Blog
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Dillon Defense Dowses Griffins’ Championship Hopes
Dillon’s Anthony Blue (3) is stopped short of the goal line as Fairfield’s Kevin Bannister (55) strips the ball free. Fairfield Central’s championship run of 2012 came to a crashing halt Friday night, dashed against that rock-solid behemoth out of the Lower State, Dillon High School. In their first state title appearance since 1997, the Griffins fell behind early at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium in Columbia and could not claw their way out of the hole, falling to the Wildcats 21-6 in the Class 2A/Division 1 championship game.
“We just couldn’t make enough plays,” Griffins head coach Demetrius Davis said. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to make plays to win these kinds of games. If we could have made a play to get things rolling – we’d run the ball down the field, get into the red zone and then get a tackle for a loss. We just didn’t do a good job of executing today.”
Dillon was led to the Promised Land by freshman quarterback sensation Avery McCall, who threw for 128 yards and three touchdowns, including a 23-yarder on the ‘Cats’ first possession. McCall hit Ereon Hayes in the end zone on a fourth-and-3 with 7:05 to go in the first quarter to give Dillon the early lead.
The Griffins responded on their ensuing drive, taking the ball from their own 41 to the Dillon 17 in three plays. From there, Damien Bell delivered the goods, hammering his way into the end zone for six. The point after wobbled wide, and the Griffins trailed 7-6.
That’s where the score would stay until midway through the second quarter, as the two heavy hitters felt each other out on the artificial turf.
A fumble recovery by Antonio Lewis at the Fairfield 43 gave the Griffins the first of several golden opportunities to rattle Dillon’s collective cage, but Fairfield gave the ball right back three plays later when Dorian Davis intercepted a DeAndre Belton pass at the Dillon 18, returning it to the 38 before being brought to the ground. Where the Griffins could not capitalize, the Wildcats followed through. Running back Anthony Blue plowed through the Griffin defense, pushing the Wildcats to the Fairfield 33. On first-and-10, the Wildcats called the reverse-pitch-pass, with McCall eventually hitting Blue with a 33-yard touchdown.
The Griffins, now trailing 14-6, would see another promising drive end in frustration on their next possession. Carried by the legs of Belton and Bell, the Griffins surged from their own 26 to the Dillon 35 in eight plays. Bell then broke free and darted to the Dillon 17, and it appeared as if Fairfield would soon close in on the Dillon lead. But Belton was picked off at the goal line, again by Davis, who returned the ball to the Dillon 27 with 3:15 left in the half.
The Wildcats wasted little time in bringing the hammer down, driving the ball all the way to the Fairfield 18 before the Griffin defense bowed its back, forcing a fourth-and-5. With 29 seconds to play, Dillon rolled the dice, and McCall, eluding a sack, found Ezra Lighty in the end zone.
It would be the final points of the game, for either team.
“He (McCall) is a good player. I’m scared that he’s a freshman,” Davis said. “He made a throw in the last couple of seconds in the first half that I hadn’t seen in a long time. This kid is about as poised as I’ve seen in a long time. Right now, he’s just having fun. I don’t think he realized the magnitude of this game tonight.”
The Griffins had opportunities in the second half to get back in the game, but couldn’t find the power switch to what had, for most of the season, been an electrifying offense. Dillon’s defense came up big in key situations, holding the Griffins short on a forth-and-1 at the Dillon 20 with 6:53 to go in the third quarter, as well as on fourth-and-8 at the Dillon 18 early in the fourth quarter and fourth-and-3 from the Griffin 38 with 6:42 to go in the game. The Griffins could also make no hay from two Dillon fumbles in the fourth quarter.
“It’s not like we didn’t have our opportunities,” Davis said. “Our defense played good enough for us to win this football game.”
Indeed, the Griffin defense shut out the Wildcats in the second half – but the Dillon defense returned the favor.
“We just couldn’t help them on offense,” Davis said. “All we needed was to get one score to open that lid in the second half and I think we could have won that football game.”
The Griffins finish the season at 11-3, holding the Region III crown and the Upper State title. With a solid core returning for 2013, Davis is confident moving forward.
“My kids never flinched,” Davis said. “They never quit. This is a moment our kids can learn from and come back and get to work. This was a good experience for my young kids. We’ll be back.”
