Blythewood Online 691

Category: Sports

  • Griffins Blow Through North Central, Region III

    Javin George (13) takes the pass from DeAndre Belton (3) and races for the end zone.
    Griffins’ quarterback DeAndre Belton (3) steps into the end zone.

    The Fairfield Central Griffins may not have had their strongest week on the practice field this week – at least to hear head coach Demetrius Davis tell the tale – and although the first half of football Friday night was rife with Griffin penalties, Fairfield Central nonetheless put Region III in their rear-view mirror with a convincing 57-6 beat-down of North Central.

    “A lot of penalties,” Davis said, reflecting on the 98 total yards surrendered to the yellow flag, 88 of which came in the first half. “I think our kids kind of relaxed once we knew we had the region (with last week’s 56-0 win over Pelion). As coaches, we’ve got to do a better job of coaching them not to play a game, but to play to get better. But North Central beating Columbia last week (33-28) actually made our guys pay a little more attention, but we still didn’t have a good week of practice and it showed today.”

    The win gives the Griffins an unblemished 5-0 region record and a first round bye in the Class AA state playoffs, which begin next week. Although the Griffins mostly cruised through Region III, Davis said he was not concerned about his team’s preparedness for tougher competition in the playoff bracket.

    “We probably played one of the most difficult pre-region seasons than anybody in 2A,” Davis said. “We’ve been battle-tested. We’re still young, and our kids are just now getting to the stage where they understand what it takes to be successful.”

    Indeed, the Griffins could be peaking at just the right time, and they showed it Friday night, in spite of the penalties.

    The Fairfield defense set things in motion for the scoring frenzy Friday when Davon Pearson intercepted North Central’s Grayson King at the Knights’ 31-yard line, killing North Central’s opening drive and unleashing an offensive explosion that in five plays had the Griffins in a first-and-goal situation from the Knights’ 5. Penalties slowed them somewhat, but Griffin quarterback DeAndre Belton set those troubles aside with a 15-yard touchdown run. Compton Walker, who was perfect off the tee Friday, added the PAT to make it 7-0 Fairfield Central with 7:34 left in the first quarter.

    The Knights were forced to punt away their next drive from their own 28 and the Griffins, starting from their own 14, used only five plays to take the ball to the North Central 31. On the sixth play of the drive, Belton hit George Javin with a 31-yard touchdown pass, and just like that, the Griffins were up by two scores.

    Fairfield Central hung another 22 points on the Knights in the second quarter, beginning with a 48-yard screen pass from Belton to Damien Bell on the first play from scrimmage to start the period. Bell also brought home the 2-point conversion to make it 22-0 with 11:48 left in the half.

    Although the Knights were able to get on the scoreboard with a 7-yard pass from King to Austin Furman with 3:23 to go, Bell answered with a 5-yard run with 36 seconds remaining to make it 29-6.

    “We want to play fast,” Davis said. “We want to score fast. We’re trying to get as many snaps as we can get. We play up-tempo. Coach (Ryan) Sharpe – all of our offensive coaches – coach (Kenneth) Lathan, coach (Terrell) Roach, coach (Jay) Schiedermayer, do a good job of putting us in position to make some plays, and we’ve got some good players, too.”

    Even the defense got a little taste of the blood before the clock expired in the first half when Kevin Bannister scooped up a William Jenkins fumble at the North Central 46 and hammered and diced his way into the end zone with 14 seconds remaining to give the Griffins a 36-6 first-half lead.

    Fairfield Central took their opening possession of the second half and in five plays sent Bell into the end zone once more, this time from 25 yards out with 10:57 on the clock. Another fumble recovery by the Griffins, this one at the North Central 40, would put their final scoring drive of the third into place. It took only two plays, one of which was a spectacular catch by Kewaun Squirewell, who leapt over his defender and snatched Belton’s pass out of the air at the Knights’ 9-yard line. Larry G. Bell polished off the drive with the 9-yard touchdown run with 8:04 to go in the quarter. Belton would throw for 274 yards on the night while contributing 97 yards on the ground with the kind of speed that looked almost otherworldly, like a magic trick.

