Lexington High got a big effort from its veteran defense Friday night and shut down Gilbert in their season opener.
The Wildcats kept the Indians’ high-scoring offense in check in the 24-0 win in front of a packed crowd at Wildcat Hollow.
“We have 10 starters that are seniors on defense,” Lexington coach Dustin Curtis said. “Even though they aren’t returning starters, but that kind of maturity and physical strength is that intangible you can’t put a price tag on. Our secondary came up with pass break-up after pass break-up. I’m so proud of our defense.”
It was the Wildcats’ first shutout in the seven meetings with their Lexington County rival. It was the program’s first shutout overall since defeating Wando 45-0 in the first round of the 2022 Class 5A playoffs.
Gilbert hadn’t been shut out since Airport (35-0) did it to the Indians on Oct. 16, 2015.
The Indians averaged 483 yards of offense and 42 points per game last season. But Gilbert was debuting a new coach in Ozzie Exume and a new quarterback in Connor James.
Lexington’s defense held the Indians to 88 yards of offense.
Lexington scored on the first drive of the game on a Matt McAulay TD run. A Brennan Carter conversion made it 8-0.
Curtis went into his bag of tricks later in the first half as Deacon Dimarco hit Cam Capel on a reverse pass to make it 14-0 with 11:18 in the second quarter.
“I feel like last year I wasn’t aggressive enough,” Curtis said. “… Deacon has been working on that pass and Cam ran a heck of a route. … (Offensive coordinator Stephen) Cagle loved that kind of change of momentum. That’s big time to put that in the end zone.”
Gavin Kovac hit a 34-yard field goal to make it 17-0 at halftime. Carter added a 4-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to make it 24-0.
Photos: Lexington vs. Gilbert 2024 footballThe Lexington Wildcats host the Gilbert Indians on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024.
White Knoll 21, Camden 14 (Saturday)
Tiyon Fanning scored on a 4-yard run with 1:40 left to give the Timberwolves a come-from-behind win over the Bulldogs.
The game was a matchup of two teams who played for state championships in their classifications and lived up to the billing.
Camden had a chance to tie or win and got to the White Knoll 35 but Wyatt Thompson’s pass was incomplete with eight seconds left.
Camden led 14-7 after Thompson hit Tylin Drakeford on fourth-and-23 for a touchdown. Drakeford also had a TD run for the Bulldogs.
But White Knoll tied it up at 14-14 as Sharpe hit JJ Keith with 6:50 left. The Timberwolves held Camden to a three-and-out to get the ball back. Sharpe had two big runs in the game-winning drive. The senior threw for 119 yards, two TDs and also rushed for 60.
Fanning finished with 79 yards rushing.
Hammond 56, Christ Church 28
The Skyhawks scored 49 points in the first half on their way to a win over the Cavaliers in a matchup of defending state champions.
Quarterback Andrew Turner threw for 139 yards, rushed for 117 and had two total TDs for the Skyhawks. Running back Manny Johnson added 173 yards of offense and three touchdowns.
Brewer LaMotte picked off two passes, returning one for a touchdown. Jack Croft had a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and also caught a TD.
Irmo 35, Oceanside Collegiate 7
Virginia Tech commitment AJ Brand threw three touchdown passes and ran for one as the Yellow Jackets defeated the defending Class 2A champions.
Brand was 14-of-18 passing for 220 yards and also ran it nine times for 75 yards. Malik Miller caught five passes for 111 yards and a TD and Donovan Murph had five catches for 67.
Amire White rushed for 117 yards to lead Irmo on the ground.
Lugoff-Elgin 35, Lower Richland 34
EJ Richardson scored three touchdowns, including the game-winning 41-yard pass to Shamil Saddiq on fourth-and-35 with 16.5 seconds left to give coach Leon Boulware a win in his Lugoff-Elgin debut.
It was L-E’s first season-opening win since 2020.
Christian Wilson led Lower Richland with three rushing touchdowns.
Richland Northeast 45, Spring Valley 13
N.C. State commitment Will Wilson threw three touchdowns and ran for two as the Cavs defeated the Vikings for the second straight year.
