2008 NEWS

2007 NEWS

By DENNIS BRUNSON
Item Sports Editor
dennisb@theitem.com

The tri-county area in which we live has always had its fair of high school football players who have the ability to move the chains. The players are too numerous to mention here; for everyone that you remember being this or that, there are two that you won't remember.

However, it is hard to remember a season in which there were so many teams and players who were able to pile up the yards on the ground like this season. Here are a few numbers to show you just how successful teams were rushing the football: there were eight players who rushed for at least 1,000 yards, two more who rushed for over 900 yards, another who rushed for over 800 yards and one more that rushed for over 700 yards.

It did not make for an easy job when it came to picking the running backs for The Item All-Area football team. That's a good thing though; it's better to have a wealth of riches than a dearth of talent.

Crestwood, which is known for its run-heavy Wing-T offense, took things to a new level this season. The Knights rushed for a school record 5,012 yards and that allowed them to set records in scoring average (33.3 points a game), total offense (388.4) and total points (466). Crestwood had two players with over 1,200 yards — Terrence Wilson with 1,326 and Mike McMillan with 1,200. Tarik Hall, who was chosen to play in the SCADA North-South All-Star Football Game, rushed for 969 yards, quarterback Treginald Wilson had 722 yards and Dion Franklin had 611 yards.

That's a ridiculous number of players with substantial yards, but Scott's Branch did a good job of trying to match it. Quentin Singleton rushed for 1,238 yards, while Quincy Palmer had 1,015 yards and Curtis Davis had 906 yards.

Throw in Manning with two 1,000-yard rushers in running back Jason Witherspoon (1,596 yards) and quarterback Chris Hammett (1,010), The Item Area Player of the Year Roderick McDowell of Sumter (1,399) and Lakewood running back John Walker (1,351 yards) and you see just how special of a season it was.

And those weren't yards piled up between the 20s either. Each of the 1,000-yard rushers scored at least 12 rushing touchdowns. McDowell led the way with 21 followed by Witherspoon with 20 and McMillan with 19.

So while a state championship team didn't come out of the area this season, it certainly doesn't mean we were lacking when it came to outstanding football.

Forty-eight local high school football players have been chosen to The Item All-Area football team.

The team is chosen by The Item sports staff based on nominations from the head coaches of the seven local South Carolina High School League schools that have football teams — Sumter, Crestwood, Lakewood, Manning, Lee Central, East Clarendon and Scott's Branch.

The first team has seven players from both Crestwood and Sumter, six from Manning, two each from both Lakewood and Scott's Branch and one from East Clarendon.
 

The Item Area Player of the Year is Sumter running back Roderick McDowell, and The Item Area Coach of the Year is Keith Crolley of Crestwood.

McDowell was a triple threat for the Gamecocks — running the football, catching the football and returning kicks. McDowell, who was on the All-Area first team last season, rushed for 1,399 yards and 21 touchdowns on 158 carries, a 8.9 yards-per-carry average. He averaged 107.6 rushing yards a game. He caught 17 passes for 293 yards, a 17.2 average, and five touchdowns and returned 11 kickoffs for 262 yards and two TDs. He had 1,986 all-purpose yards, an average of 152.8 a game.

Joining McDowell in the backfield are running backs Jason Witherspoon of Manning, John Walker of Lakewood and Mike McMillan of Crestwood, Sumter fullback Steven Lewis and Manning quarterback Chris Hammett. Witherspoon, a repeat performer, rushed for 1,596 yards and 20 touchdowns for the Monarchs, while Walker rushed for 1,351 yards and 13 TDs.

McMillan ran for 1,200 yards and a team high 19 touchdowns despite missing four games due to knee surgery. He scored a school record five touchdowns in one game. He also caught three passes for 50 yards. Lewis, a Shrine Bowl pick, rushed for 562 yards and three touchdowns on 77 attempts, a 7.3 average, and often led the way blocking for McDowell.

Hammett both passed and ran for over 1,000 yards for Manning. He threw for 1,364 yards and 13 touchdowns against just three interceptions, while rushing for 1,010 yards and 14 more scores.

The wide receiver is Marcus Lloyd of Manning, while Crestwood's James Dugas is the tight end. Lloyd, a repeat performer, caught 40 passes for 914 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging 22.5 yards a catch. Dugas, who played in the SCADA North-South All-Star Football Game, led Crestwood's run-heavy offense with eight catches for 224 yards, a 28.0 average, and two touchdowns. Blocking-wise, Dugas graded out at 91 percent and had 65 knockdown blocks. He also averaged 45.2 yards on 28 punts.

The offensive line includes Matt Waynick of Sumter, Robert Shirriell and James Rogers of Crestwood, Bradley Hynes of Lakewood and Troy Georgia of Scott's Branch.

Waynick played center for Sumter and graded out at 90 percent with 29 knockdown blocks. He graded out at 100 percent in one game. Shirriell played guard and had an 83 percent grade with 57 knockdowns. Rogers, a repeat performer, missed four games but still had 42 knockdowns and graded out at 85 percent at tackle. Hynes had 19 knockdown blocks and an 82 percent grade. Georgia, another repeat performer, had 53 pancake blocks and an 87 percent grade.

The placekicker is Manning's J.C. Harrington. He connected on 57 of 60 extra-point attempts and three of five field goals. Two of the field goals were longer than 40 yards., The defensive line consists of Crestwood's Darius Wallace, Manning's Dexter Morant and Sumter's Keith Colclough. Wallace had 79 tackles and 15 quarterback sacks, a school record, despite missing three games with a knee injury. He also had 14 tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hurries, an interception, two fumble recoveries, two passes broken up and one fumble caused. Morant had 86 tackles, including 17 for loss. Colclough, who played in the North-South Game, had 59 tackles, including five for loss, one fumble recovery and one fumble caused. The linebackers are Said Davies of Manning, Quinn McClendon of Sumter, Keith Pough of Scott's Branch and Charles Taylor of Crestwood. Davies led Manning with 156 tackles in 13 games. McClendon, who was on the 2005 All-Area team, had 157 total tackles, including 102 solo stops. He had nine tackles for loss, three sacks, one fumble recovered and one fumble caused. Pough had 92 solo tackles, 61 assists, a sack, an interception, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. Taylor led Crestwood in tackles for the second straight yeaer with 134 and had a team high 15 tackles for loss. He also broke up three passes, recovered a fumble, had three hurries and a sack.

The defensive backfield includes Kevin Sinkler and Cardell Scarborough of Sumter, Martell Nelson of East Clarendon and Keith Gamble of Crestwood.

Sinkler had eight interceptions and 63 tackles, including 53 solo stops. He also caused two fumbles and recovered two fumbles, returing one for a touchdown. Scarborough had five interceptions and 57 tackles, including five for loss. He caused a fumble and recovered a fumble. Nelson had 40 tackles and five interceptions on defense for EC and rushed for 838 yards and 12 scores on offense. Gamble led Crestwood with three interceptions and had 70 tackles, including three for loss. He also broke up nine passes.