    With no answer for the speed of the Griffins’ starting squad, the Knights also had little solution for the speed of the reserves who took the field mid-way through the third quarter. Piloted by sophomore Markelle Whittaker at quarterback, the Griffins second unit began the final scoring drive of the evening on their own 38. Whittaker, who rushed for 57 yards in a quarter and a half of play, led the Griffins to the North Central 2-yard line where sophomore Joseph Young capped the drive.

    The Griffins enjoy a week of rest to get healthy for round two of the playoffs, at Fairfield Central on Nov. 9, when they will play the winner of the Pelion-Crescent game.

    “We’re going to treat it as a regular week,” Davis said. “We’re going to practice. Instead of playing a game Friday night, I’ll give them Friday off, but we’ll be back in the office Saturday morning.”

     

    FC 14-22-14-7  57

    NC 0-6-0-0  6

    First Quarter

    FC – DeAndre Belton 15 run. Compton Walker kick. (7:34)

    FC – Javin George 31 pass from D. Belton. C. Walker kick. (3:59)

    Second Quarter

    FC – Damien Bell 48 pass from D. Belton. D. Bell 2 pass from D. Belton. (11:48)

    NC – Austin Furman 7 pass from Grayson King. Pass failed. (3:23)

    FC – D. Bell 5 run. C. Walker kick. (0:36)

    FC – Kevin Bannister 46 fumble return. C. Walker kick. (0:14)

    Third Quarter

    FC – D. Bell 25 run. C. Walker kick. (10:57)

    FC – Larry G. Bell 9 run. C. Walker kick. (8:04)

    Fourth Quarter

    FC – Joseph Young 2 run. C. Walker kick. (10:30)

    Team Stats

    FC                           NC

    First Downs        15                           7

    Rushes/Yards    30-283                   29-64

    Passing Yards     137                         40

    C-A-INT-TD         11-14-0-2             5-12-1-1

    Penalties/Yards                12-98                     3-25

    Fumbles/Lost    2-1                          4-2

    Individual Stats

    RUSHING: FC – Damien Bell 12-60. DeAndre Belton 5-97. Larry G. Bell 1-17. Timothy Gieger 1-7. Miles Pearson 1-8. Joseph Young 2-1. Markell Whittaker 6-57. JaVon Neal 3-43. NC – Reggie Outten 8-13. Grayson King 4-7. William Jenkins 13-41. Willie Taylor 3-6. John Bowers 1-(-3).

    PASSING: FC – DeAndre Belton 10-13-0INT-2TD 274 yards. Markell Whittaker 1-1-0-0 9 yards. NC – Grayson King 5-12-1INT-1TD 40 yards.

    RECEIVING: FC – Javin George 2-33. Damien Bell 2-50. Larry G. Bell 1-3. Kewaun Squirewell 3-52. Raheim McDaniel 1-20. NC – Anthony Spinelli 1-7. Austin Furman 2-13. J.P. Faulkenberry 1-20.

    Records: FC 5-0/8-2  NC 2-3/5-5

     

  • Lady Bengals Sweep Through Round One

    Tuesday night, the Lady Bengals volleyball team began their playoff run with a sweep (25-14, 25-13 and 25-14) of Fort Mill in the first round. Blythewood never trailed in the first two sets and fed off the home court advantage. Senior hitter Abreia Epps led the attack with a game high 16 kills.

    “We came out fighting,” Epps said. “Our home crowd was there to support us and that gave us a lot of energy.”

    Fort Mill came alive in the third set leading Blythewood by as many as five points at 10-5 and 13-8. However, the Lady Bengals were finally able to break the Fort Mill run when Blythewood senior setter Gabriela Martinez came up to serve. With Martinez serving seven straight points, the Lady Bengals took the lead and would never look back. In that stretch she served three aces and after the game head coach Mary Hall commended Martinez for her effort.

    “She (Martinez) had them confused,” Hall said. “Those aces down the line were a huge momentum changer.”

    Martinez finished the night with 30 assist and eight aces (both game highs).