DHS 7-14-0-0 21
FCHS 6-0-0-0 6
First Quarter
DH—Ereon Hayes 23 pass from Avery McCall. Tara Grimsley kick. (7:05)
FC—Damien Bell 17 run. Kick failed. (5:53)
Second Quarter
DH—Anthony Blue 33 pass from A. McCall. T. Grimsley kick. (6:36)
DH—Ezra Lighty 18 pass from A. McCall. T. Grimsley kick. (0:29)
Team Stats
FC DH
First Downs 15 17
Rushes/Yards 44-216 47-319
Passing Yards 94 128
C-A-INT 10-22-3 12-18-0
Fumbles/Lost 1-0 5-3
Penalties/Yards 5-26 6-51
Time of Possession 21:42 26:18
Individual Stats
RUSHING: FC—DeAndre Belton 16-68. Damien Bell 19-65. Joseph Young 7-51. Raheim McDaniel 1-0. DH—Anthony Blue 24-202. Joe Blue 16-96. Avery McCall 5-12.
PASSING: FC—DeAndre Belton 10-22-3INT. DH—Avery McCall 12-18-0INT 3TD.
RECEIVING: FC—Kewaun Squirewell 3-12. Raheim McDaniel 3-38. Kevin Workman 1-18. Javin George 1-11. Tyren White 1-9. Javaris Cook 1-4. Damien Bell 1-2. DH—Anthony Blue 3-39. Breon Page 2-40. Ezra Lighty 2-26. Pete Ingram 2-0. Ereon Hayes 1-23.
Class 2A/ Division 1 State Football Championship
Dillon-21 Fairfield Central-6
Winnsboro Gets Clean Audit
During last week’s Town Council meeting in Winnsboro, town Finance Director Kathy Belton confirmed Winnsboro is in a good spot financially.
“We are right where we should be,” Belton said.
Admittedly, compared to 2011 the town does have more expenditures but also has more revenue. In comparison to last year at this time the town has generated $66,064 more revenue. Town Council members approved the motion to grant all town employees with a Christmas bonus to be paid for out of the savings of the workman’s compensation fund. Last year town employees were given a bonus of $600.
Council also voted yes for one capital expense request and postponed another. The request approved was for a new HVAC system at the town ofWinnsboro’s maintenance shop. The existing system was installed in 1975 and certain replacement parts are no longer available. The low bid was won by John C. Stewart & Co. at $14,050 and councilman Clyde Sanders was in full support.
“We need to be able to provide a comfortable environment for the town’s employees,” Sanders said.
The capital expense request postponed was made by Jesse Douglas for a sewer line replacement. Town manager Don Wood said he would like to a little more time to review all the facts.
“We had some last minute information come up,” Wood explained. “We decided to table that request until the next meeting.”
As a part of new business, the council approved the proclamation for the Town of Winnsboro to adopt the S.C. Municipal Association’s legislative priorities for 2013. The proclamation confirmed that as of Nov. 20 the Town of Winnsboro will support the Municipal Association’s legislative priorities to encourage local decision making by the local elected officials that govern the state’s 270 cities and towns.
To close out the meeting, council members decided to donate to both Walk One’s and the Good Samaritan House’s Thanksgiving meals for the under-privileged.
Fairfield County Council Approves Board Members
In a meeting that approached a new record for its brevity, Fairfield County Council Monday night gave the OK to two new members for a pair of local boards before retiring into executive session. Council unanimously approved Frank E. McKinney for service on the Council on Aging, while Catherine H. Fantry was approved to serve on the Hospital Board with one abstention from Council member Mary Lynn Kinley (District 6). Kinley works for Fairfield Memorial Hospital.
With the end of the year approaching, Shryll Brown, Clerk to Council, told Council she was preparing a list of upcoming vacancies on County boards for the County to consider for nominations.
Council’s next scheduled meeting is Dec. 10 at 6 p.m.