The second-team offense has Stephen Curtis of Sumter at quarterback, Terrence Wilson and Tarik Hall of Crestwood and Quentin Singleton of Scott's Branch at running back and Quincy Palmer of Scott's Branch as the all-purpose player. The wide receiver is Thomas McCall-Myers of Sumter and the tight end is Sumter's Justin Ford. The offensive line includes Zack Flood of Crestwood, Xavier Boatwright of Manning, Jeremy Bowman of Scott's Branch, Rance Powell of East Clarendon and Steven Wright of Lakewood.

The second-team defense includes Matthew Cato of Lakewood, Patrick Slater of Crestwood and Ashton Farmer of Sumter on the line, Desmond Harris of Manning, Mitchell Leviner of Lakewood, T.J. Devine of Sumter and Darius Gist of Scott's Branch at linebacker and Jonothan McFadden of East Clarendon, Randy Moulds of Crestwood, Timmy Rogers of Sumter and Curtis Davis of Scott's Branch in the backfield.
 

By PATRICK ENZOR
Item Sports Writer
penzor@theitem.com

Keith Crolley doesn't like taking credit for his team's accomplishments. It should come to no surprise that when the Crestwood High School head football coach found out he was selected as The Item Area Coach of the Year that he was quick to deflect praise.

"I'm surprised with as good of coaches that we have around here," said Crolley, who led his team within a shoelace of making it to the 3A state title game. "We have some outstanding coaches in this area and when you get something like this, it is not anything that I did — it is what our assistant coaches and players do.

"Without them, I wouldn't be anywhere," he continued. "It is a good honor and it is one that belongs to the assistant coaches and the players as far as any recognition that I get."

Sumter junior running back Roderick McDowell is the Area Player of the Year after a magnificent year carrying the ball. McDowell has 1,986 all-purpose yards and scored 28 total touchdowns this season.

"I was kind of surprised (by the season I had)," said McDowell. "I wanted to do more in what we were doing. Since KP (former quarterback Kendrick Pressley) left, I thought it was my time this year."

It is evident that Crolley's mantra has filtered to his team. The Knights, who finished 11-3, had five players total at least 611 yards rushing on the season in their patented Wing-T offense. Crestwood ran for 5,012 yards on the year.

"The kids coming in playing hard for one another," he said. "We have kids that understand their role and are unselfish. That says a lot for them and how they have been raised. That is the thing that I am most proud of is the way the kids worked together. If somebody wasn't doing it, somebody else would pick it up and help them out."

Crestwood ran its way further than any previous team in school history. In 2004, Crestwood made it to the third round before being knocked out by Dillon. This year, the Knights were 14-yards away from making a historical run to Williams-Brice Stadium to play for the state title.

However, it was Wilson that came up with a shoestring tackle on a scrambling quarterback Treginald Wilson, who would have scored the winning touchdown in the final seconds. But Crestwood ultimately fell 34-28.

"If you keep playing well and catch some breaks and things go your way, you hope you can go further than that," said Crolley. "We were a break or two away from going further. We went into every ball game expecting to play well and to win. Even the games we lost, if we played well, we felt we'd have a chance to win.

"One thing they understood, heading into the first round, that if you don't win now, you're done," he added. "They wanted to keep practicing. They didn't mind running and getting out there and working hard Monday through Thursday and having fun on Friday nights. That is what the game is all about."

McDowell rushed for 1,399 yards and 21 scores on 158 rushes this year. That is an amazing 8.9 yards per carry for those keeping track at home.

He also caught 17 passes for 293 yards and five TDs and returned 11 kickoffs for 262 yards and two more scores. Add that together and each time McDowell touched the ball, he gained 10.5 yards.

"It was not surprising to me," said Sumter head coach Paul Sorrells. "I couldn't predict that he would score that many touchdowns, but am I surprised or shocked that happened? No, I knew he was capable of that."

"Roderick was also able to take advantage of the people we had around him, and the line he had blocking for him," he added. "He would be the first to tell you that he wouldn't get those yards without the help of the line."

Despite the jaw-dropping numbers, McDowell made it sound like he was just playing the game on Playstation.

"I was happy," he said. "It was easy; just go with our game plan and execute."

As far as what he enjoys more — running, catching or returning — he doesn't really have a preference. As Keyshawn Johnson would say, 'just give him the dang ball.'

"Really, I Just have to run the ball, I don't care how I do it," he said. "As long as the ball is in my hands, I'm fine."
 

James "Pork Chop" Dugas and Tarik Hall are enjoying their time and working extremely hard as member of the South squad for the 2007 North South All-Star Football Game.  Both players had stellar seasons for the Knights, leading them to the Lower State Championship, where they fell to eventual state champions Wilson.  They are working with several All-Star coaches and 41 other players on two offenses - the Wing T and the Spread.  Both have adapted to the spread, and are already very familiar with the Wing.  At practices this week, it appears that both are in the starting lineup, and should see a great deal of playing time.  Pork Chop is wearing #88 and Tarik is wearing #27.

The game will be played at Coastal Carolina's Brooks Stadium at 12:00pm on Saturday, December 8.  Visit the official website for more information here.

By TREVOR ZION BAUKNIGHT
Item Sports Writer
TBauknight@theitem.com

DALZELL — One chance. One drive. One season.

The Crestwood High School varsity football team put its 2007 campaign on the line with just more than six minutes to play Friday, needing one touchdown drive and an extra point to earn a trip to the 3A state championship game. But the drive ground to a halt at the Wilson 14-yard line as quarterback Treginald Wilson's fourth-down pass fell incomplete as Wilson held on for a 34-28 win in the lower state championship game.

The Knights ended their season with an 11-3 record. Wilson heads to the school's first state championship game next Saturday at Columbia's Williams-Brice Stadium, where it will face Chester, a 16-0 winner over Union County on Friday.

"It was a good football game, but we knew coming in that we couldn't turn the football over," said Crestwood head coach Keith Crolley. "We did right there at the end, but that's not what cost us. We should have put the game away when we had a chance down there (when we were ahead) 28-21 and didn't take advantage of it.

"We came out a little flat offensively," he added. "We had a good year. I'm proud of our guys, our coaches coached hard and the kids played hard. Great turnout tonight — two good football teams, and they just happened to get the better of us. I wish we were going on, but that's just the way it goes sometimes."

Both teams were able to play their games offensively. Crestwood was able to ride its outstanding backfield to a 362-yard rushing night, while Wilson was able to strike quickly in response and take advantage of Crestwood's mistakes. Wilson's dual-quarterback system featuring junior Richard Cue and sophomore Maliek McCall was coldly efficient, combining to go 6-of-10 passing for 198 yards and three touchdowns.

The Tigers got the winning score after a costly Crestwood fumble on a kickoff return.

McCall hit wide receiver Caleb Davis for an 18-yard gain to the Crestwood 4-yard line and then connected with Bivins Elliott for a touchdown strike. That gave the Tigers their first lead of the game with 6:05 remaining in the final period.