    Blythewood improved their record to 36-5 and will host Riverside on Thursday night. Time of first serve had not been set at press time.

    Hall believes the quick turn around is an advantage for her team.

    “This schedule keeps us in sync,” Hall said. “The ladies are ready to play and we’re excited.”

  • The Wait is Over — Redhawks Notch First Win

    Davis King tosses a strike.

    Time was running out for the Redhawks. Winless so far this season, with the playoffs looming, they needed a victory to have any chance at postseason play. They got it Friday night in convincing fashion with a 27-7 over the Bulldogs at Camden.

    The win was also historically important, as it will forever remain the first football victory in the school’s history.

    Head coach Rodney Summers was optimistic before the game and knew what his team had to do to win.

    “We have to not turn the ball over,” Summers said. “The team who makes the fewest mistakes will win the ball game. They are struggling a bit like we are, so we have to keep them from running the ball down our throats like Flora did, and limit their possessions.

    “We’ll try to (keep the ball on the ground),” Summers said. “If they force us to throw, we will. There are a couple of our players who can run but haven’t proven themselves. Maybe they will tonight.”

    And run the ball Westwood did, and at least two players did, in fact, prove themselves: Christian Brown and Brandon Howard.

    Howard and Brown began to prove themselves early in the first quarter. On the first scoring drive, Brown ran the ball from deep in Redhawk territory to the 35-yard line of Camden. Passes from quarterback Davis King to Diamond Williams and Adonus Lee would lead Westwood to the Camden 20-yard line with 9:31 to go in the quarter. After a few unsuccessful plays and a costly penalty, Westwood faced fourth down and 10, still on the Camden 20-yard line. Kicker Brandon Howard kicked the field goal, giving Westwood a 3-0 lead with 7:44 to go in the first quarter. The field goal was the first kick of what would be a perfect kicking night for Howard.

    On the next two possessions, both Camden and Westwood would be forced to punt the ball. The Westwood punt was short, giving the Bulldogs good field position on the Westwood 40-yard line. Camden capitalized on the short punt when quarterback Ross Hough threw a 51-yard pass to Cedric Cook, who ran the ball into the end zone for a touchdown. Nelson Semple’s point after kick was good and Camden led at the end of the first quarter by a score of 7-3.

    Westwood’s first possession of the second quarter would begin with a touchback after a Camden punt. After good yardage by Westwood, another flag would come out. Despite the fact that the game’s penalties would overwhelmingly be against Westwood (13 penalties vs. only two against Camden), this one would be against Camden, bringing up first down for Westwood. The following play, Williams carried the ball all the way to the Camden 30-yard line with 9:30 to go in the half. Brown then rushed to the Camden 23, followed by a touchdown pass to Lee at 7:42 left in the half. Howard’s PAT put Westwood up 10-7.

    A good kickoff by Howard caused Camden to begin their possession on their own 21-yard line. Westwood’s tough defense held Camden in their own territory, ultimately bringing up a Camden fourth-and-1. Camden had no choice but to punt. Westwood took over on their own 28-yard line with 5:22 to go in the half.

    Westwood would charge down the field, thanks to excellent running by Brown and Miquelle Canady. With 3:17 to go in the half, Canady ran the ball 15 yards to the Camden 20-yard line. Three incomplete passes brought up fourth down and 10 and Howard continued his perfect night by kicking the ball through the uprights for his second field goal of the night. With 1:53 to go in the half, Westwood led by a score of 13-7.

    After the kickoff, Camden’s Dontrell Miller looked unstoppable as he headed for the Redhawks’ end zone, tightly clutching the football. Getting the blocks he needed and evading all defenders and running at full speed, Miller had but one defender left in his way – kicker Brandon Howard. Howard brought Miller crashing to the turf at mid-field with a submarine tackle, saving his team 6 points.

    Camden’s final drive of the half fizzled out when Hough was intercepted and Westwood headed for the halftime locker room in the lead for only their second time, 13-7.

