WINNSBORO – Over the past 12 hours, there have been rumors of threats of violence toward multiple schools throughout South Carolina, to include a school in Fairfield County (Fairfield Central High School). The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office has been investigating these rumors since they have surfaced and have found no substantiated or credible threats thus far. However, in the interest of alleviating any concerns and/or fears that students, staff, and parents may have, the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office is providing an increased law enforcement presence in our schools throughout the day.
Sheriff Montgomery: “Although these are just unconfirmed rumors, we want to ensure everyone that we do take these seriously. I’ve directed our personnel to have an increased presence in our schools today. While many counties are dealing with this same issue this morning, we should always err on the side of caution, especially when these types of rumors involve our children. Again, I want to ensure everyone that our increased presence on school campuses today is merely a safety precaution. We have no reason to believe that there has been a direct threat to any of our schools.”
WINNSBORO – More than 700 students, friends and family members attended the funeral for a 15-year-old Fairfield Central High School student that was held on Tuesday at the high school.
Beaufort
Mykel Rodriqus Hampton Beaufort died when the car he was driving collided with another car on Highway 34 near Pine Top Road on Dec. 26, around 5:20 p.m.
“I’ve had the opportunity to get to know Mykel in the Griffin Bow Tie Club,” School Superintendent J. R. Green said. “Two words exemplify Mykel – humble spirit. He was a very respectful young man. His parents did an exceptional job raising him.”
Green said Beaufort was also a member of the band and played football, soccer, basketball and baseball.
“It is very hard to say goodbye to a student. I love every one of them,” FCHS Principal Tracie Swilley said. “Mykel was a model student who exemplified Griffin P.R.I.D.E. in the school, on the court, on the field and in the community. We will miss him terribly and will never forget him.”
BLYTHEWOOD/WINNSBORO – The three local high schools – Blythewood High School (BHS) and Westwood High School (WHS) in Richland 2 School District and Fairfield Central High School (FCHS) in Fairfield County School District – show varying results on the 2017 statewide, standardized tests used to determine the State Department of Education’s (SDE) annual report card scores.
ACT SCORES
2017 Average ACT Scores
All eleventh graders were given the ACT college readiness assessment test last spring. Scores for English, reading, math and science as well as a total score for all four subjects combined can range from 1 to 36; writing scores range from 2-12. FCHS’s total ACT score improved from 15.8 in 2016 to 16.3 in 2017, BHS’s total score decreased to 18 in 2017, down from 19.2 in 2016; and WHS’s 2017 composite ACT score of 16.2 was slightly decreased from its 2016 score of 16.4.
COLLEGE READY
The report cards also show the percentage of students deemed college-ready by meeting ACT benchmark scores for each of the four subjects tested.
Benchmark score for English is 18. That score was met by 38.4 percent of BHS students; 24 percent of WHS students and 22.8 percent of FCHS students.
Benchmark score for math is 22. That score was met by 20 percent of BHS students; 9.4 percent of WHS students and 13.2 percent of FCHS students.
Benchmark for reading is 22. That score was met by 29.9 percent of BHS students; 17.5 percent of FCHS students and 16.2 percent of WHS students.
Benchmark for science is 23. That score was met by 19.5 BHS students; 8.5 percent of WHS students and 7.9 percent of FCHS students.
Not as many students met the college-ready benchmarks in all four subjects tested by the ACT. That number was 11.7 percent of BHS students; 4.9 percent of WHS students and 3.2 percent of FCHS students.
SAT SCORES
Average 2017 SAT scores
Participation in SAT test taking is on a volunteer basis. Improvements in the 2017 SAT scores over 2016 could not be determined because the SAT was redesigned for this year using a different scale. For 2017, the highest score for each individual section on the SAT is 800 and the highest total score is 1600. The following chart is based on those scores.
END OF COURSE SCORES
End of Course Tests – Percent with scores 60 or above
The End-of-Course Examination Program (EOCEP) provides tests in high school core courses and for courses taken in middle school for high school credit. The core courses are: Algebra 1 / Math for the Technologies 2, English 1, Biology 1, and US History and the Constitution. Statewide, almost 75% percent of students passed all subjects with a score of 60 or above.
ACT WorkKeys
Percent of students meeting Platinum, Gold or Silver thresholds for WorkKeys, 2017
According to the SDE website, the ACT WorkKeys® is a job skills assessment system measuring «real world» skills that employers believe are critical in the workplace. Like the ACT, It is given to 11th graders. The assessment consists of three sub-tests: Applied Mathematics, Reading for Information and Locating Information. Students can earn certificates at the Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze level on WorkKeys assessments.
GRADUATION RATES
The 2017 report cards show that South Carolina’s four year graduation rate increased to 84.6 percent, an all-time high and a two percent increase over the previous year. BHS’s graduation rate soared to 97.3 percent; FCHS’s graduation rate is 91 percent and WHS’s rate is 80.1 percent.
The school report card data is available on the SDE’s website and a new tool makes it very easy to see all the information for each individual district or school.
The current report cards do not give an overall district and school rating of “excellent, good, average or at-risk” for 2017. However, the 2018 report card will be revamped to meet the requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act and the state’s new accountability system. Schools will not be rated for state accountability purposes until the fall of 2018 when the state will transition to a single accountability system.
Fairfield Central head coach Demetrius Davis said he was expecting to see a different football team get off the bus from Cheraw than the team that took a lick and laid down back on Sept. 21, when the Griffins thumped the Braves 43-8. And that’s what he got.
