two TDs and ran for one.
Deshawn Washington led B-C with 178 yards rushing. Quarterback Tanner Staton and Jadyn Johnson each ran for two TDs.
White Knoll 35, Colleton County 14
Jesse Ross ran for two touchdowns and caught a TD pass as White Knoll moved to 3-0 on the season.
The Timberwolves led 35-0 at the half. Ross finished with 89 yards rushing. Quarterback Landon Sharpe threw for 112 yards and two touchdowns.
Lexington 28, Stratford 14
Quarterback Taiden Mines scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 40-yard run in the third quarter to give the Wildcats (2-1) their second straight win.
Lexington led 14-0 at the half before Stratford tied the game at 14 with 6:25 left in the third. The Wildcats answered on the next drive with Mines’ TD.
Jalen Berry returned an interception for a touchdown to cap Lexington’s scoring.
Mines was 16-of-23 passing for 206 yards and two touchdowns. Kamadi Maxwell had 7 catches for 88 yards and a TD. Jerrod Mewborn had 3 catches for 78 yards and a TD.
Gilbert 66, South Aiken 31
Alias Graham-Woodberry and Jalen Allen-Hendrix each ran for three touchdowns as the Indians moved to 2-0 on the season.
It was career win No. 100 for Gilbert coach Chad Leaphart, who coached at Swansea before becoming the Indians’ head coach.
Graham-Woodberry rushed for 257 yards on 20 carries. Allen-Hendrix added 139 yards as Gilbert rushed for 478 yards in the game.
Chapin 28, Spring Valley 10
Brady Albro threw two touchdown passes as the Eagles (2-1) handed the Vikings their second straight loss.
Nolan Beaman also had a TD run for Chapin.
Hartsville 36, Camden 29
Hartsville scored a TD and two-point conversion to take the lead with 1:52 left and handed Camden its first loss of the season.
Camden took a 29-22 lead with five minutes on a Grayson White touchdown run. But the Red Foxes’ McKendrie Douglas scored on a 4-yard TD and ran in the two-point conversion to make it 30-29.
Camden (2-1) had a chance to win it but turned it over on downs. Douglas added a touchdown on the final play of the game to cap the scoring.
J’Shawn Anderson added two TD runs for Hartsville (2-0).
White, Camden’s quarterback, ran for two touchdowns and also threw a TD pass to Jaquarius Mayrant.
Airport 21, Butler (Ga.) 6
Quarterback Kyle Chavis threw three touchdown passes, two to Apollos Cook, as the Eagles (1-2) gave new coach Andre Cook his first win as a head coach.
Chavis was 7-of-11 for 203 yards passing. Cook caught six passes for 170 yards.
Keenan 36, Richland Northeast 22
Stephen Howard rushed for three touchdowns and Hernandez O’Neal added a 42-yard run as the Raiders (1-2) picked up their first win.
RNE quarterback Will Wilson threw a TD pass and ran for two scores.
Cardinal Newman 58, Trinity Collegiate 46
AJ Reyes rushed for 315 yards and six touchdowns as the Cardinals gave first-year coach Cory Helms his first win.
Reyes also had four two-point conversions. One of his TDs went for 85 yards to put the Cardinals up 58-40 with 9:05 left.
Quarterback Duncan Skehan was 7-of-9 passing for 137 yards and a TD to Logan Busenlehner.
Blythewood 53, Westwood 8
The Bengals claimed the Battle of the Axe with a dominating performance over their Richland 2 rivals.
It was Blythewood’s first win over Westwood since 2016. The two teams haven’t played since 2019.
Running back Kinson Holland had his second straight 100-yard game. Quarterbacks David Herndon and Harrison Collins each threw TD passes. Holland finished with 151 yards rushing.
Jacob Gary had an interception return and Zarion Williams returned a fumble for a touchdown. Edward Robinson had four sacks and a forced fumble.
Saluda 39, Ninety Six 15
Quarterback Jonah McCary ran for two touchdowns and threw for one as top-ranked Saluda goes to 3-0 on the season.
Running back Brayden Williams led the Tigers with 153 rushing yards and a TD.
Ben Lippen 30, Pinewood Prep 27
The Falcons rallied from a 27-15 deficit with nine minutes left to move to 3-0 on the season.
Taevian Copney had three touchdowns including the game-winner with 58 seconds left for Ben Lippen.
Bethlehem Christian (Ga,) 16, Heathwood Hall 12
Patrick Belk had two TD runs in the Highlanders road loss.
Northside Christian 41, Orangeburg Prep 36
Sam Burks and Gaven Ford each had two touchdowns as Northside went to 3-0 on the season.
Burks had a TD catch and run while racking up 90 total yards of offense. Ford led Northside with 87 yards rushing.
JR Kinard sealed returned an interception for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to give the Crusaders a 41-29 lead.
Clinton 34, Newberry 20
Bryson James rsuhed for two touchdowns and also returned a kickoff for a score in Clinton’s victory.
James finished with 72 yards on 11 carries.
Zai Sims ran for 125 yards and a TD for Newberry (0-2). Quarterback Bryce Satterwhite threw for 123 yards and two scores.
Pelion 20, Eau Claire 13 (Thursday)
Carlos Rivera ran for 92 yards and a TD as Pelion moved to 3-0 for the first time since 2001.
Michael Cotrell added a TD run and quarterback Luke New rushed for 92 yards and threw a TD.
Christian Anderson ran for a touchdown and quarterback Samir Holloway had a TD pass to Rickie Murray for Eau Claire.
This story was originally published September 2, 2022 at 11:41 PM.