    Camden received the second-half kickoff but was unable to get out of their own territory. While still on their own 41-yard line, Camden found itself in a fourth down and 1-yard situation. Camden made a risky gamble to go for the fourth-down conversion while far in their own territory, and the gamble did not pay off as they failed to convert and Westwood took over in excellent field position.

    Westwood took advantage of their good fortune and excellent field position. The Redhawks would score their second touchdown with a 25-yard run by Brown. Howard’s PAT was good, bringing the score to 20-7, Westwood.

    On their next possession, Westwood would again find itself in good field position after a fair catch on Camden’s 34-yard line. King connected with Vyncint Smith on the next play who carried it all the way to the Camden 1-yard line. The next play would result in the final score of the game when Canady carried the ball across the goal line for a touchdown with 5:31 to go in the third quarter. Howard’s point after kick made the score 27-7, Westwood .

    Westwood would run out the clock with neither team scoring again.

    After the game Summers told the team that if they play like they played tonight against Lower Richland, they would have to “pack a change of clothes,” meaning that they would be in the playoffs.

    “The biggest thing that made tonight is you didn’t doubt yourselves. You saw it through. You guys stepped up when other guys were down. These are the things right there that make a football team. This is only the beginning. Watch those movies, read those books that show how other teams have done it. It happens for real,” Summers said to his players.

    “Finally, finally. We stopped the turnovers. We’ll take it tonight. They are a tough team, but they didn’t get the breaks. We will rewrite things and get going in the right direction. Our special teams looked good, didn’t they?”

    They did indeed. The night was capped off with the traditional “Ice Bath” for Summers. Coach Bonneville was doused as well!

    The final regular game of the season is Friday, at home, against Lower Richland.

     

    Westwood                               3          10       14       0         27

    Camden                                  7          0         0         0         7

     

    Scoring

    First Quarter

    WHS-Howard 35 FG. (7:44)

    CHS-Cook 51 pass from Hough. Semple kick. (2:44)

    Second Quarter

    WHS-Lee 23 pass from King. Howard kick. (7:42)

    Howard 35 FG. (1:53)

    Third Quarter

    WHS-Brown 25 run. Howard kick. (10:01)

    Canady 1 run. Howard kick. ( 5:31)

     

    Team Statistics

                                                    CHS                WHS

    First Downs                            12                    21

    Rushes/ Yards                        26-78               43-210

    Comp-Attempts-INT                15-33-2            12-21-0

    Passing Yards                        166                  134

    Fumbles-Lost                          3-0                   1-0

    Penalties-Yards                      2-20                 13-97

     

    RUSHING: WHS – Brown 20-133, Canady 11-53, Williams 5-35. CHS – Hough 12-58, McKenney 1-9, Brandon Hampton 2-8, Miller 5-8, Slater 5-0, Cook 1-(-5).

    PASSING: WHS – King 12-21-0,134 yds. CHS – Hough 15-33-2,166 yds

    RECEIVING: WHS – V. Smith 5-80, Williams 4-21, Lee 3-33. CHS – Miller 7-81, Cook 7-75, Cooke 1-10.

  • Lady Bengals Wrap Up Region Title

    The Blythewood volleyball team wrapped up region play Tuesday night with a 3-0 (28-26, 25-9 and 25-9) win over Ridge View to become champions in region IV-4A. The Lady Bengals finish the year 35-5 overall and 10-0 in region play. After the game head coach Mary Hall could not have been more satisfied.

    “This season has been amazing,” Hall said. “It’s been everything I wanted it to be.”

    In the regular season finale, Blythewood was led in attacking by Abreia Epps with 11 kills. Meredith Jones and Dominique Williams added seven kills apiece. Gabby Martinez had a game-high 32 assists. Defensively, Epps had a team-high nine digs with BiJonae Jones chipping in seven.

    The Lady Bengals will now look forward to the state playoffs, which start Tuesday. Blythewood is ranked #2 in the state and should host a home game in the first round. Hall believes her team is ready for the playoff atmosphere.

    “This is a strong team,” she said. “The bonds are strong and hopefully we can continue to push through to the state championship.”

