Larry Gamble
Photo Editor, HSSR
Photos from 87th The Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas, high school All Stars from North Carolina and South Carolina met at Spartanburg High School for this showcase game.
The North Carolina Tarheels team coached by Johnny Sowell from Monroe High School and the South Carolina Sandlappers team coached by Wayne Farmer from Calhoun County High School seemed very well matched. During the opening ceremony many players were introduced with the added comment, "a verbal commit to..." many excellent next level schools. Many times the 5000 fans in attendance heard familiar schools like North Carolina State, South Carolina, Clemson, Appalachian State, South Carolina State, even Army, Air Force, and The Citadel. With next level caliber talent on both sides of the ball, the question was which coach can bring a group of strangers together and form a cohesive team in 5 days.
Starting slow, South Carolina put the first points on the board with a 33 yard FG by Coleman Franzone (James Island HS) and that was the only scoring in the first half. North Carolina's Nolan Hauser (Hough HS) attempted a 52 yard attempt with 6:56 left in the 1st Quarter but fell just short of the uprights. Neither team managed to get their offense fired up in the first half.
Coming out for the second half, South Carolina got the ball first, but could not find a way to score. Both sides traded punts or turn overs until Matthew Wilson (Rock Hill HS) connected on a 43 yard TD pass to WR Christian Zachary (Calhoun County HS)follow by Franzone's PAT to give South Carolina a 10-0 lead with 3:31 remaining in the 3rd Quarter. Defenses for both squads seemed to command the field all for the first three and a half quarters.
Late in the 4th Quarter, Wilson connected to WR Braylon Staley (Strom Thurmond HS) who turned a short gain pass into a 41 TD and with another Franzone PAT put the South up 17-0 with 2:10 remaining. Kick off to the North, the second play of the drive, DB Quay'sheed Scott (Marion HS) picks off a Whitt Newbauer (Cardinal Gibbons HS) pass at the North Carolina 34 and returned it 31 yards. With 1:20 remaining in the game, Traevon Dunbar (Midland Valley HS) scores from 3 yards out and the Franzone PAT is good to be the final score of the game and South Carolina a 24-0 victory.
MVP's for the game were:
North:
- Nolan Houser K/P from Hough HS (12 punts, 512 total yards, Avg 42.7 yds, longest 65 yrds, 1 KO 60 yds, and 1 FGA)
- Landon Callahan DB from Reagan HS ( 8 tackles, 1 assist, 1 INT)
South:
- Matthew Wilson QB from Rock Hill HS (8-14-1 passing for 163 yards and 2 TD)
- Zantwan Nelson DB from South Pointe HS (4 tackles, 1 TFL)
After the game, HSSR reporters got a chance to talk with North Carolina coach Sowell who said, "this was my second time around, I did it in 2010. We all want to win the game in the end but this game is more important than that, it's about raising money (to help the Shriners) and those kids." When asked about building a team in a week, "it's a tough job and definitely the defense is going to come together ahead of the offense."
This 87th playing of the North South Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas was a defensive game that punctuated by a handful of key plays that made the difference.
After the game, South MVP Matthew Wilson, QB from Rock Hill HS, had this to say about playing in the Shrine Bowl. “This was a great experience, getting to meet the kids, and to learn what the Shriner’s do.” When asked what his next step is, Wilson replied that “I need get back into the weight room to stay fit and be ready for my college move in day on Jan. 10th.”
The South Carolina coach told this HSSR reporter, "this was a team event, and we came out and won as a team." When asked about his change up in the second half and focusing more on the run game, Coach Farmer said, "Going into half time, we knew we had two missed opportunities to put points on the board. So, we knew coming back out, we need to run the ball, move the sticks, and run the clock." "That was our game plan, and then we got that big pass to Zachary. So you know, it worked." Asking Coach Farmer about the challenge of bringing a football team together in just a few days, he had this say. "These guys came in individually on Sunday, a lot not knowing each other aside from social media, they bonded right away and they worked hard, they played hard, they gelled, and they came for business. I am just proud of them."
Scoring: 1 2 3 4 Total
NC Tarheels. 0 0 0 0 0
SC Sandlappers. 3 0 7 14 24
NC SC
First Downs: 3 20
Rushing 3 10
Passing 0 9
Penalty 0 1
Net Yards Rushing: 56 132
Rushing Attempts 22 45
Average per Rush 2.5 2.9
Rushing TD's 0 1
Yds Gained Rush 75 173
Yards Lost Rush 19 41
Net Yards Passing: -7 231
Comp-Attpt-Int. 5-23-1 15-28-2
Avg. per Attempt. -0.3 8.3
Avg. per Completion -1.4 15.4
Passing TD's 0 2
Total Offensive Yards: 49 363
Total Offense Plays 45 73
Avg Gain per Play 1.1 5.0
Fumbles: Number-Lost 1-0 3-1
Penalties: Number-Yds 4-35 6-39
Possession Time: 23:04 36:56
1st Quarter 08:29 06:31
2nd Quarter 05:00 10:00
3rd Quarter 4:46 10:14
4th Quarter 4:49 10:11
Third Down Converts 0-13 5-15
Fourth Down Converts 0-0 1-2
Red Zone Scores-Chances 0-0 2-2
Touchdowns 0 1
Field Goals 0-0 1-1
Sacks Number-Yrds 2-21 1-6
Forced 3-and-Outs 3 10
Total TD's 0 3
PAT kicks 0 3
Field Goals 0-1 1-1
Points off Turnovers 0 7
High resolution prints and digital downloads from this event are available at www.LarryGamble.com by
clicking this link to the photos.
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