Crestwood gets big win despite six turnovers

70 games still on tap for Friday

Wayne White Special to the HSSR Myrtle Beach – The North Myrtle Beach Chiefs (0-3) will host the Loris Lions (3-0) on Friday, Sept. 13 th with the kick off at 7:05pm. This makes the 54 th game of this rivalry. Last season, this game went to double overtime before Loris got the 27-21 win. Fans will be able to hear this game on the Charlie Stuart State Farm Chiefs Sports Network and watched live on the NMB Chiefs Facebook page as well as the Chiefs Sports Network's YouTube channel. The Chiefs come into this game winless for the season, with a tough loss to Goose Creek in Week Zero, followed by two close but losing effort games to Darlington then West Brunswick (NC) to put their record at 0-3. For this game, NMB’s third year head coach Greg Hill will count on senior Drew Prince RB (5-11, 170) to continue his 7.8 yards per carry average and add to his 3 TDs for the season. The Lions come off a 7-3 season last year and got to the first round of the playoffs. This is the fourth season for head coach Greg Mance who has 14 starters returning. Junior QB Zamire “Moon” Gerald and senior RB/WR/FS Quantez Dyson (5-11, 160) and junior WR/DB Jacobian Lewis (6-2, 170) are their keys on offense, while the defense is solid with junior HB/LB/DE Landon Connor (6-0, 225), junior DE Damarea Thurmond , and senior OLB/RB Javon Johnson (5-10, 210) anchoring the Loris defense. The Chiefs are playing their first season in Class 5A. Loris is in Class AAA. So far this season, the Lions are score over 30 points per game while NMB is putting up 20s. With a rivalry this long term and a double OT game last year, this should be an exciting game.  Loris will have a bye week for 9/20 and NMB will host Marlboro County that day.

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By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Columbia – In a battle of the top two SCISA AAAA teams (HSSR), top ranked Hammond rode the arm of senior Andrew Turner and a stifling first half defense to defeat second ranked Porter Gaud 27-15 Friday at Edens Field on the campus of the Hammond school. The win improved the Skyhawks record to 3-0 with the win, the Cyclones fell to 3-1 with the loss. Hammond will travel to rival Heathwood Hall (0-2) while Porter Gaud will host Augusta Christian (0-3). “Andrew is our team leader and his performance tonight was due to his off-season preparation. He got together with his receivers over the summer, they worked on timing, and it showed tonight. I could not be prouder of him or this football team,’ said Hammond head coach Jon Wheeler. The defense was equally as impressive in the first half as Turner and his offensive cohorts. Porter Gaud came into the game averaging over 400 yards a game on the ground led by the HSSR’s 50 th ranked player senior running back JJ Fludd . The Skyhawk defense, led by linebackers Jackson Ross and Brewer LaMotte and defensive tackle Levi Myers , held the Cyclones to 19 total yards while holding Fludd to zero yards rushing. They forced four punts and allowed only two first downs. “Defensively, we did a great job in the first half not allowing them to get anything going and that allowed us to get a big lead. Very proud of them for not giving up anything and for setting the tone for the game,” Coach Wheeler said. The game started out with both defenses controlling the line of scrimmage as the offenses together could muster only 20 yards between them and a single first down. Hammond took over at their 20-yard line on their third possession of the first half and after a running play netted zero yards again. The Skyhawks turned to Turner and the passing game. First, Turner would connect with senior wide out Jack Croft three straight times to move the Skyhawks to the Cyclone 39. Then on third and 9 Turner dropped back and lofted a pass down the left side where recent LSU commit Michael Tyler went up over the defender to make the catch and then sprinted into the endzone to complete a 38-yard touchdown catch. The point after was no good and the Skyhawks had a 6-0 led. Turner was 4-4 for 80 yards on the drive. On their next possession the Skyhawks would increase their lead to 13-0. Turner went 3-5 for 73 yards on the drive including his second touchdown pass on the night when hit a streaking Everett Edens for a 51-yard touchdown pass. The defense again did not allow the Porter Gaud offense any breathing room and forced another punt. Croft then set the Skyhawks up at the Porter Gaud 39 with a 22-yard punt return. It took the Skyhawks seven plays to travel the 39-yards including a fourth down pick when Kinson Holland picked up eight yards on a fourth and three. The run gave Hammond a first and goal at the Porter Gaud three. On second down Turner would toss his third touchdown of the half as he connected with Croft from three yards out. The PAT was good and the teams headed to the half we Hammond up 20-0. Porter Gaud received the second half kick off and the Cyclones showed that they were not ready to quit. The Cyclones, behind their road grading offensive line, went 80 yards in 15 plays (all runs) to finally crack the score board when Fludd scored from nine yards out to make the score 20-7. Fludd showed why he is one of the top running backs in the state as he carried the ball on 11 of the 15 plays racking up 69 yards. Hammond responded as all championship teams do by scoring on their next drive. Croft returned the kickoff 36 yard giving the Skyhawks a first down at their own 38-yard line. Turner was again the catalyst as he went 3-4 on the drive for 33 yards and he tossed his fourth touchdown pass of the game when he and Croft connected from 17 yards out. That pushed the lead back to 20 at 27-7. The final score of the game came when Fludd took a pitch going around the right end. He broke a couple of tackles at the line of scrimmage and then out raced the defense for a 73-yard touchdown run. After not gaining a yard in the first half, Fludd gained 167 yards and scored twice in the second half. Tony Brown converted the two-point conversion for the final score of 27-15. “I am proud of how we played in the second half. That is how we have to play for four quarters if we want to beat a team like Hammond. They are a great team and program and that is why they have so many state championship,” said Porter Gaud head coach Brad Bowles .

