Lancaster, Chester notch wins as prep football season heats up
Lancaster 24, Nation Ford 13
Nation Ford has been through a few tough outings this year already.
The Falcons suffered losses from South Pointe and Spartanburg. The lone win was a 28-17 victory against Conway, who is winless through four games.
Coming into Friday night’s matchup, the Falcons offense was averaging nearly 20 points and five turnovers per game, while the defense was giving up nearly 47 points per contest. The brightest spot for Nation Ford has been running back Nathan Mahaffey, who averages over 100 yards rushing per game..
The Falcons welcomed Lancaster to Fort Mill on Friday night. Lancaster was seeking its first 4-0 start since 2015. The Bruins have a pair of 100-plus-yard per game rushers in quarterback Kemarkio Cloud and running back Nygel Moore.
The night began when Cloud found Christian Woodard wide open on a stop-and-go route for an 81-yard touchdown connection.
The Bruins built their lead in the second and third quarters, with two Cloud rushing touchdowns from eight and nine yards out.
Nation Ford’s Mahaffey did his best to keep the Falcons in the game with a big run in the fourth quarter that set himself up to punch in a quick touchdown.
Mahaffey’s touchdown was followed by a Jacob Cato field goal for a 24-7 lead. The Falcons refused to go away easily - a big catch from Kaleb Starnes set up a second Mahaffey touchdown, but with just two minutes left in the game, the two-score deficit was too much to overcome.
On deck: huge game for Lancaster, which travels to one of the top teams in 3A football right now, Chester. Nation Ford plays the second of four straight home games, against Indian Land.
Chester 26, Columbia (Ga.) 16
Victor Floyd’s Chester Cyclones hit the road for a three-and-a half hour road trip to play Columbia High School in Decatur, Ga., minutes from downtown Atlanta. It was the teams’ first-ever meting and the Cyclones’ long road trip proved a success as they won 26-16.
The first drive of the game was a bit strange, featuring six penalties for 60 yards, but the Cyclones found the end zone first on a 22-yard option keeper to go up 7-0 with 8:30 left in the first quarter. After Columbia’s opening series, Chester faced fourth and 5 and faked the punt, making a late pitch to the up man to put the Cyclones at midfield. That drive for Chester lasted nearly eight minutes and ended in a 3-yard Pha’Leak Brown TD run to increase Chester’s lead to 13-0 with 9:04 before the half.
Chester converted a fourth and 10 a few drives later on a 37-yard pass from Zan Dunham to Brown before Zion Mills ended the drive with a score to take a commanding 19-0 lead at the half. Chester offensive line coach Chris Dodson said the offensive line played ‘solid’, but there is always room for improvement.
The third quarter was less than stellar for both teams. Columbia fumbled three times and Chester threw an interception and suffered a big loss of yardage on a bad snap. Despite all of that, Chester still led 19-0. Columbia got inside Chester’s 10-yard line later in the fourth, but Dorrien Bagley picked off a pass in the end zone. That play was negated by a roughing the passer penalty on Chester.
Columbia’s Antonio Willis scored on a 1-yard TD run followed by a successful 2-point conversion to make it 19-8 with 4:53 left in the fourth quarter. Chester’s response didn’t take long though. Quarterback Dunham connected with Mills for an 8-yard TD with 2:34 left to extend Chester’s lead to 26-8. Columbia scored one more time to end the night at 26-16.
On deck: Chester will host Lancaster next Friday night.
Carolina Pride 58, Lewisville 41
It’s hard for anyone to succeed when hit by the infamous injury bug. Lewisville has been hit harder than nearly anyone in the state this season. The Lions came into their matchup against Carolina Pride (N.C.) with almost 20 players unable to play. Still, they battled to a 58-41 shootout loss. The night began optimistically. Lewisville’s Devin McCrory took the ball 45 yards for a touchdown.
Carolina Pride answered with a touchdown and a 2-point conversion and kept it pouring on the Lions. The score at halftime was 30-15, but Lewisville opened the third quarter with a 30-yard touchdown pass. Carolina Pride poured three more touchdowns on Lewisville making the score 50-27, but the Lions didn’t lose their fight. Lewisville scored two consecutive touchdowns and recovered an onside kick to come within nine points, but a late Carolina Pride touchdown capped the night off with a final score.
On deck: Lewisville has a much-needed bye week, before commencing Region 4-2A play Sept. 21 against Pageland Central.
Andrew Jackson 47, Great Falls 2
Great Falls has not won two games in a row since 2014, when they started out that season 7-0. Andrew Jackson routed the Red Devils 47-2 at Andrew Jackson Friday night. Things got off to a slow start for Great Falls as the Red Devils went down 16-0 by the end of the first quarter. A field goal by Andrew Jackson made it 19-0 early in the second quarter.
Great Falls got a little bit of momentum back, scoring a safety off an interception thrown by Andrew Jackson that was fumbled into the end zone to cut the lead to 19-2 in favor of the Volunteers. The momentum was short lived for Great Falls as the Red Devils threw an interception, which resulted in a Jamie Hinson touchdown run to increase Andrew Jackson’s lead to 26-2.
Andrew Jackson ended the first half scoring with another Hinson touchdown to give the Vols a 33-2 lead at halftime. The rout continued in the second half for Andrew Jackson with a Dalton Starnes touchdown catch and O. J. White’s run in the third quarter to end the scoring for the night at 47-2.
On deck: Great Falls travels to Dixie next Friday night.
Dorman 35, York 0
The Dorman Cavaliers raced to a 19-0 lead after one quarter and never looked back as they defeated the York Cougars 35-0 in a non-region game at Dorman Friday night.
Jayvon Coleman got Dorman started on the way their win by returning the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown. After the missed extra point, the Cavaliers led 6-0.
Thomas Morgan capped a long drive on the second Dorman possession with a four-yard plunge, and the Cavaliers were in front 12-0 after missing the two-point try. Matthew Powell gave Dorman a 19-0 lead on its next possession when he passed to Jacob Pinckney for 24 yards and a score. Marco Flores kicked the PAT.
Morgan added to the count with a 72-yard scamper to make it 25-0 after another missed two-point conversion attempt. Flores capped the scoring in the first half with a 21-yard field goal as time expired. Dorman took a 28-0 lead to the dressing room at intermission.
After a scoreless third quarter, the Cavaliers got its final touchdown of the night Hayden Lee passed to Mark Powell for 12 yards and a 35-0 lead. The play capped a 14-play drive for the Cavaliers.
Thomas led Dorman with 113 yards on nine carries. Zack Hillstock added 62 on seven tries. Powell completed 8-of-13 throws for 141 yards. Stephen Oglesby led York with 57 yards on 16 carries. Jeremiah King added 55 yards on 10 carries. Tanner McKinney completed 6-of-12 for 53 yards.
On deck: York (0-3) hosts Rock Hill next week, Sept. 14.
READ: meet the kid helping modernize York’s football program
This story was originally published September 7, 2018 at 11:39 PM.