Swansea rally falls short
Swansea waited a little too late to find its footing. The Tigers rallied late, but came up short in a 27-19 loss to Midland Valley Friday night at Doug Bennett Field.
Midland Valley was playing with quarterback Daniel Carr, but got first half rushing touchdowns from Dre’Kwon Carr, D.J. Boyd and Jaquan McCorkle in racing to a 20-0 halftime advantage.
But sophomore quarterback Effix Miller, who was filling in for an injured Chance Walker, rallied Swansea in the second half. He threw two touchdowns and ran for another, but a big play by Boyd proved to be the difference.
The Mustangs had minus-9 yards offense on their first four second-half drives before Boyd ripped off a 74 yard run after the Tigers got within 20-13 with 5:41 remaining. Three plays later, Skylar Brown scored from 15 yards out on a reverse to seal the win.
Midland Valley (3-4, 2-0) has won two in a row after struggling in the non-region portion of the schedule. The Mustangs will host Brookland-Cayce next Friday. Swansea (2-5, 0-2) will try to bounce back at Aiken next week.
TURNING POINT
Midland Valley held a 13-0 lead late in the first half when Swansea fumbled in its own territory and the Mustangs Michael Brown recovered. Four plays later, Jaquan McCorkle scored from a yard out to give Midland Valley a 20-0 advantage at the half.
KEY PERFORMERS
Effix Miller: The Swansea sophomore quarterback was making his first start and he responded by going 20-for-25 for 277 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Two of his receivers went over 100 yards
Quaevon Cannon: Swansea senior running back had 170 yards on 37 carries.
KEY NUMBERS
6: Number of first downs for Midland Valley. They only had two in the second half.
157 and 113: Number of receiving yards for Tyler Hoffman and Dayyan Felder, respectively.
456 to 253: Swansea total yards to Midland Valley total yards.
THEY SAID IT
“It took us a little bit going offensively without Chance. We had to fill around a little bit but (Effix Miller) made some plays. This was his first varsity start with only two days of practice this week so I was pleased with his effort.” – Swansea coach Chad Leaphart
“We had two big plays and a bunch of field position. My disappointment is we weren’t able to get to the quarterback. We gave up so many yards but found a way.We have to learn to play with a lead though. I thought we relaxed.” – Midland Valley coach Rick Knight
HOW THEY SCORED
1st Quarter
MV – Dre’Kwon Carr 52 run (Thomas McCord kick) 9:45
2nd Quarter
MV – DJ Boyd 3 run (kick failed) 5:03
MV – Jaquan McCorkle 1 run (McCord kick) 1:36
3rd Quarter
S – Effix Miller 1 run (pass failed)
4th Quarter
S – Dayyan Felder 19 pass from Miller (Yenum Pena kick) 5:41
MV – Skylar Brown 15 run (McCord kick) 3:19
S – Tyler Hoffman 24 pass from Miller (no kick) 0:00
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: MV – Dre’Kwon Carr 16-110, Jaquan McCorkle 2-11, DJ Boyd 6-62, Skylar Brown 1-15. Swansea – Quaevon Cannon 37-170, Effix Miller 12-3, Dayyan Felder 3-(-1), Daquan Briggman 1-1, Marion Houser 1-6.
Passing: MV – Boyd 3-10-0-55. Swansea – Miller .
Receiving: MV – McCorkle 1-19, Zach Johnson 1-23, Stephon Morency 1-13. Swansea – Felder 9-113, Tyler Hoffman 9-157, Michael Rish 1-11, Nick Goodwin 6.
This story was originally published October 9, 2015 at 11:31 PM with the headline "Swansea rally falls short."