Fairfield Central High School is offering a Fan Bus ride to the North Central High School football game Friday, Nov. 1. Departure time is 5:30 p.m. Cost is $10. Call 803-635-1441 to reserve your seat before Thursday, Oct. 31. FCHS must have at least 30 riders to make the trip.
Tag: High School Football
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FCHS offers bus ride to Pelion game
Fairfield Central is offering a Fan Bus to Pelion High School for Friday’s (Oct. 25) varsity football game between the Griffins and the Panther. Fans may contact Terrell Roach or Tamara Robertson at Fairfield Central High School: 803-635-1441. Deadline to sign up is Thursday, Oct 24. Cost is $10 (FCHS must have 30 riders to make the trip). Bus will depart at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 25.
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Kennedy Takes Top Job at Sumter
Regie Kennedy BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood’s head football coach, Reggie Kennedy, announced this week that he is leaving the Bengals’ program to take the job as head football coach and athletics director at Sumter High School. Kennedy has spent the last two seasons at Blythewood and led them to a 9-3 record this past season, which included a share of the region IV-4A title. In his first season the Bengals ended 7-7 with an appearance in the state semifinal game. With all the success and relationships created over the past two years the decision to leave Blythewood was not one that Kennedy took lightly.
“It was a tough decision to leave Blythewood,” he said.
Kennedy has 17 years of head coaching experience (131-81), including 14 years as an athletic director. Although he had only served as head coach at Blythewood, the opportunity to reestablish himself as an athletic director at a class 4A school was one he could not refuse.
“I was away from athletic director for two years and you know I really missed it,” he said.
Blythewood’s Principal Keith Price and athletic director Vince Lowry are now on the hunt for the Bengals’ next head football coach. Both options of promoting from within or hiring from outside are being considered. Lowry hopes to have the position filled in the next two weeks and he said he has been very pleased with the job Kennedy has done the last two seasons.
“When we hired Reggie we needed someone to establish stability and get the program going back in the right direction,” Lowry said. “And he definitely did that in the two years he was here. He has done an exceptional job.”
Kennedy is currently splitting time between Blythewood and Sumter, while he awaits on a ruling from the school district that could release him before his obligated date of July 1.
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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.
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State Championship Bound: Griffins Use OT to Muzzle Dogs
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 – 7-7-0-7-7 28
NH – 0-14-0-7-0 21
First Quarter
FC—Kewaun Squirewell 28 pass from DeAndre Belton. Compton Walker kick. (5:53)
Second Quarter
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.
Records: FC—5-0/11-2. NH—6-2/10-4
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Griffins Thwart Revenge-Minded Braves, Advance to Upper State
Griffin quarterback DeAndre Belton on the keeper. 
Damien Bell (9) makes the cutback. 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.
PASSING: FC—DeAndre Belton 6-7-0INT-1TD-90 yards. CH—Robert Pitts 9-23-0INT-0TD.
RECORDS: FC – 5-0/10-2 CH – 4-1/7-5
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Bengals Top Blazers for Share of Title
Dean Beckford (6) slips a tackle. 
Blythewood quarterback Kylin Binn (4) looks down field. With playoff seeding and a share of the region IV-4A championship on the line, the Blythewood Bengals (9-2, 4-1) came up with a 36-17 win over the Blazers of Ridge View (6-5, 3-2) Friday night. Before the game Ridge View head coach Raymond Jennings talked about the district rivalry.
“We’re 7 miles apart,” Jennings said. “There are no surprises. We are very familiar with each other and have similar styles of play.”
Similar indeed. Each team came into the game with just one region loss; moreover, Blythewood and Ridge View’s offenses are number one and two in the region, averaging 34.5 and 31.3 points per game respectively.
Blythewood scored on their first offensive possession when Greg Huegel hit a 38-yard field goal to cap an eight-play drive. However, the lead was short lived because on Ridge View’s first offensive play Gary Bradshaw broke free for a 66-yard touchdown. The extra point went wide right and after one quarter of play Ridge View led 6-3.
With four minutes gone by in the second quarter, Blythewood was in the middle of six-play drive when tailback Dean Beckford fumbled at the Ridge View 45-yard line. On the ensuing play, Bradshaw would strike again when he stretched a run down the right sideline to go in untouched for a 55-yard touchdown. Ridge View wide receiver Tre’van Howell caught a pass to nail the 2-point conversion making the score 14-3 in favor of the Blazers.