Board Elects New Officers, Hears from Bond Attorney
With the swearing in of new member during their Nov. 20 meeting, the Fairfield County School Board also elected new officers for their 2012-2013 session. Newly elected members William Frick (District 6) and Paula Hartman (District 2), as well as re-elected member Annie McDaniel (District 4) took their oaths of office as the meeting got under way. Frick then declined a nomination by McDaniel for Board Chairman, a position that then went to Beth Reid (District 7). Frick was later elected Vice Chairman on a 4-3 vote over outgoing Chairwoman Andrea Harrison (District 1). Harrison was then unanimously elected Board Secretary.
The Board then received a report from Brent Jeffcoat, a bond attorney with the Pope Zeigler law firm in Columbia, and Mike Gallager, of Southwest Securities, on options for the District to raise money for a new career center.
Gallager said the District could issue three separate bonds over the next three years to raise the approximately $15 million estimated to be necessary to fund the new facility. Jeffcoat said issuing three bonds would allow the District to raise the fund without the need for a referendum and without millage rates going up to more than 22 mils.
Bonds issued in 2013 and 2014, Gallager said, would generate $1.5 million each, and a bond issued in 2015 would tack on an additional $12 million. From the 9.9 millage rate at which the District is currently taxing, the initial bonds would take that rate to 13 mils. By 2016 through 2025, the rate would be back down to 11 mils, Gallager said.
“This does get you very tight on your bond-debt capacity for a couple of years out,” Jeffcoat said.
“We don’t want to push you right up to the absolute edge,” Gallager added. “The last thing we want to do is build a new building and not be able to have it adequately equipped.”
McDaniel noted that the District was issuing operating bonds each year, and Gallager said that was not included in his calculation of proposed millage rates. The annual bonds would add about 9 mils to the original figures, he said.
Jeffcoat said future tax revenues from the new reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station were also not included in this plan, as they were not expected to begin impacting the County until, at earliest, 2016.
The Board also voted to move their December meeting to Dec. 11. The meeting will be held at Fairfield Central High School at 6 p.m.
Findings Don’t Mar District Audit
Nearly $1 Million Siphoned from General Fund
The Fairfield County School District received an “unqualified” report on its annual audit, a Spartanburg CPA told the Board during its Nov. 20 meeting, in spite of two minor findings and questions about a transfer of nearly $1 million from the general fund into the food services fund last summer for the purchase of new cafeteria equipment.
Chuck Talbert, a CPA with the McAbee, Talbert and Halliday firm, told the Board that the pupil activity fund had been operating in a decentralized manner, creating issues with internal controls over financial reporting. According to the audit, “There is a lack of segregation of duties at all schools related to pupil activity cash receipts and disbursements. This lack of segregation of duties is both in receipts and disbursements as the bookkeeper was responsible for collecting receipts, making the deposits, preparing disbursements and reconciling the bank statements.”
At Geiger Elementary School, auditors found “instances of missing support for bank deposits and instances of missing supporting documentation for checks.” Also at Geiger, auditors found “instances of bank reconciliations not being completed on a timely basis.”
At Fairfield Central High School, auditors found “a lack of segregation of duties involving bank reconciliation and documentation for checks drawn on the account; no approval of checks over $500 by the Office of Finance; lack of approval on invoices for payment of goods and services from the checking account; unable to locate canceled checks.”
These issues, the audit stated, “may be indicative of other internal control deficiencies for pupil activities at the schools.” But, Talbert told the Board, improvements have already been made.
“We have worked with administration and we concur with procedures they have taken going forward,” Talbert said. “Previously, much of the activity of the pupil activity funds was on a decentralized basis. That is now centralized. I really feel like that is a better control component, to have that centralized.”
Auditors also found minor issues with the District’s federal financial assistance, including Title I grants. Districts are required to check the Excluded Parties List System for vendors who have been suspended or debarred before expending money from federal programs, the audit states. The Fairfield County School District did not do so. As a result, the audit states, “The District could be subject to claims or future funding could be limited or suspended by the funding agency for failure to comply with the requirements.” Nevertheless, Talbert said, the District received a clean opinion on that matter as well.
The audit noted that the fund balance for the District at the end of the 2011-2012 fiscal year was $4,611,728 – down $179,584 from the 2010-2011 fiscal year, in spite of the District taking in $600,000 in additional tax revenue this year. This finding sparked questions from Board members about a transfer of $910,460 from the general fund into the food services fund last summer for the purchase of kitchen equipment for District cafeterias.