    It is anticipated that Fort Mill is the team on the horizon for the Lady Bengals. Starting tomorrow you can check scprepcountry.com or maxpreps.com for a copy of the playoff bracket.

  • Griffins Roast Shamrocks in Homecoming Blowout

    Fairfield Central’s Kalil Keitt (30) and Kevin Bannister (55) swallow up Eau Claire’s Takari Robinson (20).
    Larry G. Bell (28) follows the lead of Damien Bell (9) on his way to another first down.

    The Fairfield Central Griffins may have spit the ball up on their first possession Friday night, but it was their only real miscue during a homecoming game that quickly degenerated into a full-blow highlight reel as they toasted the Eau Claire Shamrocks 54-0 before the home crowd.

    “After that first fumble, I thought we played pretty decent,” Griffins head coach Demetrius Davis said. “Defensively, I thought we were assertive. I thought we set the tone early. We got our first shutout of the year. I thought defensively we came out and got after it pretty good.”

    The Griffin defense held Eau Claire to just five total offensive yards on the night, smothering the Shamrock passing game and holding all but two ball carriers for negative yards. The Griffins, meanwhile, chewed up 239 yards on the ground while passing for 121.

    “We threw the ball a little,” Davis said of his team that threw for 215 yards and four touchdowns last week at Columbia. “We threw a trick play in there early that we’d been working on. We’d been practicing it for about two weeks, so I thought it was time to run that.”

    The trick in question, a double-reverse pass from their own 49-yard line, struck pay dirt as Griffin quarterback DeAndre Belton took the second toss on the reverse and pitched it 51 yards to Keith Workman for the score with 2:53 left in the first quarter. Compton Walker’s kick put the Griffins up 21-0 at that point.

    Larry G. Bell ushered in the scoring frenzy for the Griffins on their second possession of the game with a 2-yard run with 7:00 on the clock in the first. Walker followed by returning the first of his two interceptions of Eau Claire quarterback Marquise Taylor 42 yards for the touchdown with 5:21 left in the first. Walker’s second pick came on the next Shamrock possession on a third-and-20 with 3:03 left at the Griffin 49, setting up the double-reverse pass. Daniel Maple would also rob Taylor with an interception in the second quarter at the Fairfield 21 with 3:23 on the clock.

    Maple’s pick set in motion a drive that would culminate in another scoring run by Bell, this time from 7 yards out just before the half.

    Eau Claire, meanwhile, did nothing to further their cause, fumbling punts, failing to cover live kickoffs and throwing into coverage. By the middle of the third quarter, Fairfield was able to run in their underclassmen, who, in spite of having a 48-0 lead, were eager to get in on the act. With 2;25 remaining in the game, freshman Miles Pearson added the exclamation point, rambling into the end zone from 5 yards out.

    With the meat of the region still ahead of them, Davis said the Eau Claires of the world present their own specific challenges.

    “It is hard to keep them focused,” Davis said. “When you get lackadaisical, that’s when you get hurt. Even though the score is what it is, we’re still practicing to get better. We’re not a very good football team right now, so we’re still working to get better.”

    The Griffins travel to Columbia next week to play a Keenan team that is playing with renewed vigor, in spite of their loss Thursday night to Columbia, 55-12.

    “Keenan is a very up and coming team,” Davis said. “Sometimes, with games like this, you have to bring your guys back down. We’ve got to come to work every day.”

     

    FC – 28-20-0-6  54

    EC – 0-0-0-0   0

    First Quarter

    FC – L.G. Bell 2 run. C. Walker kick. (7:00)

    FC – C. Walker 42 INT return. C. Walker kick (5:21)

    FC – K. Workman 51 pass from D. Belton. C. Walker kick. (2:53)

    FC – D. Belton 13 run. C. Walker kick. (0:00)

    Second Quarter

    FC – D. Belton 18 run. C. Walker kick. (7:59)

    FC – D. Maple 7 pass from D. Belton. Kick failed. (6:09)

    FC – L.G. Bell 7 run. C. Walker kick. (0:54)

