Lewisville races past Wagener-Salley in 1A playoffs

The Lewisville Lions raced to a 31-0 lead at halftime and defeated the Wagener-Salley War Eagles 31-2 in the first round of the 1A playoffs in Wagener Friday night.

Rhett Cox passed for 297 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Lions’ offense. Quentin Sanders scored three times and finished with 115 yards of total offense.

"Credit to our coaching staff. Our staff saw a couple of things we thought we could take advantage of early," Lewisville head coach Will Mitchell said. "We wanted to try to deliver a big shot early in the game and go from there."

That big play came on the first opportunity the Lions had.

It was Cox and Demetric Hardin who got the scoring started. The two connected for an 80-yard touchdown pass on the Lions' first offensive play of the game.

Cox's precision and poise in the pocket made it difficult for the War Eagles to get many defensive stops in the first half. He completed 11 of 18 passes for the game. Johnny Courtney finished with 96 receiving yards, and Hardin hauled in two passes for 94 yards.

Mitchell was equally impressed with the defensive performance. Lewisville came in expecting Wagener-Salley to try to shorten the game and run the ball a lot. The Lions effectively stalled the War-Eagles in the first half.

"We challenged our defense to step up and meet that challenge, and they did," Mitchell said.

A safety resulted in the only points Wagener-Salley put on the board.

Lewisville travels to McCormick in the 1A Upper State second round next Friday night.

Lewisville; 8;23;0;0;-;31

Wagener-Salley;0;0;0;2;-;2

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

L - Cox 80 pass to Hardin (Fourney run)

Second Quarter

L - Cox 50 pass to Sanders (Courtney run) 11:27

L - Sanders 16 run (Fourney run) 7:29

L - Sanders 4 run (kick good) :23

Fourth Quarter

WS - Fumble recovered in end zone for safety. 6:49

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Wagener-Salley - Jackson 20-79, Davis 11-27, Kitching 2-17, Landy 1-1; Lewisville - Sanders 9-35, Cox 4-4, Courtney 1-(-4), Moore 1-5.

Passing: Wagener-Salley - Landy 2-5-17-0-1, Frazier 2-3-19, Jackson 0-2-0-0-1; Lewisville - Cox 11-19-195-2-1.

Receiving: Wagener-Salley - Davis 2-23, Kitchings 1-4, Frazier 1-9; Lewisville - Courtney 4-96, Sanders 2-80, Hardin 2-94, Scott 1-3.

Greenwood 35, Nation Ford 14

The Greenwood Eagles scored in every quarter and toppled the Nation Ford Falcons 35-14 in the first round of the 5A playoffs Friday night in Greenwood.

Greenwood quarterback Dre Yarbough accounted for 343 total yards. He scored three times on the ground and once more through the air, but Yarbough also coughed up the ball twice, the last one leading to a 20-yard scoop-and-score by Nation Ford defensive back Jiquavious Davis.

Greenwood rolled to a 21-0 halftime lead behind a 20-yard run by Yarbough, a 15-yard score by running back Von Ramsey, and a 17-yard hookup between Yarbough and wide receiver Noah Emily.

Yarbough scored twice more in the second half, once on a 4-yard scamper and again on a 42-yard run with 1:20 remaining. Emily led the Eagles with 57 yards on four receptions, though Greenwood attempted just three passes in the second half.

Nation Ford quarterback Ben Tuipulotu was 14-of-31 passing for 168 yards and two interceptions. Tuipulotu also scored Nation Ford’s lone offensive touchdown, running the ball in from 8 yards out.

Greenwood faces T.L. Hanna in the second round next Friday.

Emerald 48, Indian Land 23

The Emerald Vikings built a 21-3 lead at halftime and defeated the Indian Land Warriors 48-23 in the first round of the 3A playoffs Friday night in Greenwood.

Emerald senior Keyshawn Settles led his team to the first round win with nearly 300 yards on the ground and four touchdowns.

It was a shaky start for the top-seeded Vikings, who fumbled deep in their own territory on the opening drive of the game, leading to a 3-0 Warriors’ lead. But then Emerald ripped off 34 consecutive points, using a pounding rushing attack anchored by Settles and complemented by Treshawn Chamberlain and Kedarren Dean.

The Vikings defense also forced a trio of turnovers in the first half, capitalized by an Emmet Kelley interception that turned into a touchdown for the offense.

Indian Land put up two late-game touchdowns to trim Emerald’s 48-17 lead.

Emerald faces Broome in 3A Upper State second round next Friday.

– Compiled by Sam Copeland

This story was originally published November 3, 2017 at 11:11 PM with the headline "Lewisville races past Wagener-Salley in 1A playoffs."