The Tigers left the door open though. Their first attempt at the extra point was partially blocked, but Crestwood was whistled for running into the kicker. A bad snap on the second attempt, however, left the score at 34-28, giving the Knights a chance to drive for the win.

Crestwood drove the field on 10 plays, getting a first down at the Wilson 17 on a 12-yard run by running back Mike McMillan. McMillan, who had a huge game against the Tigers in the first meeting between the teams this year, finished with 158 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries to lead Crestwood, which had two backs go over the century mark.

He'd only get one more run after picking up the first down, scrapping for three yards on first down as the clock ticked under a minute to play. Running back Tarik Hall was stuffed for a 2-yard loss on second down and Treginald Wilson could only muster a yard after a miscue on the third-down snap. With the game on the line, Wilson tried to scramble away from heavy pressure from the Tigers' Melvin Banks, but his pass to tight end James Dugas fell incomplete and Wilson was able to run out the clock.

"We were hoping to hit the waggle down there, and run it away and drag Dugas across the field and try to get him on that," said Crolley. "But it kind of busted up and we ran out there a little early. It's just one of those things."

It was the third time that Wilson was able to stop the Knights on fourth down, but it was far more costly with no time remaining.

"We believe in our kids. I don't think we punted all night, and we were going hard at it," Crolley said. "We came to win the ball game. Our kids fought hard and played hard, and we've got nothing to be ashamed of. They're a good football team, but it's just one of those things. We didn't have enough time on the clock, and it got away from us."

Crestwood drew first blood in a wild first quarter that saw 28 points scored, engineering an 8-play, 56-yard drive that culminated with a 6-yard scoring run by Terrence Wilson. B.J. Ray's kick made it 7-0 with 8:21 remaining in the first quarter. Treginald Wilson finished the game with 116 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

Wilson struck back when Cue hit Elliott for a 66-yard scoring strike on the Tigers' second play from scrimmage. Robby Bonanno's kick tied the score at 7-7. Elliott had three catches for 92 yards and a score.

Another long Crestwood drive, this one a 12-play, 51-yard affair, was capped by a 10-yard McMillan run.

The Tigers answered with another quick strike. Cue hit junior wide receiver Davis on a 65-yard pass that set the Tigers up at the Crestwood 21. Running back Anthony Green scored on the next play from scrimmage to tie the game at 14-14.

The teams traded impressive defensive stops before the Knights took over at their 14 and went 86 yards on 12 plays. McMillan went in from a yard out to give Crestwood a 21-14 halftime lead.

Wilson put together a nine-play scoring drive following the second-half kickoff, McCall hitting Derik Belin on a 3-yard strike and Bonanno's kick tied the game for the third time at 21-21.

Crestwood regained the lead on the ensuing possession, going 76 yards on 11 plays, capping the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run by Hall to make it 28-21.

The Crestwood defense finally got a stop late in the third quarter, forcing them to punt on fourth-and-31 from their 17. Crestwood took over at the Wilson 37 after an 18-yard punt, but Wilson's defense was able to dodge a bullet and stop the Knights on fourth down.

The Tigers tied the game at 28-28 after a 7-play drive ended with McCall scrambling into the end zone from five yards out.

In the first meeting between the teams this season, Crestwood jumped out to a big lead and had to hold on as Wilson answered in the second half and made a game of it before the Knights were able to escape with a 37-32 win.

Crolley didn't think there was much difference in the two games other than the turnover — the Knights lost only one of their five fumbles, but it gave Wilson the opportunity it needed to take the lead.

"The difference was that we turned the ball over, and gave them the ball back there late in the game, and that hurt us a little bit," Crolley said. "But we still had a chance to drive down there and win the ball game and we just didn't finish it off.

"It's a sad thing that it had to happen to us, but there can only be one state champion and hopefully, Wilson will go and do what they have to do," he added. "They're from our region, and we know it's a tough region. They played well enough to win the ball game, and we let it get away from us."
 

Myrtle Beach, the number one ranked team in 3A, had several Division 1 players and has only allowed 88 points scored on them the entire season. On average, they only give up 9 points a game. Also, their scoring machine was averaging over 350 yards a game along with 37 points. The Knights Offense amassed 353 yards rushing, 30 yards passing, and more points than the Seahawks have seen in one game all year. The defense really played their butts off - constant pressure from all angles was evident in disrupting the Hawks' passing game and holding the Hawks to 276 yards of total offense.. BE SURE TO CHECK THE OFFICIAL GAME STATS ON THE STATS PAGE!- Webmaster Game Notes

By PATRICK ENZOR
Item Sports Writer
penzor@theitem.com

MYRTLE BEACH — Myrtle Beach High School freshman quarterback Everett Golson had set the world on fire in the 12 games leading up to the Seahawks' 3A quarterfinal game in the state playoffs against Crestwood on Friday. He couldn't light a match against the Knights.

The Knights blitzed every play and pressured the youngster into forcing throws and the Crestwood running game did its thing well enough as Crestwood downed the previously unbeaten Seahawks 37-28 at Doug Shaw Memorial Field.

With Wilson's 21-14 upset of Strom Thurmond on Friday, Crestwood will play host to the Tigers at District 2 Memorial Stadium for the Lower State title next Friday.

"Every play we had two people coming," said Crestwood co-defensive coordinator Chuck Tauchman. "If we didn't have two people coming, we had three. We just pressured him the whole night. The kids worked on it in practice and executed it to perfection. It was the best defense they have played against a team of this caliber."

Golson finished the night just 18 of 39 passing for 262 yards and three touchdowns and spent a good bit of the game on his back. The grass stains were evident on his dark green jersey.

"We put a lot a pressure on him and got a lot of pressure that other people couldn't," said Crestwood head coach Keith Crolley, whose team improved to 11-2. "They have kind of been pushed back on the back burner, but we've got a defense too and that was a good offensive team we played. No one else was able to get to him like we were. We were just determined to get there."

An interception by Randy Moulds set the Knights up at the Seahawks 47-yard line for their second possession of the game. A heavy dose of Mike McMillan, who ran for 116 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, resulted in a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down to open the game's scoring with 1:43 left in the quarter. BJ Ray's PAT made it 7-0 after the Knights' 10-play, 53-yard drive.

The Seahawks answered right back as Golson found William Lee open on a streak for a 33-yard touchdown pass. The Seahawks faked the PAT and holder Morgan Byrd ran in the 2-point conversion to make it 8-7 with 11:36 left in the opening half.

It took all of two plays for the Knights retake the lead. Tarik Hall, who had 101 yards on nine carries, took an option pitch from quarterback Treginald Wilson and rumbled for a 78-yard TD run. The run failed on the PAT to keep the score 13-8 Knights with 10:34 left in the half.

The Seahawks drove down to the Knights' 20 before turning the ball over on downs and Terrence Wilson made them pay. On the first play, Wilson, who had 100 yards on 12 carries, spun out of a tackle and outran the defense for an 80-yard TD run, but again the run failed to make it 19-8 with 4:44 left.

