Chester, Indian Land wage a defensive football battle that goes to the wire, again

Chester coach Victor Floyd prepared to begin his remarks to reporters Friday night after the Cyclones’ game with Indian Land, seemingly displaying a combination of relief and disbelief.

“We’ll take it any way we can get it,” said Floyd.

Indian Land stymied the vaunted Chester rushing attack for significant parts of Friday night’s game. Chester (7-0, 1-0 Region 4-3A) broke through with first-half touchdowns from Pha’Leak Brown and Zion Mills, then made them hold up in staving off a tremendous challenge from Indian Land (2-5, 0-1) in a 12-9 victory at Chester High School.

Indian Land started the scoring, with Brandon Dickerson booting through a 29-yard field goal after the opening Warrior drive stalled just outside the Chester 10. Chester answered nearly immediately, needing just 23 seconds to go 65 yards and take a 6-3 lead on a five-yard Brown run. Neither team could find the end zone before Mills took an end-around and sprinted 22 yards to the left front pylon to put Chester ahead, 12-3, with just over three minutes in the first half.

Chester recorded a significant fourth-down stop of Indian Land as the Warriors drove into Cyclone territory, collecting a sack and taking over at their 40 with just over 22 seconds left in the half. The home side had a chance to extend the interval lead to double digits, but Zan Dunham’s deep pass sailed just past the fingertips of a fully-extended Ja’Rel Hill. Indian Land returned the favor, stopping Chester as the horn sounded.

The second half was a defensive battle, with only three combined drives for both sides ending in a result other than downs. Indian Land got a one-yard touchdown run from Brandon Britton as the fourth quarter began, capping a long, crazy drive extended on three separate occasions by penalties. Indian Land would get the ball back twice more in the final quarter, but would be unable to get into scoring position.

Turning point

Indian Land forced a Chester fumble on the second play of the second half, gaining possession at the Cyclone 25. Following a short drive on which a Chester pass interference moved the ball to the 11, the Warriors reached the Chester 3, at which they faced a fourth-and-2. Indian Land appeared ready to go for it, but after a timeout, tried a 20-yard field goal. That field goal sailed wide right. Chester’s next possession ended on downs, but the momentum from the stop proved huge for the Cyclone defense, and helped avoid the sting of an unforced error.

“That was huge,” said Floyd. “That play (…) and then the momentum swing for them was us fumbling the ball coming out of the half. Turnovers are the key. We’ve gotta find a way to protect the ball.”

Critical

Chester was flagged 13 times for over 140 yards, an uncharacteristic performance from the Cyclones. Three of those came on the aforementioned second-half Indian Land scoring drive, which kept the defense on the field for a prolonged period.

“We’ve just gotta be more disciplined, (and) not get as many penalties,” said Floyd after the game. “The good part is (that) I’ve seen nights where you lose games like this. Fortunately enough, we won. We’ve just gotta learn from it and grow, and be a lot better next week.”

Floyd also credited the Warriors’ effort in holding the Cyclones at bay.

“They did a really good job.

(Their) kids played hard, (and it was) tit-for-tat, just like last year. We were just fortunate enough to come out on top,” said Floyd.

Star contributors

Zan Dunham had what Floyd called his “most complete game” for Chester Friday, rushing 22 times for nearly 170 yards. Dunham had a 60-yard gallop on the game’s first play that set up Brown’s early touchdown. The freshman signal-caller also completed five passes for 58 yards. Mills and Brown each added touchdown runs for the Cyclones.

Jiquese Tinsley carried much of the load for Indian Land, rushing 23 times for 85 yards out of the Warrior backfield. Sophomore Brandon Britton started at quarterback, and contributed an additional 50 yards on 14 carries.

On deck

Indian Land has a bye next week, before resuming region play and hosting Keenan October 12. Chester travels to face Keenan Friday evening. Both games will kick off at 7:30.

Box score

Indian Land 3;0;0;6;-;9

Chester 6;6;0;0;-;12

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

IL – Brandon Dickerson 29 field goal 8:43

C – Pha’Leak Brown 5 run (kick failed) 8:10

Second quarter

C – Zion Mills 22 run (conversion failed) 3:33

Third quarter

None

Fourth quarter

IL – Brandon Britton 1 run (conversion failed) 11:05

TEAM STATISTICS

IL;C

First downs;12;15

Rushes-yards;43-114;41-242

Passing;2-10-0;5-14-0

Passing yards;16;58

Fumbles-lost;0-0;2-1

Penalties-yards;7-65;13-141

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING Indian Land: Jiquese Tinsley 23-85; Tyree Sistare 2-5; Brandon Britton 14-50; Grayson Barber 4-(minus) 26. Chester: Zan Dunham 22-168; Pha’Leak Brown 6-17; Emmanuel Wright 4-7; Stan Mills 8-28; Zion Mills 1-22.

PASSING Indian Land: Britton 1-6-0-7 yards; Barber 1-4-0-9 yards. Chester: Dunham 5-14-0-58 yards.

RECEIVING Indian Land: A.J. Jefferson 2-16. Chester: Terrence Mills 2-30; Zion Mills 1-13; Ja’Rel Hill 1-11; Pha’Leak Brown 1-4.

RECORDS Indian Land 2-5 (0-1 Region 4-3A), Chester 7-0 (1-0).