“That fund balance transferred over into the food service program was supposed to be approved by the Board,” Annie McDaniel said. She later confirmed that it was not.
Bobby Cunningham asked if the food service fund was supposed to be a self-supporting entity, and McDaniel said it was designed to be such. But Talbert said the District had changed the food services fund to a special revenue fund.
“If that occurred, the Board never took action on it,” McDaniel said.
Sheriff’s Office: Halloween Shooting will be Prosecuted
After nearly a month of discussions with the Sixth Circuit Solicitor’s Office, the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office this week said they had obtained a warrant and were pursuing charges against a Ridgeway man who shot a man from Cassatt, S.C. on Halloween.
According to reports from the Sheriff’s Office, the incident began as a domestic dispute on the morning of Oct. 31 at a home in the 6400 block of Smallwood Road. The victim in the dispute, a 19-year-old female from a nearby home also in the 6400 block of Smallwood Road, suffered bruises and swelling to unspecified parts of her body. Angered by the beating, the victim phoned two friends, including 28-year-old Kelvin Von Grant of Highway 1 N. in Cassatt, who arrived at the home at approximately 10:30 a.m. They backed their car, a Toyota Corolla, all the way up to the front door, got out of the car and began making threats against Bryston Christopher Harris, 26, the subject in the alleged domestic dispute. Witnesses at the scene reported the men said “they had 25 shots ready,” and they were going to “burn the house down.”
While Harris remained inside the home, the men from the Corolla tried to force their way inside. But Harris’s mother, 47-year-old Jeanette Simon, blocked their way. When the men began pushing her around, Harris reportedly picked up a double-barrel shotgun and fired a blast through the window of the front door. Grant and his unidentified accomplice scattered, jumped back into the Toyota and fled, Grant suffering from a gunshot wound to the shoulder. Grant and his driver were picked up a short time later in Kershaw County. Harris was charged with first-degree criminal domestic violence at the time. In the three and a half weeks since the shooting, investigators were able to compile enough evidence to tack on a charge of first-degree assault and battery. Harris’s arrest was still pending at press time.
Park Closing Leaves Landowner Baffled
County: No Consensus on New Lease
A park that has served the Blair community since 1985 is no more, prompting apologies from Fairfield County and leaving the property owner confused.
Fairfield County officially announced the closing of the Blair Community Park at 544 99 Road Nov. 6, citing in a press release an inability of the County to come to terms with the property owner on a new lease. But Felicia Trower, who has power of attorney for her mother, Nancy T. Young, the property owner, said the County never made a legitimate effort to reach a new agreement.
According to Davis Anderson, Deputy County Administrator, the County’s most recent seven-year lease expired in August. The County had been paying $1,200 a year for the property, which contained a basketball court, walking trail and playground equipment. County documents state that Anderson and Lori Schaeffer, Director of the County’s Recreation Department, met with Trower as early as July 20, 2009 to discuss a potential purchase of the property by the County. According to the documents, Trower requested between $200,000 and $300,000 for the plot, which Anderson said was no larger than 3 acres. The price tag was too rich for the County’s blood, and in September of this year, Sheila Pickett, Director of Procurement, spoke with Trower by phone to begin negotiations on a new lease, the documents state. According to the documents, Trower wanted $6,000 a year for a new lease and would not consider the previous price of $1,200 per year.
With no consensus in sight, the County opted to close the park. In late September, crews from the Public Works and Recreation departments removed all the equipment, the basketball goals, the concrete basketball court and the concrete walking trail. After 27 years of service, the park was gone.
But Trower said the County mishandled the entire process. She admitted that she never intended to sell the property and threw out a figure of $100,000 – not $200,000 or $300,000 – “in jest” because she knew it was unacceptable. The $6,000 figure for a new lease, she said, was only a starting point for negotiations; negotiations she said the County never followed up on.
Furthermore, Trower said, she doesn’t even know who Lori Schaeffer is.
“I’ve never heard of Lori Schaeffer,” Trower said. “I’ve never had a word with her.”
Trower said the County never even notified her that the lease was about to expire, but that it was she, Trower herself, who discovered that the lease was up and initiated contact with the County. Even then, she said, it took several phone calls to Pickett to get any kind of response.
