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Tag: Griffins Football

  • Griffins stun Rebels in 41-0 win

    TyDarion Grier (2) had four rushing touchdowns in the first half. | Joe Seibles

    WINNSBORO – There was much to celebrate last Friday as Fairfield Central hosted Mid-Carolina for their Homecoming game. The Griffins dominated on both sides of the ball to shut out the Rebels 41-0 and move to 2-0 in region play.

    Fairfield Central received the opening kickoff and punched in their first score of the evening just four minutes into the game with TyDarion Grier’s 12-yard scamper. Erik Martinez’s PAT was good to put Fairfield up 7-0.

    Grier found the end zone again with six minutes left in the first quarter, this time from 20 yards out. A long Cameron McMillon pass to Kristian Golden set Fairfield up on their own 20-yard line. Grier took it in from there. After a failed PAT, the Griffins led 13-0.

    Fairfield regained possession on their own 40-yard line after forcing Mid-Carolina was forced to punt. McMillon connected with Roger Burns to put Fairfield on the five-yard line. Grier put the finishing touches on the drive with another six points. A successful PAT gave Fairfield a 20-0 lead with just under two minutes to spare in the first quarter.

    Big plays from the Griffin defense put Fairfield Central in scoring position early in the second quarter. Roman Davis’s tackle for loss put Mid-Carolina at the Fairfield Central 47, then Roman Davis blocked a kick to give Fairfield the ball on their own 45.

    McMillon’s pass found Golden again, this time for a 45-yard touchdown. Another good point after from Martinez put Fairfield ahead 27-0 with eleven minutes left in the half.

    The Griffin defense forced the Rebels to punt again.

    Fairfield’s drive started on their own 32-yard line, but they were in the end zone in just two minutes. McMillon connected again with Burns to put Fairfield Central in the red zone. Myles Robertson took it 10 yards for another Griffin touchdown. Martinez’s PAT was good. Fairfield led 34-0 with over five minutes left until halftime.

    After a turnover on downs, Grier tallied his fourth touchdown of the night, this one from 10 yards out.  Martinez added his fourth PAT of the night to give Fairfield the 41-0 lead at halftime and end the scoring for the night.

    The Griffins tallied 452 yards of total offense on the night, 253 through the air. McMillon completed 10 of 10 passes for 252 yards and one touchdown. Junior Ford Davis was one for three for nine yards.

    Golden had four receptions for 107 yards and a score. Burns tallied 95 yards on just two receptions. Donovan Burns had two receptions for 23 yards.

    Grier put in the legwork for the Griffins. He had 12 carries on the night for 118 yards and four touchdowns. Davis picked up 45 yards on 9 carries. Donovan Burns added 28 yards on nine carries. Miles Robertson had one carry for four yards and a touchdown.

    The Griffin defense combined for 58 total tackles, three tackles for loss, two interceptions, and a sack. Robertson and Breone Whitaker had seven tackles each. Christopher Jackson had an interception and six tackles, three solo. Antario James, who came up with the Griffins’ second interception, also had six assisted tackles. Chancery Turner had two solo tackles and four assists. Roman Davis, Drew Walker and Roger Burns all had tackles for loss. Sophomore Noah Kendall was credited with a sack.

    The Gray Debate

    Originally scheduled to play Gray Collegiate Academy this week, Fairfield Central opted to forfeit the game over concerns of fairness about how the school builds its athletic roster.

    In the spring, the Griffins opted not to play Gray Collegiate in softball and boys and girls soccer following blowout losses to the War Eagles.

    The Griffins are not alone in their decision to not play Gray this football season. Mid-Carolina and Columbia high schools forfeited their games earlier this season. Newberry and Keenan are scheduled to play Gray in October.

    “Not playing them is the only way to send a message,” Newberry High School athletic director Chad Cary said in an interview with The State paper. “The High School League can’t do anything about it. … So it comes up to us. People are going to say, ‘You are putting your kids in a tough spot.’ But you know what? If we would have did this five years ago, our kids this year wouldn’t have had to deal with it this season.”

    Teams that forfeit games to Gray are ineligible to win the region championship, but can still qualify for state playoffs.

    For Griffin head coach Demetrius Davis, it’s worth the sacrifice.

    “We won eight region championships, so we are okay with that,” Davis said.

    Fairfield Central will return to E.K. McLendon Stadium on Oct. 13 for their final home contest of the season against Columbia. They will hit the road to face Eau Claire on Oct. 20 and Newberry on Oct. 27.

  • Griffins Ink College Plans

    • Photos: @FCHSGriffins

    WINNSBORO – Three Fairfield Central student-athletes signed their letters of intent on Wednesday, March 2. Pictured at left, Stephon Gadsden, quarterback for the Griffins, made his plans to play football at South Carolina State University official. According to stats on Maxpreps, Gadsden averaged 99 passing yards per game and 65.2 rushing yards per game in his career as a Griffin.

    At right, twins Tamerra and Tanisha English signed their letters of intent for track and field at Oakland City University. Tamerra English was a part of last season’s 4×100 relay team, which finished first in the region. She also placed third at region in javelin. Tanisha English placed second at region in 100m hurdles and fifth in high jump and shot put.

  • Boatwright, Bengals D stymie Fairfield Central

    The Bengals take the field for their 2021 home opener.

    BLYTHEWOOD – Desmond Boatwright blasted through Fairfield Central defenders Monday night. Backup quarterback David Herndon had enough touch on the ball to throw three touchdown passes. Together, they and the rest of the Blythewood football team closed out a 22-6 victory over 3A rival Fairfield Central Monday night.