Before last season, RNE had lost 12 straight to its Richland 2 rival. Wilson was 9-of-10 passing for 210 yards and also carried it eight times for 100 yards. Blake Betette caught four passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns.
Dylan Redden threw two touchdowns for the Vikings.
St. Joseph’s 40, Cardinal Newman 30
Running back Caleb Ford scored three touchdowns in the loss for the Cardinals.
Ford finished with 302 yards rushing a week after going for over 400 against Cannon (NC). He also caught two passes for 67 yards.
Keenan 40, Dreher 37
The Raiders built a 16-point lead and held on to defeat the Blue Devils. Dreher missed a game-tying field goal with 18 seconds left.
Keenan led 40-24 in the third before the Blue Devils rallied.
Tyheim McNeil and Hunter O’Neal each had two touchdown runs for Keenan.
Willie Smith had four TD runs for the Blue Devils and Tyler Tisdale returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
Gray Collegiate 17, James Island 14
The War Eagles defeated the Islanders to give new coach D’Angelo Bryant a win in his debut.
River Bluff 48, Rock Hill 34
Running back Trace Nettles led River Bluff with 136 yards and two touchdowns as the Gators defeated Rock Hill.
Quarterback Parker Murray threw for 235 yards and a TD for River Bluff. Lathan Smalls had four catches for 111 yards and Aaron Griffin had seven catches for 87 and returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
Hayden Myers added 93 yards and a fourth-quarter TD for the Gators.
East Carolina commit Stephen Collier picked off two passes and returned one for an 83-yard TD.
Chapin 47, Catawba Ridge 37
Brady Albro threw for almost 300 yards and five touchdowns in the Eagles’ win over the Copperheads in Ryan Cole’s debut as Chapin coach.
Stone Furrey and Kalen Bostick each had more than 100 yards receiving and caught two TD passes
Running back Colione Martin caught a TD pass, threw one and ran for one.
AC Flora 42, Westwood 6
Quarterback Roper Wentzky threw four touchdown passes and the Falcons’ defense scored twice in the win over the Redhawks.
Azel Banag and Jeremiah Mack each had interception returns for Flora. Banag’s return was for 99 yards. Jordan Davis caught two of Wentzky’s four TDs.
Ridge View 42, Fairfield Central 18
Jordon Gidron scored two touchdowns, including returning the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown as the Blazers broke open the game against the Griffins.
Quarterback Tre Howard threw two TDs for Ridge View and Aidan Keeffe and Brad Wilson had TD runs.
Blythewood 44, Nation Ford 6
Johnny Collins threw four touchdown passes as the Bengals used a big second-half to blow out Nation Ford.
Darryl Robinson returned an interception for a touchdown for the Bengals and Carter Coleman had a kickoff return for a TD. Coleman also caught a TD pass. Ben Hendrix had two TD catches and Kanye Reed added one.
Swansea 27, Mid-Carolina 20
The Tigers snapped a 16-game losing streak and won the debut with new coach Willie Fox against the Rebels.
Dante Caldwell rushed for 87 yards and three TDs. As a team, Swansea rushed for 301 yards.
Northside Christian 33, Calhoun Academy 26
The Crusaders improved to 2-0 with a win at Calhoun. Sam Burks had two TD runs in the first half.
Saluda 20, Crescent 6
Brayden Williams ran for a touchdown and caught a TD pass in the Tigers’ victory.
North Central 56, Great Falls 14
Defensive back Jordan Joe picked off three passes and caught a TD pass in North Central’s win.
Aiden Wilkes and Joe Clarkson also had two TDs each for North Central. Clarkson rushed for a game-high 147 yards.
The game spoiled the debut for former South Carolina quarterback Syvelle Newton at Great Falls.
Newberry 40, Union County 14
Five different Bulldogs scored touchdowns and they also forced five turnovers in the win over Union County.
Columbia 22, CA Johnson 12
The Capitals won their first opener since 2020 and snapped a three-game losing streak to the Green Hornets on Friday.
August 24, 2024 | State, The: Web Edition Articles (Columbia, SC)
Author/Byline: Lou Bezjak, The State | Section: high_school