Published: Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009 / Updated: Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009 12:20 AM

Chester 27, Greer 21

CHESTER -- Three miscues with the center-quarterback exchange proved to be near disaster for the Chester Cyclones, who escaped with a 27-21 home victory over Greer in the opening round of the Class AAA state playoffs.

The first miscue was negated by the referee's whistle, who ruled that time had expired for the snap and signaled halftime. With quarterback Tony McNeal lining up in the shotgun, the referee blew the play dead to signal the end of the first half. As McNeal walked toward the locker room, the ball was snapped and rolled loose in the Cyclones' backfield. Greer picked up the ball and ran into the end zone. After a brief meeting, the referees ruled that the play was blown dead.

The second errant snap occurred as McNeal was changing the play at the line of scrimmage. This time, the ball was live, and running back Julius Pendergrass alertly picked up the ball and took a 12-yard loss. However, the miscue eventually broke the momentum on a potential Cyclones scoring drive, which had gotten within the Yellow Jackets' 20-yard line late in the third quarter.

The third was the near blow to the Cyclone championship hopes. Chester (10-1) had just picked up a first down on a fake punt handoff to Bobby Kelly, who gained 12 crucial yards to Greer's 48 with 2:12 remaining.

Chester ran two plays to dwindle the clock within 1:00 and needed just a third-down snap from under center to quarterback Tevin Worthy to burn out the clock. Instead, the snap sailed errant and was picked up within the line by Greer linebacker Douglas Mack, who attempted to run for the score. Worthy, however, made the tackle with 47.7 seconds remaining.

Still, Greer (6-5) had possession with one time out remaining at the Cyclones' 47. However, the Cyclone defense forced two incomplete passes, then stopped Greer running back Dominique Parks for a 3-yard loss on a screen attempt. Quarterback Reese Hannon's fourth-down pass was intercepted by defensive back Tony Wright, which allowed the Cyclones to survive and advance to the second round.

The Cyclones will travel to unbeaten Daniel next week in second-round action.

“We made too many mistakes and turnovers,” Chester coach Maurice Flowers said with a huge sigh of relief. “We seemed to have lost a bit of enthusiasm in the second half, but we have to give credit to Greer.

“(Greer) came in with something to prove, and we feel fortunate to be moving on. Right now, it is not about style points..... in the playoffs, you just have to win and move on.”

Cyclone linebacker Ariane McCree, who tipped away a pass on the final Yellow Jackets possession, said the Cyclones' defense was ready for the late-game challenge.

“We had to pick it up for our offense. The game was on the line and we had to go get it,” McCree said.

Greer coach Will Young credited his players for hanging tough in the face of being huge underdogs.

“We missed several opportunities in the first half, and we worked hard and gave ourselves a chance to win. Our defense gave us a chance. We came in with a good level of mentality. We appeared hungry to play against an outstanding football team.”

Chester got 200 passing yards from McNeal, who completed 15-of-24 attempts with a touchdown pass. Pendergrass gained 172 yards on 12 carries with three touchdowns, including a 61-yard scamper to put Chester ahead, 27-14, with 6:54 remaining.

CHESTER 27, GREER 21

Greer.....7.....0.....0.....14....--.....21

Chester.....13.....7.....0.....7.....--.....27

SCORING SUMMARY

C --Julius Pendergrass 32 run (kick failed)

C -- Deterrion Hardin 8 pass from Tony McNeal (Marshall Whitesides kick)

G -- Dakari Sitton 30 run (Chase Lewis kick)

C -- Pendergrass 4 run (Whitesides kick)

G -- Dominique Parks 3 run (Lewis kick)

C -- Pendergrass 61 run (Whitesides kick)

G -- Parks 9 pass from Reese Hannon (Lewis kick)

TEAM STATISTICS

.....GHS.....CHS

First downs.....15.....23

Rushes-yards.....31-134..... 44-269

Passing.....111.....205

Comp-Att-Int.....12-24-1.....16-24-1

Fumbles-Lost.....1-0.....2-1

Penalties-Yards.....4-28.....6-55

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Greer: Dakari Sitton 9-47, Dominique Parks 16-61, Reese Hannon 6-26. Chester: Julius Pendergrass 26-172, Brent Minter 13-96, Tony McNeal 2-(-11), Tevin Worthy 2-0, Bobby Kelly 1-12.

PASSING -- Greer: Reese Hannon 12-24-1-102, Chester: Tony McNeal 15-24-1-200.

RECEIVING -- Greer: Sitton 2-29, Quadrick Mack 3-33, Jarvon Walker 3-19, Jon Redmon 1-25, Shaq Mack 1-2, Parks 2-3. Chester: Deterrion Hardin 5-59, Deon Strong 3-18, Bobby Kelly 4-54, Julius Pendergrass 2-16, Brent Minter 1-51, Tevin Worthy 1-7.

RECORDS -- Chester 10-1; Greer 6-5