    Boatwright had 169 yards on 22 carries on the night. Herndon started in lieu of sophomore Harrison Collins, who broke his hand before the season opener. The 6-0 junior threw TD passes of 6, 30, and 23 yards, along with a 2-point conversion pass in the first half to give the Bengals a 20-0 halftime lead.

    “I’ve got to give our O-line credit and Desmond did a great job,” Blythewood head coach Jason Seidel said. “We left some points off the board though, and you have to give Fairfield credit, we had some drives but we shot ourselves in the foot. It was a typical first game.”

    Herndon coming in on short notice was a concern going in, but the signal caller relied on receivers Jake Parker, Josh Gray, and Johnathan Harper to take in touchdown passes and give Blythewood a good cushion going into the second half.

    “I was proud of him,” Seidel said. “It’s gonna take some time. He’ll miss a couple of plays here and there because he’s still learning the signals, but it happens.”

    Fairfield defenders take down the Bengal runner. | Photos: Anthony Montgomery

    For the Griffins, who had seen their fall practice practically erased by COVID, came in without the pleasure of having scrimmaged opponents in the preseason. That lack of practice showed, head coach Demetrius Davis said.

    “The one thing we couldn’t afford to do we did,” he said. “I was hoping we would be able to come through and even if it was the first time we went live, be able to overcome some of the mistakes. Playing a team of this caliber in your first game you’ve got to be able to come out and play mistake-free and create some turnovers. And we couldn’t get that done.”

    The Bengals defense limited the Griffins to 160 total yards on the night, 87 rushing and 73 passing.

    “Our defense was great, and I love the special teams,” Seidel said. “Our punter (Will Rowe, three punts and a 47.0 average on the night) did a great job of changing field position.”

    Blythewood turned the ball over on downs deep into Fairfield Central territory on its first drive. The Bengals second drive paid off as they ground out the clock with Boatwright runs and scored on Herndon’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Parker with 18 seconds left in the first quarter.

    Up 6-0, the Bengals defense made a key stop. Fairfield Central went backwards on the next possession, punting from the15-yard line and setting up Blythewood at the Griffins’ 30-yard line. Three plays later Herndon struck again with a 30-yard touchdown strike to Gary at the 10:41 mark.

    Herndon’s third TD pass of the half came with 4:38 left as he found Harper from 23 yards out. After having missed an extra point and failed on a 2-point conversion on its first scores, Herndon made good on the third attempt, a pass to Chris Thomas for two points to give Blythewood a 20-0 lead at halftime.

    Blythewood spent the third quarter running the clock out on Boatwright runs, then pinning Fairfield Central back deep in its own territory. Doing so led to a safety when Jordan Clark tackled Tyderian Grier in the end zone at the 9:03 mark of the fourth.

    Fairfield Central finally managed a small drive in the final minutes of the game, an 11-play 40-yarder capped with Semaj Young’s 2-yard TD run with 20 seconds left.

    “I feel like we won the second half,” Davis said. We did a better job in the second half than in the first one. Our defense pretty much shut them out. We did some good things on defense, and the only points they got was on that safety, and that was on me, that wasn’t a great call.”

    Blythewood travels to Westwood for the latest Battle of the Woods—and the right to wield the Jeanne Schmidt Memorial Trophy Friday. Covid-19 forced last year’s meeting to be cancelled. Westwood beat Blythewood 14-7 in the rivalry in 2019.

    “It’s a quick turnaround,” Seidel said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re ready to go. This happened to us two years ago, we played on a Monday and went to Westwood and lost. A lot of our kids remember that.”

    Fairfield Central plays host to Lancaster Monday night.

    “A team makes the best strides between week one and week two, so hopefully we can get this film,” Davis said. “This is the first chance we’ve been able to go up against some guys. Hopefully we’ll do better next week.”

    Fairfield Central  – 0-0-0-6 — 6

    Blythewood – 6-14-0-2 — 22

    First Quarter

    B – Jake Parker 6 pass from David Herndon (kick failed) :18

    Second Quarter

    B – Josh Gray 30 pass from Herndon (pass failed) 10:41

    B – Johnathan Harper 23 pass from Herndon (Chris Thomas pass from Herndon) 4:38 

    Fourth Quarter

    B – Team safety 9:03

    F – Semaj Young 2 run (kick failed) :20

                                                    FC                   Blythewood

    First Downs                          10                   12

    Rushes-Yards                     30-87            37-157

    Passing Yards                     73                   82

    Att-Com-Int                        20-7-0          8-5-0

    Fumbles-Lost                      2-1                 2-1

    Penalties-Yards                 6-30               7-45

    Punts-Avg.                          5-36.6           3-47.0          

    INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

    RUSHING: FC– Stephon Gadsden 16-70, Semaj Young 5-16, Donovan Watkins 3-20, Kensley Copeland 2-5, TyDerian Grier 1-14, Team 1-(-38). Blythewood – Desmond Boatwright 22-169, David Herndon 9-(-26), James Lyles 2-0, Curtis Hilton Jr.3-14.

    PASSING: FC – Stephon Gadsden 7-20-0. Blythewood – David Herndon 5-8-0.

    RECEIVING: FC – Trent Boyd 1-0, Kensley Copeland 1-21, Semaj Young 2-5, TyDerian Grier 2-38. Blythewood – Jake Parker 3-29, Josh Gray 1-30, Johnathan Harper 1-23.