Markel Townsend has been lobbying for more than a year to throw a pass in a game. On Friday, the A.C. Flora senior running back got his chance.
Townsend threw a touchdown pass in the first quarter and ran for three more scores in the Falcons’ 35-21 win over Irmo at Memorial Stadium.
“I have been begging to throw a pass and I got my opportunity,” Townsend said. “I ended up throwing a touchdown on my first pass. It was kind of funky at first but it got to him (Jack Purdy) and he scored.”
The Falcons moved to 8-0 on the season and are the lone Midlands public school still undefeated. They stay in a first-place tie in Region 5-4A with Ridge View with two games left. The two teams are both 3-0 in the region and face off in the regular-season-finale on Oct. 28.
AC Flora, which had a 16-game winning streak snapped against Irmo last year, jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter Friday.
Townsend hit Jack Purdy on a 32-yard TD pass on A.C. Flora’s first first possession. Irmo fumbled on its first play of the game, and Flora’s Mason Little recovered. The first play after the turnover, Carew Bates threw a TD pass to Chris Lofton to make it 14-0.
Townsend scored on a TD run to make it 21-0 with 3:09 in the first quarter. He finished with 220 yards rushing.
Irmo (4-4, 0-3) answered with a pair of second-quarter touchdowns. Quarterback AJ Brand ran in one and then hit Finn Qualls on third-and-26 to cut the lead to 21-14 with 5:36 left in the second quarter.
But A.C. Flora answered on its next possession as Townsend scored on a 52-yard run to make it 28-14 with 4:09 left in the second.
Townsend added another in the third quarter to make it 35-14.
“We started off so hot, so well. I thought we were going to put this thing all together for four quarters. We didn’t. We had a little lull but the bottom line we did what we had to do to get a win,” AC Flora coach Ken Floyd said. “So, I am pretty happy about that.”
Lexington 36, White Knoll 33 (OT)
Tyler Chavis hit a 22-yard field goal on the Wildcats’ first possession in overtime to survive a second-half rally from White Knoll.
With the win, Lexington moves to 7-1 overall and 3-0 in Region 4-5A. The Wildcats lead Dutch Fork by a half-game; those two teams play on Oct. 28.
Lexington led 33-17 after Jonah Norris’ 9-yard TD run with 5:34 to go in the third quarter. The senior running back ran for 199 yards and four touchdowns on the night.
But Landon Sharpe threw a TD pass to Hasan Lee on the final play of the third quarter and then scored on a 15-yard run to get the Wolves to within 33-30 with 9:45 left.
The Timberwolves put together a 17-play drive late in the fourth quarter, capped off by Aden Brown’s 31-yard field goal with 26 seconds left.
White Knoll (6-3, 0-3) got the ball first in overtime and missed a 26-yard field goal.
Lexington quarterback Taiden Mines threw for 216 yards and a TD to Kmadi Maxwell, who finished with six catches for 124 yards.
Sharpe was 27-of-38 for 443 yards and four total TDs. Lee had six catches for 138 yards and three touchdowns. Austin Cunningham caught six passes for 107 yards.
Dutch Fork 51, Chapin 0
The top-ranked Silver Foxes (7-1, 2-0) scored 44 points in the first half on their way to the region win.
Running back Jarvis Green rushed for 159 yards and three touchdowns, all before halftime. QB Aliam Appler threw for 127 yards and rushed for two touchdowns.
Jacob Hamilton returned a punt for a touchdown.
The Silver Foxes’ defense gave up just 45 yards and recorded its second-straight shutout.
Blythewood 21, Clover 7
Quarterback Harrison Collins threw three touchdowns as the Bengals took over first-place in Region 3-5A.
Blythewood (6-2, 3-0) can clinch the region title by winning one of its final two games against Rock Hill or Spring Valley.
Blythewood jumped out to a 14-0 lead on Collins’ TD passes to Deon Tyler and Anthony Thurman.
Clover cut the lead to 14-7 going into the third quarter and drove to the Bengals’ 3-yard line. But Blythewood stopped Clover on fourth-and-goal.
Collins then hit Tyler on a school-record 97-yard touchdown pass to put the Bengals up 21-7 with 2:44 left in the third quarter. The previous longest TD pass was 86 yards set in 2016.
From there, the Bengals shut down C.lover and held Blue Eagles to 88 total yards in the game.
Ridge View 36, Westwood 0
The Blazers scored 29 points in the first half on their way to their sixth-straight victory.
Ridge View (7-1, 3-0) stays tied with A.C. Flora for first place in Region 5-4A.
Marcus Kelly and Breylon Boyd had TD runs. Boyd also threw a TD pass to freshman Jordan Gidron. Donald Tomlin threw a first-half TD pass to Zion Agnew.
The Blazers returned a blocked punt for a touchdown.
Lugoff-Elgin 35, Richland Northeast 28
Quarterback Jake Morris threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score to help the Demons to a region win.
Sky Harter added two touchdown runs for Lugoff-Elgin (4-4, 1-2).
