FLORENCE, S.C. – LaNorris Sellers punctuated one of his many grand plays with an even grander stunt.
Just after the South Florence quarterback was pushed out of bounds early in Friday’s fourth quarter against West Florence, tumbling to the ground, Sellers did a hand-spring to land back on his feet.
He had that kind of game, that kind of night.
Sellers’ 284 yards of total offense (168 passing) and four touchdowns (one passing) were the catalysts for the top-ranked Bruins’ 45-14 victory Friday night over No. 3 West Florence in a clash of what were two undefeated teams.
The Bruins remain undefeated at 10-0, accomplishing the program’s second perfect regular season (the first was 2013, 11-0). South Florence is also the Region 6-4A and city champion.
South, meanwhile, won its first contest in the series since 2015 and takes a 28-27 lead in their 55-game series.
This game was billed as a marquee matchup with the 5,000-seat Bruin Stadium sold out (over 5,000 watched the livestream on YouTube). And what transpired was a showcase of South Florence, which led 24-7 at halftime.
It was especially a showcase for Sellers, who had waited for this moment since he didn’t play in last year’s game because of injury.
“It felt really good to finish the regular season,” said Sellers, a Shrine Bowl selection and finalist for South Carolina’s Mr. Football. “Last year, I missed half the season. It felt good to be back.”
Bruin running back Shikeem Shilow was just as dominant, rushing for 187 yards and two touchdowns.
“We were really able to keep (West Florence) off balance,” South coach Drew Marlowe said. “We were able to throw the ball off some of our heavy sets. LaNorris ran well, and Shilow ran the ball really well. What they did a great job of was running the ball and falling forward every single time.
“Our offensive line played great tonight,” he added. “We lost our left tackle (Zywaan Sumter) pretty early in the game. We had another kid (Tyler Cockfield) come in and he did a great job for us. The second half was all about running that clock.”
Sellers passed for 125 yards during the first half, spreading his eight completions to four different receivers.
Sellers accounted for all three of the Bruins’ second-quarter touchdowns, scoring his first two on runs of 1 and 5 yards. Then he lofted a 50-yard touchdown pass to Jabray Johnson for the Bruins’ 24-7 halftime lead. Johnson finished with a career-high 114 receiving yards.
“Coach Marlowe said all we had to do was buy in and execute at a high level,” Johnson said. “And if we do that, things will go our way.”
On West’s first possession, quarterback Deuce Hudson completed a 72-yard touchdown pass to Bryson Graves. After South’s first possession ended with a 26-yard field goal by Grant McDonald, the Bruins were unstoppable.
“They’re a lot stronger up front and beat us on both sides of the ball, the offensive line and the defensive line,” said West coach Jody Jenerette, whose team is 9-1. “Give them all the credit in the world. They’re a really, well-coached football team and they’re going to be a hard out for somebody. Hopefully, it’s us.”
Sellers, who rushed for 54 yards during the first two quarters, was especially difficult to stop on third and fourth downs. He converted two third-and-short opportunities before scoring his first TD from 1 yard.
On third and goal on the Bruins’ next touchdown drive, Sellers found his way again to the end zone.
Then, after a West chop-block penalty moved South to the 50 on another drive, that’s where Sellers found Johnson for the final touchdown of the first half.
West meanwhile appeared unsettled by the Bruins’ fast-paced offense, getting flagged twice before halftime for too many players on the field.
But most importantly, South stopped the Knights. So much so that Hudson and running back Darren Lloyd (398 yards last week against Hartsville) rushed for a combined 47 yards during the first two quarters. After Hudson’s long TD pass to Graves, his next three passes went for negative yardage. Lloyd did score on a long kick return in the fourth quarter.
“(Hudson and Lloyd) are so dangerous, if you let the quarterback keep it, he can make plays too,” Marlowe said. “We just had to set edges, not let (Lloyd) get outside on the perimeter. He might have gotten loose once or twice. But for the most part, we did a great job containing him tonight.”
Shilow scored the first of his two second-half Bruin TDs in the third quarter, and Sellers added yet another TD to his night in the fourth – not long after that hand-spring.
Now, the Bruins and Knights head into the postseason with first-round home games. The Knights host Lugoff-Elgin this Friday while Bruins host Richland Northeast.
Although both teams looked forward to this past Friday’s game, they both know they can make strong postseason runs. It’s possible the teams could face off again in the lower state final.
“If you’re going to have your crossroads moment when you’re 9-1, that’s a great time to have a crossroads moment,” Jenerette said. “This is our crossroads moment. We’ll find out Monday where we are and go from there.”
The Bruins certainly want to go further than being called region and city champions.
“This means a lot. We’re really excited; we’re going to celebrate tonight. But with the nature of this job, we’re going to go back to work Saturday,” Marlowe said. “We’re fighting for our playoff lives from here on out. Ten-and-0 is great. Region champs is great. A No. 1 seed is extremely important.
“But no one cares about that tomorrow,” he added. “Every single week, we’ve got to perform our best or we won’t accomplish the things we want to accomplish this year.”
SOUTH FLORENCE 45, WEST FLORENCE 14
WF 7 0 0 7 – 14
SF 3 21 7 14 – 45
FIRST QUARTER
WF – Bryson Graves 72 pass from Deuce Hudson (Sam Spence kick), 9:59
SF – Grant McDonald 26 FG, 6:03
SECOND QUARTER
SF – LaNorris Sellers 1 run (McDonald kick), 9:59
SF – Sellers 5 run (McDonald kick), 4:31
SF – Jabray Johnson 50 pass from Sellers (McDonald kick), 3:40
THIRD QUARTER
SF – Shikeem Shilow 10 run (McDonald kick), 9:21
FOURTH QUARTER
SF – Sellers 5 run (McDonald kick), 7:11
WF – Darren Lloyd 89 kick return (Spence kick), 6:57
SF – Shilow 1 run (McDonald kick), 1:09
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – WF: Lloyd 9-16, Hudson 10-45, Franklin Emerson 3-18. SF: Shilow 32-187, Sellers 21-116; Evin Singletary 1-(-6).
PASSING – WF: Hudson 9-19-0-88. SF: Sellers 9-17-0-168
RECEIVING – WF: Ethan Alvarado 1-6, Lloyd 2-0, Bryson Graves 2-88, Jamari Bennett 2-(-11), Steven Smalls 1-(-7), Trevor Milliken 1-8. SF: Singletary 1-11, Rodney Lesane 2-24, Johnson 5-114, Daquan Burgess 1-19.
RECORDS: WF 9-1, 4-1. SF 10-0, 5-0
October 28, 2022 | Morning News (Florence, SC)
Author/Byline: SCOTT CHANCEY Morning Newsschancey@florencenews.com | Section: Sports