The Seahawks were forced to punt on their next possession and the Knights took over at their 42, but Treginald Wilson fumbled the handoff on the first play and MB's Evan Rose recovered at the 34. On the first play, Golson found Lee again down the right sideline for the touchdown as MB cut the lead to 19-14 with 2:26 left.

Crestwood had trouble moving the ball in the third quarter, finishing with minus-five yards thanks to 25 yards in penalties. The Seahawks were able to take the lead on a 1-yard run by Eddie Jones with 4:15 left in the quarter. Rose caught a pass from Byrd for the 2-point conversion to make it 22-19.

The ineptness in the third quarter on offense changed quickly in the final stanza. On Crestwood's second play, McMillan broke loose up the middle for a 41-yard gain and four plays later found paydirt with a 9-yard run to give the Knights a 25-22 lead after Ray missed the PAT.

"We had some guys that stepped it up and got after it hard," said Crolley. "They came out in the second half and played pretty good defense against us. Our guys settled in and then it was just about effort. Our kids don't want to go home and want to practice next week."

A holding and intentional grounding penalty had the Seahawks facing a whopping third and 41 from their own 3. MB ran a hook-and-ladder and nearly picked up the first down gaining 30 yards, but was forced to punt. Jones, however, shanked the punt as it only went 14 yards and the Knights took over at the MB 47.

More doses of McMillan got the ball down to the 30 before the Knights took a timeout facing second and 12. On the ensuing play, Treginald Wilson rolled out of a play-action and lofted the ball to tight end James Dugas, who leapt over the defender and brought the ball down for a touchdown.

"I just had to do it for my team," said Dugas. "When they are focused on me I've got to make it happen."

The run failed, but Crestwood led 31-22 with 3:20 left in the game.

"I was hoping the defense would hold them and that is what they did," said Treginald Wilson. "We got the ball back and the coaches told me it was in my hands. I give much credit to my offensive line. They really did a good job of blocking."

It took the Seahawks one play to get back in it. Lee returned the kickoff to the Crestwood 38 and Golson found Erik Shell down the right sideline for a touchdown to cut the lead to 31-28 with three minutes left. Darius Wallace broke through the line and blocked the PAT.

Isaiah Young recovered the onside kick and MB picked up two unsportsmanlike penalties and Crestwood took over at the MB 25. After a couple of penalites and runs, Crestwood faced a fourth and five. Wilson audibled at the line into what turned out to be the perfect fumble rooskie.The toss from Wilson bounced off the leg and then heel of Hall and into the air. Wilson picked the ball out of the air and turned it into a 20-yard game-clinching touchdown.

"I checked like three times on that play," said Wilson. "They called my play out there and I checked back into it. The ball just popped up. I just make things happen on broken plays."
 

By PATRICK ENZOR
Item Sports Writer
penzor@theitem.com

WEST COLUMBIA — Terrence Wilson isn't a big kid. The Crestwood running back is listed at 5-7, 165-pounds, but that would be soaking wet holding a 20-pound dumbbell with 2-inch spikes on concrete.

It doesn't stop him from pounding his way through holes, and Friday night against Airport in the second round of the 3A state playoffs he did more than that. Not only did he run for 201 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns in the Knights 34-26 upset of the Region IV champions, he laid one of the best blocks of the night laying out Eagles linebacker Leroy Soloman.

Crestwood will travel to Myrtle Beach next Friday for a quarterfinal matchup. Myrtle Beach throttled Chapin 42-14 Friday.

"I don't want to go home right now," Wilson laughed. "I just wanted to make it to the third round. I am the smallest one out there, but they (teammates) look out for me."

Crestwood ran for 413 yards on the night and took it physically to the Eagles.

"We got after it pretty hard and I am right proud of them," said Crestwood head coach Keith Crolley. "That is what we challenged them to do. We wanted to come out and be real physical and our kids pride themselves in what we do."

Airport got off to a fast start, scoring on 53-yard draw play by Brandon Larry on the second play from scrimmage. Just 25 seconds into the game, the Knights found themselves in an early 7-0 hole.

"We watched the film and they do that to everybody," said Crolley. "We told our guys just to stay in there and continue to battle. The kids have been pretty good about battling back after someone jumps up on us."

With Wilson in the backfield, that hole was about an inch deep. Wilson took a handoff from his brother Treginald on a sweep to the right, picked up a huge block from Tarik Hall and outran the Airport defense with a 74-yard TD run to tie the game just 1:13 into the contest.

"That was the biggest one of my whole life," a smiling Wilson said. Things settled down after that for the rest of the quarter.

On Crestwood's second possession, the Knights put together an 11-play, 82-yard drive that Mike McMillan capped with a 3-yard run on fourth down on the first play of the second quarter.

B.J. Ray made it 14-7 with the PAT.

Airport came right back as quarterback W.T. Murden scored on a 5-yard keeper to tie the game with 8:26 left in the first half. After McMillan fumbled on the second play on the ensuing possession, Larry scored from seven yards out giving the Eagles the lead, but Pack Lucas missed the PAT to keep it at 20-14.

After a personal foul penalty against Airport during the ensuing kickoff, Crestwood started at its own 42-yard line. After a 16-yard pass from Treginald Wilson to tight end James Dugas, the Knights were in business at the Airport 15.

On the next play, Hall was all business. The 185-pound senior ran over the 165-pound Soloman and the 220-pound Miquel Cokley on the sideline, stayed in bounds and shed L.A. Brown's tackle at the 10 to score with 42 seconds left in the opening half as Ray's kick made it 21-20.

Crestwood got the ball to start the second half and Airport probably forgot what the ball looked like before they got it back. The Knights went on a 17-play, 80-yard drive — all runs — that saw two fourth-down conversions and took an amazing 9:15 off the clock.

Treginald Wilson capped it off with a scamper after a broken play from the 11 to make it 27-20 with just 2:45 left in the third.

"We were trying to wear them down," said Wilson. "We said if we can come out and score, we will have them in a tough situation."

A bad snap ultimately doomed the extra-point attempt, but Crestwood led 27-20 and sucked all the wind out of Airport's sails. Crestwood then forced Airport into a three-and-out, but failed to convert on fourth down when Brown intercepted a Dugas pass after the Knights lined up in a punt formation.

Airport got back in the game on a 26-yard pass from Murden to Javonte Jackson with 3:58 left in the game to cut the lead to 27-26. On the PAT, however, Crestwood's Darius Wallace broke through the line and blocked the PAT to keep Crestwood out front.

After a block in the back penalty against the Knights on the kickoff, Crestwood started at its own 10-yard line. On the second play, Wilson took another sweep to the right 56 yards down to the Airport 33. A 15-yard run by Hall got it to the 17 and Wilson capped the drive off with a 17-yard scamper up the middle to make it 34-26 with Ray's PAT.

Wilson scored almost too quickly, however, leaving 1:58 on the clock and Airport had two timeouts left. Airport drove to the Crestwood 29-yard line in just three plays, but turned the ball over on downs when Murden threw two straight incomplete passes.
 