By WORTHY EVANS Special to the HSSR Columbia - Friday night’s game against former region rival Westwood was not necessarily a showcase game for Richland Northeast quarterback Will Wilson . He just did what he could to win. Wilson and his receivers gave the Cavaliers enough firepower for the defense to close out a 25-0 shutout of the Redhawks at Cavs field. “It wasn’t pretty, but it was efficient and it worked, so I’ll take it,” head coach Walt Wilson said. “We’re just trying to get better every time we touch the field.” With the win, RNE (3-0) is off to its best start since 2010. That year the Cavaliers started 4-0 and finished 7-5. Wilson, a North Carolina State commit, managed 206 yards and two touchdown passes on 21-of-29 passes. He threw one to Isiah Smalls from 10 yards out in the second quarter and tossed a 14-yarder to Blake Betette in the third quarter. Wilson also had 10 carries for 65 rushing yards. Westwood (1-2), which came off a 35-0 win over Lakewood last week, moved the ball consistently on the runs of Alberto Rios and occasional passes from Carrington Carter to several Redhawks receivers. Coming off a 1-9 season, Westwood head coach Robert O’Connell said that he sees a lot of progress in cutting out mistakes and moving the ball down the field. “If you told me before the game that we’d hold them to three scores on offense, I’d feel pretty good about our chance to win,” O’Connell said. “We talked about continuing to try to grow from it and continue to get better, which we have in the past three weeks. It didn’t turn out the way we wanted but the biggest thing in these non-region games is to continue to grow and improve.” The Cavaliers stayed with Westwood every step of the way, especially with Chris Asuzu’s interception return for a touchdown midway through the first quarter. Quarterback Carrington Carter looked to get a drive started on Westwood’s second possession. Instead, he threw a pass that got tipped and fell into the hands of Asuzu at midfield, and the wily defensive back dodged tackles and returned the pick to the end zone for RNE’s first score, at the 2:55 mark of the first quarter. When Westwood got the ball back, Carter led the way on a 13-play 66-yard drive to set up a 37-yard Cullen Henderson field goal attempt. Henderson’s kick fell a couple yards short of the crossbar and the Cavaliers took over at the RNE 21-yard line. From there Wilson put together his first scoring drive, connecting with Camryn Buckley , Isiah Smalls and Dillon Hughy to set up a second-and-4 at the Westwood 10-yard line. Wilson connected with Smalls, who ran in for RNE’s second score. The conversion pass failed, giving the Cavaliers a 12-0 lead with 4:21 left in the first half. Westwood punted on the next possession and the Cavs were at midfield when the first-half clock expired. The Cavs took possession to open the second half. Wilson led his team on an 11-play, 56-yard drive that Wilson capped with his 14-yard TD pass to Betette about three minutes into the second half. RNE failed to convert again, making it 18-0. Westwood went on a long drive that ended with a turnover on downs. RNE then sapped the clock on a long drive of its own. Darin Brown capped that drive with a 6-yard TD run, and the Cavaliers finally made good on a points-after attempt, even when slapped with two penalties that set the ball on the 23-yard line for the PAT. Placekicker Jorge Rodriguez put RNE up 25-0 with 6:53 left in the game when his low kick from 40 yards out cleared the crossbar by a yard. Next week the Cavaliers head to Nation Ford to take on the Falcons. Nation Ford fell 35-30 to River Bluff Friday night. “It’s a big challenge. They came here last year, we had them for homecoming,” Coach Wilson said about Nation Ford , whom RNE beat 41-38 last year. “I’m sure they’ve got some plans for us this year, but we’re just going to try to get better next week and do what we do.” Westwood is at Airport (0-2) Friday night. Orangeburg-Wilkinson beat the Eagles 14-9 Friday. Westwoood 0 0 0 0 – 0 Richland Northeast 6 6 6 7 – 25 First Quarter R - Chris Asuzu 50 interception return (kick failed) 2:55 Second Quarter R - Isiah Smalls 10 pass from Will Wilson (pass failed) 4:21 Third Quarter R – Blake Betette 14 pass from Wilson (run failed) 7:16 Fourth Quarter R – Darin Brown 6 run (Jorge Rodriguez kick) 6:53 WHS RNE First downs 12 19 Rushes-yards 32-100 21-93 Passing yards 88 206 Att-Com-Int 17-9-1 29-21-0 Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0 Penalties-yards 4-30 14-120 Punts-avg 1-46.0 1-15.0 RUSHING W – Angelo Rios 16-65, Quentin McGill Jr. 9-37, Carrington Carter 6-(-4), Kham Cunningham 1-1. R – Camryn Buckley 11-28, Will Wilson10-65. PASSING W – Carrington Carter 9-17-1. R – Will Wilson 21-29-0. RECEIVING W – Quentin McGill 4-24, Sean Goddard 3-40, Kham Cunningham 1-19, Angelo Rios 1-5. R – Blake Betette 7-74, Isiah Smalls 7-59, Dillon Hughy 6-65, Camryn Buckley 1-8.