Richland Northeast (2-6, 1-2) led 22-20 in the third quarter but Morris scored on a 24-yard TD run to put L-E up 28-22.
RNE quarterback Will Wilson had two TD runs and Avonte Grant ahad a 72-yard touchdown run.
Gilbert 38, Orangeburg-Wilkinson 7
Jaden Allen-Hendrix ran for three touchdowns and also caught a TD pass in the Indians’ victory.
Gilbert (6-2, 3-0) stays in a first-place tie in Region 5-3A with Brookland-Cayce.
Allen-Hendrix finished with 120 yards on 19 carries and also caught three passes for 58 yards. Quarterback Drake Braddock was 11-of-20 passing for 136 yards and a TD.
Brookland-Cayce 42, Dreher 13
Deshaun Washington ran for two touchdowns and Tanner Staton threw two TDs in the Bearcats’ victory.
Brookland-Cayce’s win keeps the Bearcats (5-3, 3-0) in first-place tie with Gilbert in Region 5-3A.
Evan Golden had a TD catch and also ran for a B-C score. Jaydn Johnson also had a TD run for the Bearcats.
Dreher quarterback Colby Fuller threw for a TD and ran for one. The Blue Devils (2-6, 1-2) are in a three-way tie for third in the region.
Spring Valley 28, Fort Mill 21
Zion Fuller scored on a touchdown run with 1:10 left to give the Vikings the region win.
Spring Valley (4-4, 2-1) led 21-14 before Fort Mill tied with 3:55 left. Evan Javis had a TD run and TD catch for Spring Valley.
Gray Collegiate 54, Newberry 12
The War Eagles (6-3, 5-0) wrapped up their fifth-straight region title with a blowout win. Gray led 33-0 at halftime.
Quarterback Riley Staton threw for 225 yards and five touchdowns. Senior Devin Johnson caught four passes for 101 yards, two touchdowns and also ran for a score and threw for one.
Jamarious Lockett caught three TDs for the War Eagles.
Running backs BJ Montgomery and Caleb Ford combined for 260 rushing yards, and the War Eagles defense forced four turnovers.
Cardinal Newman 38, Camden Military 6
Ja-Khaydin Kinard rushed for 167 yards and four touchdowns in the Cardinals’ victory.
Quarterback Duncan Skehan threw for 156 yards and Braxton Rodgers had a TD run for Cardinal Newman (4-4).
Hammond 54, Trinity Collegiate 7
Will McQueen returned two interceptions for touchdowns and a fumble recovery for a TD in the Skyhawks’ victory.
Quarterback Dylan Richardson and running back Aidan Canzater each rushed for two touchdowns. Canzater finished with 94 yards rushing. Manny Johnson also had a TD run for Hammond (7-2).
Keenan 62, Eau Claire 0
The Raiders (4-4, 2-2) scored more than 50 points for the second-straight week to win their fourth game of the season.
Lower Richland 42, Swansea 13
The Diamond Hornets (2-6, 1-2) snapped a five-game losing streak with a win over the Tigers.
Running back Lamarion Pearson rushed for three touchdowns and quarterback Marcus Smith threw two TDs and ran for one. Ty Washington Hunt caught two TD passes.
North Central 32, Cheraw 23
Casey Shropshire rushed for 272 yards and four touchdowns in North Central’s victory.
Shropshire had TD runs of 66, 43 and 61 in the third quarter and had 211 of his rushing yards in the second half.
CA Johnson 34, McBee 26
The Green Hornets (5-4, 2-1) came from behind to win their second-straight region game.
CAJ quarterback Caleb Pearson threw two TD passes and ran for two. Dawan Rice ran for a TD and also caught a TD pass.
Fairfield Central 60, Columbia 12
The Griffins (5-3, 3-1) scored over 60 points for the second time this season in winning their fifth game.
Silver Bluff 26, Saluda 15
Maleik Williams threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes as Silver Bluff handed Saluda (6-2, 1-2) its second straight loss.
Saluda led 15-13 going into the fourth quarter.
Williams finished 13-of-20 passing for 193 yards and three scores. Arthur Walker caught five passes for 76 yards and two touchdowns. Carson Bowder had three catches for 86 yards and a score.
Saluda quarterback Jonah McCary threw two TD passes.
Batesburg-Leesville 21, Fox Creek 13
The Panthers (3-5, 1-2) ended a three-game losing streak and picked up their first Region 3-2A victory.
Lou Bezjak: (803) 771-8419, @LouatTheState
Caption:
Sam Wolfe Special To The State
Markel Townsend (28) of AC Flora gets tackled at Memorial Stadium on Friday.
Sam Wolfe Special To The State
Aaron Brand Jr. (1) of Irmo gets tripped up by Xavier Down (11) of AC Flora at Memorial Stadium on Friday.
Sam Wolfe Special To The State
Chris Lofton (1) of AC Flora flexes after scoring a touchdown against Irmo at Memorial Stadium on Friday.
October 16, 2022 | State, The (Columbia, SC)
Author/Byline: Lou Bezjak; Staff Writer | Page: 10B | Section: Sports