By PATRICK ENZOR
Item Sports Writer
penzor@theitem.com

DALZELL — Deficits don't have much of an effect on the Crestwood Knights.

The Knights trailed in four of their eight wins entering Friday's 3A state playoffs first-round football game against Carolina Forest at District 2 Memorial Stadium. Trailing 14-13 at halftime to the Panthers was nothing new for Crestwood.

The Knights' defense stuffed Carolina Forest in the second half, giving up just 15 yards of offense until the final drive and Terrence Wilson and Tarik Hall ran for more than 120 yards as the Knights galloped past CF to a 35-14 victory.

Crestwood will travel next week to Airport for a second-round game. Airport, the Region IV champion, beat Stall 68-14 Friday.

"Our defensive staff did a good job," said Crestwood head coach Keith Crolley, whose team improved to 9-2. "They got out there and made some changes with what we were doing with (Carolina Forest's) option. I think our guys picked up the intensity a little bit.

"Once we got them out of the option game, we got them in what we wanted them in," added Crolley. "We felt like we could run and get after them. I am glad we got out of this one and on to the second round."

The defense set the tone early in the second half forcing a quick three downs and out, taking over at the Crestwood 27-yard line. After Hall got the ball out to midfield on the first play, the Knights drove down to the CF 16. Hall was then taken down at the 8 by Carolina Forest's Jermany Parson on a touchdown-saving tackle.

Three plays later, Hall made him pay. Hall, who ran for 104 yards, took a pitch to the left, stiff-armed a defender and set up a 1-on-1 situation with Parson. Hall gave him a little shimmy and made Parson miss him completely as Hall strolled into the end zone from six yards out to make it 19-14; Hall ran in the 2-point conversion with 5:31 left in the third quarter to make it 21-14.

"(Offensive coordinator Brian) Jackson and (assistant) Coach (Eric) Cooper got up there and did a good job of what we were doing offensively," said Crolley. "I think we came out and got in the T formation and ran pretty good. Our backs started blocking a little better."

On the ensuing Panthers possession, they picked up two penalties and had to punt from their 29. Crestwood's Marquise Parker broke through the line and blocked Noah Lascell's punt, and after a personal foul penalty on CF, the Knights took over at the CF 14.

The Knights couldn't punch it in as they turned the ball over on downs at the 6, but they had all the momentum they needed. Crestwood forced CF backward on the next possession and took over at the CF 23 after a 21-yard punt from Lascell.

"Even though we didn't score when we got it, our defense kept them down there pinned deep," said Crolley. "They continued to play well. That was a big play for us."

Quarterback Treginald Wilson conducted an 8-play drive that he capped with a 1-yard sneak on fourth down to make it 28-14 with BJ Ray's PAT with 6:35 left in the game.

After forcing the Panthers to turn it over on downs at the CF 16, McMillan capped the 3-play drive with a 9-yard run with 4:09 left in the game. Ray's PAT made it 35-14.

Crestwood started the game on a quick note. Terrence Wilson, who ran for 176yards on just 15 carries, took a handoff on the fifth play of the game and outran the Panther defense for a 49-yard TD run just 2:40 into the game.

"Both (Hall and Wilson) of them ran hard for us all night," said Crolley. "They were keying on Mike (McMillan) pretty hard all night. When they are doing that, somebody has to pick it up. That is what we have done all year. Mike did a good job of blocking on a lot of those plays."

Carolina Forest answered right back when Parson took a screen pass from David LaRose and bobbed, weaved and cut back a couple times for a 44-yard touchdown. Lascell's PAT tied it at 7 with 6:36 left in the first quarter.

The Panthers took the lead when a fake punt by Crestwood failed and handed CF the ball at the Crestwood 43. Eight plays later, LaRose found Kadeem Simmons in the back of the end zone on the only pass of the drive from five yards out to make it 14-7 with 7:20 left.

It was the Knights' turn to answer and they did. A heavy dose of Mike McMillan, who rushed for 91 yards, led the Knights on an 11-play, 80-yard drive that McMillan capped with a 3-yard TD run, but Ray's PAT was blocked to keep the score 14-13 with 3:15 left.

Crestwood faces a stiff opponent next week. Airport is 10-1 on the year and is 7-0 at home.

"You've got to take them one at a time," said Crolley. "If you get caught looking ahead, you are going to be watching the games. Hopefully, we'll settle down and get done what we need to get done."
 

By PATRICK ENZOR
Item Sports Writer
penzor@theitem.com

Lakewood High School had 14 first downs. Crestwood had two.

Lakewood ran 70 plays on offense. Crestwood ran 34.

Lakewood had 190 yards of total offense. Other than two plays, Crestwood had 52 yards of offense.

But Crestwood won the only stat that mattered Friday night at a rainy J. Frank Baker Stadium — the score. Crestwood rallied from a 14-point, fourth-quarter deficit on two long touchdown runs from quarterback Treginald Wilson for a 20-14 victory over their District 2 rivals.

"You have to give them (Lakewood) credit," said Crestwood head coach Keith Crolley, whose team improved to 8-2 overall and 4-1 in Region V-3A. "They did a lot of things defensively that we hadn't seen. That had a lot to do with it.

"Our kids didn't quit," he added. "We lined up and we had to make plays. (Wilson) made the plays on the runs for us. Give them credit, they did a good job against us."

Crestwood had the No.2 seed in the region wrapped up before the game started and will host Carolina Forest next week in the first round of the playoffs. Carolina Forest defeated North Myrtle Beach 24-20 Friday to take the No.3 seed.

Lakewood's defense swamped Crestwood for 3 ½ quarters as the offense punched in two touchdowns for a 14-0 lead. The Knights didn't pick up their first first down until Lakewood jumped offside with under five minutes left in the third quarter. Crestwood didn't earn its first honest first down until Wilson completed a 15-yard pass to tight end James Dugas on the second-to-last play of the third quarter — that was the Knights' last first down.

"We played hard," said Lakewood head coach Doc Lewis, whose team ended its season 3-7 and 1-4 in the region. "This is just a small process in our steps to getting better. These kids are taking bigger steps than I expected. We are still on our long-term goal.

"The defense carried us," he added. "Crestwood is one of the best in the state in 3A and I can't ask for anything more. We had a good game plan and we played hard."

The Knights' first points came when Lakewood punter Nick Belcher stepped out of the back of the end zone on purpose to take a safety with 8:22 left in the game to make it 14-2. Evidently there was still a spark left for Crestwood in the drowned field.

Crestwood took over on the ensuing free kick at the Lakewood 49-yard line, and it took all of one play for Wilson to make a game of it and resurrect the Knights' offense.

Wilson ran a play-action and rolled out to the right and had Dugas wide open 10 yards downfield, but Wilson tucked it and took off down field. Good choice. A few seconds later, Wilson was in the end zone and the lead was cut to 14-8 with 8:01 left in the game.

BJ Ray's PAT was blocked, but the Knights had life.

Crestwood's defense twice forced Lakewood into third-and-long situations during the ensuing possession, but twice committed 15-yard penalties to give the Gators a first down. The Knights finally forced a punt with 3:43 left and Keith Gamble returned it 15 yards to the Crestwood 45-yard line.