Facing their biggest deficit of the game, down by 11, the Bengals offense responded just a minute later when they drove down the field 73 yards in five plays to score off a Devin Albert 27-yard touchdown run. The 2-point conversion failed and halfway through the second quarter Blythewood trailed 14-9.
With three minutes to play in the first half, Bengals defensive back Erik Holliday picked off a pass, his first of the year, to give Blythewood the ball at the Ridge View 19-yard line. After three straight rushing plays it would be Kylin Binn who scored on a quarterback keeper from 8 yards out. On the 2-point conversion attempt Albert was stopped short and Blythewood took a 15-14 lead at the break.
To start the third quarter, the Blazers offense was faced with a fourth-and-1 at the Blythewood 45-yard line. On a fullback dive, Bengals defensive end Terrell Vaughn came up with a huge stop to force the turnover on downs.
On Blythewood’s ensuing possession, they were faced with their own fourth down decision, which ended much differently. On fourth-and-5 from Ridge View’s 35-yard line, wide receiver Javon Smith hauled in an over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone for his second receiving touchdown of the year. After the extra point by Huegel, Blythewood extended their lead to 22-14.
With four minutes to play in the third quarter Ridge View would score their only points of the second half on a 39-yard field goal, making the score 22-17 in favor of the Bengals.
The fourth quarter was all Blythewood as they scored 14 unanswered points. With three minutes to play in regulation, on a third-and-goal from the Ridge View 20-yard line, Ben Ruiz bounced outside for a touchdown that capped a seven-play 50-yard drive. Huegel added the extra point to make the score Blythewood 29 and Ridge View 17.
But the final nail in the coffin came with 1:12 to play when Bengals defensive back Earl Wilson nabbed an interception and bolted up the sideline for a 63-yard defensive touchdown.
Blythewood outscored Ridge View 21-3 in the second half and went on for a 36-17 win to earn a share of the region IV-4A championship with Irmo. After the game Blythewood head coach Reggie Kennedy felt good about his team’s performance.
“I’m really proud of our players and the way they fought tonight,” Kennedy said. “We knew it was going to be a war and I’m just happy with the way our team responded.”
Despite losing, Ridge View made the 4A state playoffs for the first time since 2008 as a 14th seed.
“I’m happy for this team to be at the end of their season and still playing for something besides pride,” Jennings said.
Ridge View will play at Irmo (three seed) on Friday.
Blythewood earned a seventh seed and will host the 10th seed, Boiling Springs (6-5) out of region II-4A on Friday at District Stadium. It’s the first time Blythewood has hosted a playoff game since 2006 and the first time ever as a member of 4A. Kennedy is happy his Bengals made the playoffs and he is excited to start their post season run.
“At this part of the year everybody is pretty tough,” Kennedy said. “We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
To listen to the live broadcast visit www.facebook.com/bhathletics pregame coverage starts at 7:15 p.m. followed by a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
BHS- 3-12-7-14 36
RV- 6-8-3-0 17
First Quarter
BHS- G. Huegel 38 field goal. (9:11)
RV- G. Bradshaw 66 run. Kick failed. (8:54)
Second Quarter
RV- G. Bradshaw 55 run. T. Howell 2 pass from N. Randolph. (7:51)
BHS- D. Albert 27 run. Pass failed. (6:44)
BHS- K. Binn 8 run. D. Run failed. (1:35)
Third Quarter
BHS- J. Smith 35 pass from K. Binn. G. Huegel kick. (7:55)
RV- K. Blue 39 field goal. (4:07)
Fourth Quarter
BHS- B. Ruiz 20 run. G. Huegel kick. (2:48)
BHS- E. Wilson 63 interception return. G. Huegel kick. (1:12)
Team Stats
BHS RV
First Downs 19 13
Rushes/Yards 42-237 35-215
Comp/Att/Int 15-24-1 9-29-2
Passing Yards 136 139
Fumbles/Lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties/Yards 9-100 10-102
Individual Stats
RUSHING—BHS: D. Albert 10-64. B. Ruiz 8-64. K. Binn 12-64. L. Jamison 7-30. RV: G. Bradshaw 13-151. W. Napper 6-39.N. Randolph12-22. T. Adams 2-2.
PASSING—BHS: K. Binn 15-24. 136 yards. 1 INT. 1 TD. RV:N. Randolph9-29. 139 yards. 2 INT. 0 TD.
RECEIVING—BHS: J. Smith 4-60. D. Beckford 4-11. B. Ruiz 2-12. L. Jamison 1-19. RV: T. Howell 7-126. R. Goodwin 1-13. T. Robinson 1-0.
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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
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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.
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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.