“She (Pickett) asked me what I wanted for it,” Trower said. “I said $6,000. In the past, we had always negotiated it. When I told her (Pickett) $6,000, she never got back to me. I called her back again, and she told me the County was not going to renew the lease. I threw the figure out there thinking they would negotiate. But they didn’t. No one ever got back to me.”
A letter from Pickett on County letterhead, dated Sept. 10, 2012 and addressed to Trower, officially notified Trower of the County’s decision. Anderson said the County had been trying to work out a deal with Trower since July 2009. When the County ran two months over on the lease during the negotiation process, Anderson said, Trower was paid $200 by the County. A request by Trower for fencing around the property was denied, according to County documents. After the equipment was removed, the property was re-seeded for grass, the County said.
“Lori Schaeffer, Director of the Recreation Department, had the pleasure of speaking with the landowner on several occasions,” the Nov. 6 press release from the County states. “Lori said, ‘It is unfortunate that we could not reach an agreement for leasing the property to help the community’.”
Fairfield County Museum Hosts Christmas Open House Sunday
The Fairfield County Historical Society has set the date for the Museum’s annual Christmas Open House for Sunday afternoon, Dec. 2, from 4 to 7 p.m. There will be several new additions to the traditional event. A collection of Tim Wilkes’s Victorian silver and majolica ceramics will open the Museum’s new display space on the second floor, and antique piano expert Tom Strange will perform on and talk about the museum’s 1854 Newman and Brothers piano.
Wilkes was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. but grew up in Blackstock and Winnsboro. He served as a State House Representative for Fairfield and the surrounding areas for several terms during the 1980s and 90s. Mr. Wilkes says he began collecting antiques when he was in his twenties. He is also a painter in his own right, and quite knowledgeable about American artists. He has amassed several warehouses full of antiques, art, and jewelry, both American and from abroad. Since has retirement, he is planning to begin opening (several!) antique stores in downtown Winnsboro. We have all been peering through the papered windows and hope to see this happen soon, perhaps by Christmas.
Tom Strange of Greenville, Director of Research and Development at St. Jude Medical is the author of thirty eight patents and numerous papers covering all aspects of capacitor development, introducing new technologies at that continue to define state of the art in implantable medical devices for both pacing and arrhythmia correction. On the side, he is an authority on antique square pianos. He recently purchased an 1834 piano that turned out to be the companion instrument to the Museum’s 1854 Newman and Brothers piano, both from the Lyles family plantation. Tom will present a selection of period music on the Museum’s piano with an accompanying presentation on the history of the square parlor pianos of the Nineteenth Century.
In addition, guests will be regaled with the beloved performances of our community’s own musical talents. Scheduled are the Johnson family’s string and pipes quartet, Brian Ogburn’s bagpipes (perhaps also his silver flute), Kerry Matthews’s soprano tones, and the contemporary sounds of Jeanie Roundy, Lynn Douglass, Sue Miller, and others who make up the “Halfway There” performers. Other musicians not yet announced will join the lineup. Lastly, it wouldn’t be Christmas without the annual sing-along around the piano involving everyone capable of vocalizing to bring in the season!
The garden clubs of our town and country are preparing to festoon the halls and rooms in the spirit of the season. The Fairfield County Historical Society will provide refreshments for the public event. The annual event functions as our community’s traditional heralding in of the Christmas season.
Fairfield Schools Close Early Friday for Championship Game
On Friday, Nov. 30 the Fairfield Central Griffins will travel to Benedict College to take on Dillon High School for the 2A state title. Because the game is at 5:30, the school district will have a dismissal time of 1 p.m. for all district schools. Because of bus routes, Fairfield Elementary and Fairfield Magnet School for Math and Science will dismiss at 12:30. An early dismissal will minimize the likelihood that we will have students and supporters rushing to arrive at the stadium by the 5:30 kickoff. We want to ensure that we do all that we can to assist students and fans with safely traveling to and from the game venue.
The State 2A Division 1 Football Championship will be played Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Charlie Johnson Football Stadium, on Two Notch Road at Reed Street in Columbia. Tickets will be sold at Fairfield Central High School during business hours.
Admission price is $10. Children 5 & under free. Parking $10.