On the first play, Wilson found a wide open Damone Pringle down the middle of the field for what likely would have been a touchdown, but Pringle dropped the pass. No matter.

The Knights called the same play as Wilson's previous TD run, but this time to the left. Crestwood got the same result, as Wilson tucked around the corner untouched for his second touchdown run to tie the game at 14 with 3:10 left.

"They were designed passes, I just took off when I saw open field," smiled Wilson, who finished the night with 110 yards on 5 carries..

Crolley said that Wilson has the option to run on the play and is sure glad he took it on those two plays.

"We just felt like we had to use him for what he can do," he said. "He knows what to do with the football. It was there if we wanted the pass."

Ray was wide left on the PAT to keep the score tied.

"They (Lakewood) came out fighting hard," said Wilson. "We just kicked it into second gear in the fourth quarter and we just came out with the win. I am happy with the win."

Lakewood was able to run the clock until a last-second punt to end regulation. Crestwood won the toss and elected to go on defense first in the opening overtime period. In high school, the ball is setup at the 10-yard line and teams have four plays to get the ball into the end zone with just the play clock running.

Lakewood ran three times down to 6-yard line and set up for a 23-yard field goal from Belcher. On the snap, however, the wet ball caused a slight mishandle by holder T.J. Thornhill and the kick sailed just wide left.

That was all Crestwood needed. McMillan, who averaged just 2.3 yards a carry in the game, burst through the middle, broke a tackle and strolled into the end zone to end the game.

"First downs don't win ball games for you, touchdowns do," smiled Crolley. "Defensively we stepped up big down there. Our defense is better than a lot of people think."

As a team, taking away Wilson's two scrambles, Crestwood averaged just two yards per carry. The Knights also hurt themselves with six fumbles — losing three — but it was the Gators' defense that dictated the game.

"Last year, they drummed us pretty good," said Lewis. "We can build on this. We didn't say anything all week about last year, but you better believe this will be talked about because this is where we want to be playing."

Lakewood put together an 8-play, 51-yard drive over the first and second quarters that John Walker capped with a 5-yard plunge, but Belcher missed the PAT to make it 6-0 with 9:51 left in the first half. Walker led the Gators with 33 carries for 99 yards and two touchdowns.

Lakewood looked to make it a two-score game with a drive in the third quarter, but Crestwood recovered a fumbled snap at the Knights' 5-yard line. However, Crestwood returned the favor, fumbling the ball back on the next snap.

Walker scored on the next play from three yards out to make it 12-0 and Quentin Hynes ran in the 2-point conversion to make it 14-0 with 3:20 left in the third.

Heading into the game versus Darlington, the Knights were not only looking to keep up their play after beating Wilson, but also to win their third game in the Region and secure a playoff position.  Although the offense came out and sputtered a bit, it was due to a few new plays that the Falcon defense stopped.  Coming off the field, the Knights decided it was time to do what they do best - run the ball.  The next possession was a 19 play run churning ground game, that took up the rest of the first quarter and a bit of the second.  Treginald Wilson found the endzone and Josh Lee secured the extra point for a 7-0 lead. 

Not to be outdone in scoring, the Black Knights "D" picked up their first score of the year as well with Patrick Slater picking up a loose ball and rumbling 25 yards for the score to put the Knights up 14-0 in the second quarter.  The ensuing kickoff, however, was not kind as the Falcons returned it to the Knights 40 yard line, and a few plays later Bootsie Gattison plunged in for the score.

With the ball back in their hands, the Knights had to continue to eat time off of the clock, and they did, along with a pass reception by Tarik Hall.  This time, Dion Franklin found the zone to put the Knights up 21-7 with about 5 minutes remaining in the half.  The Falcons turned the ball over, but the Knights could not get anything going on the field.  Faced with a 4th and 2 from their own 42 yard line, the Knights decided to go for it, but the pass attempt never developed and Wilson was dropped without the first down.  4.2 seconds remained in the half, but it was enough for the Falcons to capitalize with a hail mary to the endzone.  Needless to say, the Falcons thought momentum was swaying their way now.

After a halftime "pep-talk" by Crolley and the coaches, the Knights came out in the second half like a fire ant mound that was just stepped on.  The defense forced one of many three and out's for the Knight, and the ground and pound offense was back on the field - scoring this time was Mike McMillan on a five yard plunge. 

Also scoring in this half was McMillan, who had a game high 138 yards on 22 carries, on a 36 yard scamper and Franklin added another score from 25 yards out.  The Knights have yet to put together a "whole" game, but you can see the potential.  With any of the four backs ready to have a breakout night, the Knights have plenty of armor, and will need to take one game at a time as they complete the regular season, and move into the playoffs.

Next week, they travel to face off versus cross-town rival, Lakewood, who is much improved since last year.  The Gators have won several games this season, including one over Darlington.  The Knights won last year in a rain soaked game that included several turnovers.

By WILL EVANS
Special to The Item
 

DALZELL — The Crestwood High School varsity football team improved to 6-2 and 2-1 in Region V-3A with a 37-32 win over Wilson Friday at District 2 Memorial Stadium.

There were plenty of storylines to follow as the Knights battled the Tigers. First, it was the Crestwood senior players final game at home. Secondly, running back Mike McMillan was making his return from an injury that had held him out of action for the past four weeks. No one from the Crestwood side left the game disappointed.

Crestwood Head Coach Keith Crolley started the Knights out with their signature Wing-T offense eating up the clock and moving the ball downfield. McMillan carried five times on the opening drive and scored the touchdown to make it 7-0 with 8:15 left in the opening quarter.

The Tigers answered back as Keyshawn Hunter returned the kickoff all the way back for the touchdown, but Crestwood came up with the block on the extra point attempt to make it 7-6. Wilson's Antwain Brunson ran in another score, but the Tigers failed on the 2-point conversion to make it 12-7.

After a 2-yard run by Dion Franklin just seconds into the second quarter, Crestwood's Tarik Hall took the ball 52 yards for the touchdown and BJ Ray added the PAT. McMillan scored his second touchdown of the game with 5:43 left in the first half and quarterback Treginald Wilson adding another Crestwood touchdown with a 19-yard run 3½ minutes later.

Ray added a 39 yard field goal to lead Crestwood into halftime with a 31-12 lead.

Wilson wasn't packing it in though as they came out on a war path in the second half. The Tigers scored 13 in the third quarter on back-to-back drives with two touchdown passes from backup quarterback Maliek McCall to Bivins Elliott to close the gap to 31-25.

Not to be outdone, Crestwood pulled out a passing play of their own. Treginald Wilson completed a 52-yard pass to tight end James Dugas to go up 37-25 with 9:57 left in the third. The PAT attempt was blocked.

The Tigers marched their way down the field to pull within five with 6:02 left in the final quarter on a 7-yard run by Ryan Echols.

Crestwood started its final drive and things started looking dim as they were trapped in a fourth down situation with 3:08 left in the game.