    Fourth Quarter

    M. Pearson 5 run. Kick failed. (2:25)

    Team Stats

    FC                           EC

    First Downs        16                           3

    Penalties/Yards                4/35                       5/35

    Fumbles/Lost    4/1                         1/1

    Rushes/Yards    38/239                  23/5

    Passing Yards     121                         0

    C-A-INT-TD         6-8-0-2                  0-9-3-0

    Individual Stats

    RUSHING: FC – Damien Bell 16-109. DeAndre Belton 6-54. Larry G. Bell 5-16. Markelle Whittaker 2-9. Joseph Young 3-13. Miles Pearson 6-38. EC – Takai Robinson 3-(-3). Kareem Jones 7-19. Marquise Taylor 4-(-26). Michael Diggs 5-12. Tierrell Brown 4-3.

    PASSING: FC – DeAndre Belton 6-7-121 yards 0 INT 2 TD. Markelle Whittaker 0-1-0 yards. EC – Marquise Taylor 0-9-0 yards 3 INT.

    RECEIVING: FC – Tyren White 1-13. Keith Workman 2-64. Daniel Maple 1-7. Kewaun Squirewell 1-26. Javin George 1-11. Jaylen Copeland 1-0.

  • Softball league could put squeeze on facilities

    The first pitch for the new Blythewood girls’ softball league is still two months from being thrown out, but already the question hovering over the local athletic community is: Will there be enough to go around?

    Enough playing fields, that is; and that is the issue Blythewood Mayor Michael J. Ross has asked Bob Mangone to help alleviate before the league begins play Sept. 1. Ross recently tapped Mangone to chair a committee with the goal of formulating a plan to secure more playing fields.

    “The Blythewood Baseball League has three fields here (at Blythewood Park), but we need more,” Mangone said. “If we had more, we could run tournaments and still have fields for the local kids. I understand we had to turn kids away last year because we didn’t have enough facilities, and this year fewer kids applied.”

    Baseball is big in Blythewood, and Mangone said summer play runs into July and picks up again in August – right into a potential conflict with the Recreation Center’s proposed softball league.

    “I’m pushing for a softball league and I know it’s going to be a problem,” Jeff Brown, manager of Blythewood Park, said. “I don’t want to mess with the baseball program, but at the same time, we can’t discriminate.”

    Brown pointed out last week that it was the anniversary of the passage of Title IX, which mandates equal athletic opportunities for boys and girls.

    “We’re going to have a field for the girls,” Brown said. “It is a baseball/softball complex. Softball is a park-run program, and park-run programs have priority.”

    Looking to stave off any potential baseball-softball showdown, Mangone said the first plan would be to access a plot of land adjacent to the Blythewood Park offices. Three vacant mobile homes and a storage building currently sit on the property, which Mangone said could be considered an “eye-sore.” Still, he said, it would be preferable to acquire the land without a government “taking” of the property and his committee is working through the details of how best to do so.

    Meanwhile, the field behind Bethel Hanberry Elementary School could be upgraded and put into use by either the softball or the baseball league, something Brown agreed would be a relatively quick fix. Brown also said a field exists behind the Community Center that, with a little work, could also be brought back to life.

    “Basically, we have enough fields now to have tournaments,” Brown said, “but we could always use more.

    “There are enough fields. We’ve done it before,” Brown continued, referencing the championship softball banners that hang in the Recreation Center. “Title IX demands it, and there is a demand for it. We’re going to work something out so everybody is happy.”

    Mangone said his committee plans to hold a public forum on the issue in early August to seek input from the community.

    In the long-term, Ross said, fields could be included in Phase 2 of the Doko Meadows Park, but, he added, that would not come in time to accommodate the upcoming softball league.

    “It’s a tough situation,” Ross said. “We want more fields so that everyone can play, and not have to be there until 10 o’clock at night on a school night. That’s not fair to do that to the kids. If the people decide they would like ball fields in Phase 2 at Doko Meadows, we could do that. Right now, we’re working with the Richland County Recreation Commission to secure more fields.”

    Calls to Bill Trapp, president of the Blythewood Baseball League, were not returned at press time.