PLAYOFF ROUNDUP: Ground game carries Westwood to win over Conway
At Conway, tailback Rudy Mitchell went for 260 yards and two touchdowns and Andrew Plante finished with 57 yards and three scores to help Westwood defeat Conway 34-13 on Friday in the first round of the Class 4A, Division II playoffs.
Westwood travels to Northwestern next week.
As a team, Westwood rushed for 400 yards in the victory.
South Pointe 34, Richland Northeast 24
At Rock Hill, Greg Ruff hit Nick McCloud on a 5-yard TD pass to begin the fourth quarter to break a 24-24 tie as the defending state champions defeated the Cavaliers in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs.
The loss ends RNE’s season at 6-6.
RNE’s Barry Moorer rushed for 124 yards and his 32-yard run tied the game at 24 in the third quarter.
Tyquandre Davis had a TD reception and rushed for a score and Tim Gibson had a 40-yard fumble return for a TD for RNE.
Ruff was 19-of-31 for 248 yards for South Pointe.
Abbeville 31, Batesburg-Leesville 28
At Abbeville, JR Rapley scored on a 2-yard run on fourth down with 29 seconds left to lift Abbeville over B-L and into the 2A Division II Upper State final.
Rapley set up Abbeville’s game-winning drive with a big punt return, and then B-L was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct to move the ball to the Abbeville 35 with 3:26 left.
B-L trailed 24-21 going into the fourth quarter, but took the lead on Jaquarious Hair’s 55-yard fumble return. Hair also had a 39-yard TD pass from Mike Smith.
Smith had two TD passes, and Terrence Wilson added another run. Wilson finished with 85 yards in his final high school game.
Hartsville 35, Airport 10
At Hartsville, Matt Lynch scored twice and Brian Rivers also ran for two scores as the Red Foxes ended the Eagles’ season in the second round of the 3A Lower State playoffs.
Airport finishes the season at 10-2.
Rivers rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns, followed by Collins Bishop with 81 and Shy McPhail with 66. For the game, Hartsville rushed for 295 yards.
Josh Tucker had a TD pass for Airport’s lone score.
Fort Dorchester 28, Spring Valley 14
After a slow start, undefeated Fort Dorchester rolled in the first round of the Class 4A, Division I playoffs.
Sophomore quarterback Dakereon Joyner tossed four touchdown passes – three to Diondre Champaigne - and the Patriots overcame an early 6-0 deficit to improve to 12-0 on the season.
Second-seeded Fort Dorchester will host 10th-seeded Boiling Springs, a 48-28 winner over Ashley Ridge, in round two.
Spring Valley used a 14-play, 80 yard drive in the first quarter to take a 6-0 lead when quarterback Ryan Lee connected on a 12-yard pass to Cameron Jones. The Vikings then recovered an onside kick and continued to keep the Fort Dorchester offense off the field. Spring Valley ran 17 plays in the opening quarter to Fort Dorchester’s five.
Lee finished with 93 yards passing and Ty’Juan Fulton rushed for 85 to lead SV.
Fairfield Central 27, Woodruff 10
At Winnsboro, the Griffins scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns on their way to a win in the Class 2A, Division I Upper State playoffs.
Fairfield will play Newberry for the Upper State championship next week.
Jerrell Suber-Oneal, Stanley McManus and Troy Ruff each had TD runs for FC, and McManus also threw a TD pass.
McManus finished with 77 yards in the air. Suber-Oneal led FC with 110 yards on the ground.
Fairfield outgained Woodruff 289-71.
Newberry 51, Strom Thurmond 28
At Johnston, Yafari Werts and Amir Abrams each rushed for more than 200 yards and scored three times as the Bulldogs advanced to the Class 2A Upper State finals.
Newberry will travel to Fairfield Central next week.
Werts finished with 242 yards rushing and also threw for 110. Abrams finished with 207 on the ground.
Sumter 41, White Knoll 10
At Sumter, running back Quintein Anderson rushed for 150 yards and a TD, and Zykeem Jackson added 91 as the Gamecocks defeated the Timberwolves in the first round of the Class 4A, Division I playoffs.
Jackson also completed 7-of-10 passes for 117 yards.