"Our offensive coaches told Treginald to check down at the line and see if that play would pull through," said Crolley. "The offensive line did a great job for us in that situation."

The play worked to perfection. Wilson kept the ball on a quarterback sneak and fought through a couple of tackles to gain 15 yards. McMillan would get five more carries before Wilson would take a knee on the final play.

McMillan finished with 174 yards and two touchdowns on 38 carries.. Wilson threw a touchdown pass and ran for another. Linebacker Travis Jenkins led the defense with 6 tackles.

With the playoffs looming, Crolley is weary about that the Knights not getting ahead of themselves.

"We've got to take it a game at a time," he said. "We can start that by playing hard against Darlington next week."

The Knights will try to get one step closer to that goal when they play in Darlington Friday.
 

By TOM O'HARE
Special to The Item
 

DALZELL — Crestwood High School's football team learned a lesson the hard way in their clash with Marlboro County at District II Memorial Stadium Friday. Don't rely on big second half rallies – especially against Region V-3A foes as strong as the Bulldogs.

One week after the Knights rallied from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter to topple Lake City, they fell behind Marlboro County 21-0 by halftime and were unable to duplicate their magic from a week ago. The Bulldogs rolled to a 42-14 victory, dropping Crestwood to 5-2 on the year, 1-1 in Region V-3A.

Marlboro County improves to 5-2, 2-0 in the region.

"We don't come out expecting it's okay to fall behind and then get back into it. That's not the way we play around here," said Crestwood coach Keith Crolley. "Bottom line is we made too many mistakes against a team like Marlboro County. You can't do some of the things we did against any team and expect to win."

Marlboro County coach Dean Boyd came into the contest concerned about the Knights offense, which led him to take a bit of a gamble on the Bulldogs first possession. Facing a fourth-and-one from his 43, Boyd decided to got for their first down rather than maintain field position with a punt. The Bulldogs converted on the fourth down when quarterback Elliott Alford picked up two yards on a sneak. On the next play, John Liles broke free over the left side on a 37-yard gallop that moved the ball down to the Knights 18. Two plays later, Liles put the Bulldogs on the board with an 11-yard touchdown run, and after Eric Hayes booted the extra point, Marlboro County led 7-0.

"We were so concerned about how prolific their (Crestwood's) offense is that we felt like we needed to do some things to keep them off the field," Boyd said. "We just felt like any time we faced those situations we were going to go for it."

The game's next gamble came from the Crestwood sideline later in the opening quarter. Facing a fourth-and two from their 20, Crolley sent James Dugas back in punt formation, but on the snap, the hike went to blocking back Tarik Hall instead. Dugas pretended that the ball had been snapped over his head, but Hall bobbled the ball as he tried to sneak past the Bulldogs punt return team and was thrown for a 8-yard loss, giving Marlboro County possession at the Crestwood 12. Liles promptly scored on the next play and Hayes added the extra point to make it 14-0 with 2:04 left in the first quarter.

"We saw something we felt like we might be able to in that situation and had been practicing it. Our guys just bobbled the ball," Crolley said about the fake. "We believed we had something there and felt confident we could pick it up."

Things stayed 14-0 until just 2:08 left in the second quarter when Marlboro County linebacker Jamie Bridges picked up a Crestwood fumble at the Knights 40 and ran untouched to the end zone to make it 21-0.

"You never want to give the other team another score without them having to put their offense on the field, and giving it up right there at the end of the half made it even worse," Crolley said.

Any hopes of the Knights would quickly sneak back into the contest when the second half got underway immediately vanished when Marlboro County's Walter Jones ran the kickoff back 90 yards to make it 28-0.

"We told our guys at halftime we needed to come out in the second half right away and make a statement," Boyd said. "I told them we needed to put a good drive together, and wasn't counting on a kick return, but that was just as good."

The Knights gave hints of a rally midway through the third quarter when defensive end Darius Wallace's picked off a Marlboro County pass and returned it 20 yards to the Bulldogs five. Dion Franklin scored on a 1-yard plunge two plays later, and after BJ Ray added the point after, the Knights were within 28-7 with 7:48 left in the third quarter.

However, the Bulldogs got a touchdown when they took over on offense by putting together a 60-yard, 9-play drive that ended with Alford finding Jones open in the left corner of the end zone on a fourth-and-goal from the 13 that stretched the Bulldogs lead to 35-7.

Crestwood pulled to within 35-14 before the third quarter ended when a 38-yard completion from Treginald Wilson to Terrence Wilson set up a 2-yard scoring run by Franklin. But later in the quarter, Marlboro County linebacker Devin Johnson intercepted a Treginald Wilson pass at the Knights 14. That set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Tyreek Townsend that made it 42-14, the game's final score.

The Knights will host Wilson next week in hopes of getting back on track in the region.

"This was just one game in the region and just one loss," Crolley said. "We just need to come out ready to play next week. Some of the mistakes we made tonight it doesn't matter who you are playing, you're not going to win when you do some of the things we did."
 

By TREVOR ZION BAUKNIGHT
Item Sports Writer
TBauknight@theitem.com

LAKE CITY — The Crestwood High School football team needed a miracle Friday, and the Knights got one.

Crestwood scored 22 unanswered fourth-quarter points to tie its game against Lake City and won it in overtime 34-28, spoiling the Panthers’ homecoming in a thriller at Ward Memorial Stadium in Lake City.

Crestwood improved to 5-1 with the win and got off to a good start winning its region opener. Lake City fell to 3-3 on the season and 0-1 in the region.

Fullback Dion Franklin, a wingback pressed into service after injuries to Mike McMillan and his backup Robert Simon, had 130 yards, three touchdowns on 29 carries — two in the fourth quarter and one in overtime — and two critical 2-point conversion runs to help lead Crestwood. Tarik Hall added 140 yards on 13 carries, including several big runs during the comeback.

“In the fourth quarter, everybody started looking toward everybody else,” Franklin said. “We had to get our heads up and keep on pushing each other on, and I felt like, as fullback, with all the other fullbacks out, I had to step up and prove that I can run the ball as much as anyone else.”

Down 28-6, the Knights got a break early in the final quarter when they fell on a fumbled pitch at the Lake City 10-yard line. Penalties set Crestwood back to the 31, but the Knights’ Terrence Wilson got that yardage back with a 30-yard scamper to the 1 and on the next play, Franklin dove in for his first score. A fumbled snap on the 2-point try left the score 28-12.

The Knights’ tried the onside kick, but Lake City recovered. The Panthers weren’t able to do anything with their only possession of the quarter, however, and Crestwood got the ball back with a little over seven minutes remaining.

Crestwood then mounted a nine-play, 71-yard drive capped by a 22-yard scoring run by Franklin that made it 28-18 with 2:49 remaining. Franklin got the call on the 2-point try and made it count, diving in to make it 28-20.

“I’ve got to get there,” Franklin recalled his thoughts on the play. “I’m doing this for my team, I’m doing this for what we all represent.”