These Braves were seasoned, hungry and relentless, and had the Griffins down 3-0 in the second quarter. These Braves found a way to put the brakes on Fairfield’s juggernaut offense, play keep-away and slow the tempo down. But the Griffins found their legs before the half and stretched out a win in the second chapter, 27-10, to advance to the upper state championship game next week.
“It’s the first time we’ve trailed since Union (Sept. 14),” Davis said. “I think to be able to play in the playoffs, you’ve got to be able to face a little adversity and still have the confidence to win. At the end of the day, you have to believe you can win and our kids believe they can win.”
After dueling to a scoreless draw in the first quarter, the Braves got on top with a 32-yard field goal by James Davis with 7:32 left in the second. The drive, which began with 28 seconds to go in the first quarter on the Cheraw 36, could have ended much differently. Having chewed up the Griffin defense to drive the ball to the Fairfield 10, the Braves lined up to go for a fourth-and-1. An illegal procedure penalty on the delayed snap cost the Braves 5 yards, however, and forced the kick.
The Griffins responded with a clock-consuming drive of their own, starting at their own 27. Riding largely on the back of Damien Bell, the Griffins marched to the Cheraw 30 before the Braves forced a crucial third-and-10. Then Fairfield quarterback DeAndre Belton hit Kewaun Squirewell with a 27-yard pass, all the way down to the Cheraw 3, setting up Bell’s 1-yard touchdown run moments later.
The Griffins had an opportunity to add to their 6-3 lead late in the half, but Belton coughed the ball up at the end of a 19-yard run at the Fairfield 45.
“(Belton) had a big fumble right there at the half, and I hate to see that,” Davis said. “He’s such a good player, I want him to be free at all times and I don’t want him to have stuff in his mind, so I went to him and told him to move on and just play. He was able to shake it off. I’m so happy he’s on my team and I get to coach him again next year.”
Stymied on a fourth-and-goal from the Cheraw 3 on their opening possession of the second half, the Griffin’s relied on their defense to hold the Braves deep. Compton Walker fielded the punt at the Braves’ 41 and returned it to the 17, setting up a three-play drive that Belton finished off with a 6-yard run. Walker’s kick put the Griffins up 13-3 with 5:37 left in the third quarter.
But the Braves were not going to collapse in round three of the playoffs the way they had in week five of the regular season, and an unusual turn of events put them right back in the ball game.
Facing a fourth-and-7 from their own 48, the Braves lined up to punt the ball away. The punt was blocked by Mitchell Crosby and rolled deep into Cheraw territory. Following a wild scramble, the officials ruled that a Griffin had, momentarily, recovered the ball, but had fumbled it back to Cheraw, giving the Braves new life on their own 17. It was the opening they needed, and the Braves capitalized, driving 83 yards in 17 plays to close the gap to 13-10 on a 2-yard run by Justin Chapman with 9:26 left in the game.
The Griffins responded once more, with Daniel Maple taking the ensuing kick at his own 35 and returning it to the Fairfield 47. Belton and the Bells drove the ball to the Cheraw 22 before the Braves forced a fourth-and-2 and Davis rolled the dice. The Braves bit on the long count, jumped off sides and gave the Griffins a first down at the 17. Still, the Cheraw defense hung tough, putting the Griffins in another fourth down situation, this time 5 yards shy at the 12. Belton rolled out in the bootleg and hit Larry G. Bell with a touchdown strike to put Fairfield up 20-10 with 4:45 remaining. Bell would hammer in the final nail one minute later with a 20-yard run against a gassed Cheraw defense.
“That’s a good football team there,” Davis said of Cheraw. “We were fortunate tonight. I’m glad our kids were prepared for a tough football game, because we were able to respond. I told them it’s tough to beat a team twice. They’ve got all the film they need just from watching the last game. We probably could have done a few things differently here and there, but at the end of the day, we won.”
The Griffins will host Newberry next week for the opportunity to represent the upper state in the title game Nov. 30. Newberry beat Central 21-14 Friday night.
FC 0-6-7-14 27
CH 0-3-0-7 10
Second Quarter
CH – James Davis 32 FG. (7:26)
FC – Damien Bell 1 run. Kick failed. (2:32)
Third Quarter
FC – DeAndre Belton 6 run. Compton Walker kick. (5:37)
Fourth Quarter
CH – Justin Chapman 2 run. Davis kick. (9:26)
FC – Larry G. Bell 12 pass from D. Belton. C. Walker kick. (4:45)
FC – L.G. Bell 20 run. Josh Bell kick. (3:46)
Team Stats
FC CH
First Downs 12 13
Rushes/Yards 40-188 37-140
Passing Yards 90 69
C-A-INT 6-7-0 9-23-0
Penalties/Yards 6-55 4-26
Fumbles/Lost 2-2 1-0
Individual Stats
RUSHING: FC—Damien Bell 23-92. DeAndre Belton 10-60. Larry G. Bell 7-36. CH—Justin Chapman 21-71. Deion Sanders 1-3. Xavier Taylor 7-24. John Cooks 2-4. Randall Watson 1-12. Robert Pitts 5-26.
RECEIVING: FC—Damien Bell 1-(-5). Kewaun Squirewell 2-80. Kevin Workman 1-3. Larry G. Bell 1-12. Javaris Cook 1-0. CH—Justin Chapman 5-36. Winston Martin 2-10. John Cooks 2-25.
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)
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.
