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.
Fairfield Central running back Damien Bell prepares to apply the stiff-arm to the Newberry defender.
Antonio Lewis (8) and the Griffin defense work to bring down Newberry’s Tyon Williams.
‘Instant classic’ may be a somewhat overused cliché, particularly among sports writers, but Friday night that’s exactly what the last two teams standing in the Upper State half of the Class 2A/Division 1 bracket delivered to the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd at E.K. McClendon Stadium in Winnsboro.
The hometown Griffins of Fairfield Central scored late in regulation on a 4-yard run by Damien Bell to tie the Newberry Bulldogs at 21-all and force overtime. On second-and-goal in the spare frame, Bell scored from 1-yard out on the Griffins’ first possession of the Kansas City Shootout, and the Fairfield defense held solid to seal the win, 28-21.
As the fans swarmed the field, reluctant to leave the battleground, second-year Griffin head coach and Fairfield County native Demetrius Summers was ecstatic.
“This is what I imagined,” Davis said, sweeping his hands across the sea of reveling fans, “to have a full house here supporting their Griffins. To give Fairfield County something to be proud of. That’s why I came back here.”
Friday night’s showdown was a brutal knockabout, a war of attrition, with the oversized Bulldogs clamping down on the Griffin running game early. Although the Griffins, on the first snap of the opening possession, set themselves up with a first-and-goal at the Newberry 9, the 75-yard pass from DeAndre Belton to Kewaun Squirewell went for naught as the Newberry defense put up a tremendous goal-line stand.
With the run shut down, the Griffins took to the air, and on their second possession, Belton hit Squirewell again, this time with a 28-yard touchdown strike.
“They’re so big, we couldn’t block them,” Davis said. “The only way we could score was to throw the ball, and that’s not our forte. We like to run the football. But we were able to make some plays.”
The Griffins did manage to accumulate 143 yards on the ground, largely behind Belton, who found his legs in the second half. Belton rushed for 84 yards in the second chapter of Friday night’s contest, running his game total to 94.
“Big-time players play in big-time games,” Davis said of his quarterback. “He was able to make some big-time plays, and we needed it.”
But it was Squirewell who had the big night, racking up 199 yards in receptions from Belton, who threw for 260 on the night. The Belton-Squirewell combo put the Griffins up 14-0 early in the second quarter, when the two juniors connected for a 63-yard score.
“If he’s not the player of the week, I don’t know who is,” Davis said of Squirewell. “He made some big-time plays when we needed them. My hat goes off to him.”
But the Dogs hadn’t made it this far in the playoffs by lying down, and on their next possession they used a short field to go 65 yards in three plays. Newberry’s Tyon Williams put the Bulldogs back in the hunt with a 32-yard touchdown run with 10:47 left in the half. Newberry tied the game on their next possession, which began on their own 20 after a missed 30-yard field goal attempt by Compton Walker. Tysheen Nance capped the drive with a 1-yard run on second-and-goal with 2:49 remaining in the second.
But as the game wore on, the Dogs wore down, with several key players – quarterback Khalil Sheppard, and running backs Williams and Eric Gallman – getting banged up and sidelined. Backup quarterback Jared Harmon came on in relief and racked up 57 yards on 13 carries for Newberry, but he too went down late in the game.
“We knew they were big and physical,” Davis said, “but we thought by playing fast and doing what we do, we could wear them down. That was our game plan, and there toward the end we were able to wear them down.”
Newberry went up 21-14 early in the third quarter on a 7-yard run by Harmon, but Bell’s late score put the teams right back where they had started nearly 48 minutes earlier.
The win catapults the Griffins into the State Championship game Nov. 30 at Benedict College against Dillon. Kickoff for the title game is 5:30 p.m.
FC—K. Squirewell 63 pass from D. Belton. C. Walker kick. (11:50)
NH—Tyon Williams 32 run. Jose Lozano kick. (10:47)
NH—Tysheen Nance 1 run. J. Lozano kick. (2:49)
Fourth Quarter
NH—Jared Harmon 7 run. J. Lozano kick. (11:54)
FC—D. Bell 4 run. C. Walker kick. (3:59)
OT
FC—Damien Bell 1 run. C. Walker kick.
Team Stats
FC NH
First Downs 14 13
Rushes/Yards 39-143 42-159
Passing Yards 260 26
Fumbles/Lost 1-0 3-1
Penalties/Yards 7-60 5-45
Individual Stats
RUSHING: FC—Damien Bell 13-43. DeAndre Belton 20-94. Larry G. Bell 3-5. Joseph Young 2-0. Tyren White 1-6. NH—Eric Gallman 3-7. Tyon Williams 12-86. Khalil Sheppard 6-(-6). Omar Sims 1-5. Tysheen Nance 7-10. Jared Harmon 13-57.
RECEIVING: FC—Kewaun Squirewell 6-199. Damien Bell 5-58. Keith Workman 1-(-1). Daniel Maple 1-5. NH—Tovaris Cureton 2-26.
PASSING: FC—DeAndre Belton 13-25 260 yards. 2 TDs. 1 INT. NH—Khalil Sheppard 1-5 10 yards. 1 INT. Jared Harmon 1-2 16 yards. Chad Davis 0-4 0 yards.
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.