The Knights lined up for the onside kick, and this time it was perfect, bouncing high in the air on the second bounce for a leaping Alex Prioleau, who came down with the ball at the Lake City 44-yard line.

Franklin ran 16 yards on three carries, Hall ripped off a 24-yard run to the five and three plays later, quarterback Treginald Wilson went in on the keeper from a yard out to make it 28-26.

Again, Franklin got the call on the 2-point try, and again, Franklin made it count, trying the game at 28-28 with 20.7 seconds remaining.

Crestwood tried another onside kick, which failed, giving the stunned Panthers the ball at midfield. Quarterback Stevenson Gaston, who had 73 yards on eight carries for Lake City, tried a pass that almost backfired, but Crestwood couldn’t hold on to the interception in the flat and Gaston was content to take a knee and go to overtime.

In the extra period, Crestwood wasted no time, giving twice to Franklin for the first eight yards. Treginald Wilson kept it on third down and got inside the 1-yard line and Franklin scored the game winner. The kick failed, however, leaving the door open for the Panthers at 34-28.

The Knights stuffed LCHS running back Shon Carson on first down, and on second down, Gaston rolled left and lobbed the ball to Quinn McClam in the end zone for an apparent tying score. But officials ruled that Gaston was past the line of scrimmage when he threw the ball, and that penalty, together with an ensuing unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Panthers, made it third-and-goal from the 29. Two unsuccessful heaves to the end zone set off a raucous celebration on the Crestwood sideline.

“Our kids have been battling all year, with the adversity we’ve had and all the kids hurt,” said Crestwood head coach Keith Crolley. “They’re not quitting. They played hard for one another, and, man, I’ll tell you that was exciting at the end. We came back, and I don’t know how to explain it except that the kids never quit, and they battled hard, and I’m as proud as I can be of them.

“The whole time, we knew if we got out here and played like we’re capable of playing and doing the things we ought to do, we knew we could move the football,” Crolley added. “Defensively, we were just waiting to make some plays. We gave them a bunch of stuff there in the third quarter, but one thing about it is our kids never got down, and our fans they got into it and the band was playing and all that started happening. When we got that onside kick, that was big, big play there and our kids were just excited and kept playing hard.”

Carson carried 10 times for 75 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Panthers. His first score, a 23-yard TD run on the Panthers’ first play from scrimmage, was set up by the first of two Lake City interceptions on Crestwood’s first two passes. Ralph Fulmore’s kick gave LCHS a 7-0 lead.

In the second quarter, Gaston hit Sheldon Robinson on a 66-yard strike that put LCHS up by two scores, and Fulmore’s kick made it 14-0.

Crestwood fought back with an eight-play, 67-yard drive that included a 44-yard run by Hall and a 1-yard run by Terrence Wilson. The kick failed, leaving the score 14-6 at halftime.

The third quarter was disastrous for the Knights, as Lake City capped a long drive to start the quarter with a 6-yard scoring run by Carson. Fulmore’s kick made it 21-6. On the ensuing kickoff, Lake City’s Keyshawn Thomas nailed Wilson on the return, and Wilson’s fumble was scooped up by the Panthers’ Robinson and returned for a touchdown. Fulmore’s kick made it 28-6 midway through the third.

Crestwood continues with region play next week, when it hosts Marlboro County.
 

The Crestwood Knights football team rolled up over 500 yards of rushing offense but had to fight hard to preserve a 30-23 victory over North Myrtle Beach at District Two Memorial Stadium on Friday night. 

Led by quarterback Treginald Wilson's 207 yards on 13 carries, the Knights commanded the rushing attack of the evening, but were down 16-10 at the half.  North Myrtle Beach came ready to play, and knew the Knights had a slough of injured players out for this game.  "They're a fine football team," said Crestwood's Head Coach Keith Crolley.   "They did a great job, and came ready to play.

The Wilson Bros (Terrence and Treginald) also came ready to play - with Terrence jumping on the board first with an 80 yard option run around the outside.  BJ Ray added the extra point.  North Myrtle came racing back culminating with a touchdown pass.  Confounded by a few fumbles throughout the night, the Knights turned the ball over only once.  Once the ball got rolling, Treginald Wilson led the charge downfield. 

"Our guys did a great job against a great team," said Denver Cromer, head coach of NMB.  "We knew coming in that we would have a hard time with their Wing-T, and we certainly did, but that quarterback made several tremendous plays."

Treginald Wilson began his rushing onslaught through a series of check-offs at the line sharing the load with Dion Franklin and brother Terrence.  Franklin burst around the right end for a hard fought 25 yard gain to set up Treginald's first TD of 42 yards from a QB trap.  Before the half ended, kicker BJ Ray sent a 29 yard field goal through the uprights.

Franklin, filling in the fullback position after Robert Simon was injured, ran hard for several more attempts before popping off a 40 yard gain himself to set up Ray's field goal.  Simon, who was in for injured RB Mike McMillan, was running hard up the middle and making hard blocks.  He was having a big night, and we hope he gets back soon.  He is a special runner, and we'll have him for two more years, which is a definite plus.

Perhaps the best run of the evening was the game winning scamper by Treginald late in the 4th quarter.  Rolling out to the right for a pass, he pump faked and pulled the ball to run to the left.  After juking three Chief defenders, and picking up key knockdown blocks from Terrence and Keith Gamble, he raced down the sideline before cutting back to the inside, and then back outside to the endzone.  "He really stepped up for this game.  That last run was something else.  Good things tend to happen when he has the ball in his hands," said Crolley.

"We challenged the team at the half, and they responded.  That is  a good sign that they can play through adversity.  We have a lot of players stepping up to fill in positions, and that is also a good sign." We open up the Region with Lake City next week, and that will be a big challenge on itself. 

Terrence Wilson finished the night with 137 yards on 13 carries, and Franklin ended up with 119 on 16 carries and 1 TD.  James Dugas had the sole pass completion of the night on a 23 yard hookup to Broderick Clinkscales on a fake punt in the fourth quarter. 

By EDDIE NEWMAN
Special to The Item
 

FLORENCE — The Brothers Wilson ran wild Friday in Florence.

Running back Terrence Wilson and quarterback Treginald Wilson combined for 362 yards rushing and six touchdowns against South Florence as the Knights went on to a 47-18 thumping of the Bruins at Memorial Stadium. Crestwood has now scored 103 points in its last two games.

"We did some things alright," said Crestwood head coach Keith Crolley. "We got to keep working. We had some guys step up big for us. Terrence Wilson and Treginald Wilson stepped up big for us."

Crestwood had 465 yards total offense led by Terrence Wilson, who finished with 256 yards on just nine carries while scoring four touchdowns. Treginald Wilson added 105 yards on six carries and two scores.

Crestwood used the big play in the first half to open up a 34-12 lead at the break. Four of the Knights' five touchdowns in the first 24 minutes came on runs of 65, 46, 74 and 25 yards. The other score was set up on a 51-yard pass to tight end James Dugas..

Crestwood finished the first half with 298 yards of total offense on 17 plays. Junior Terrence Wilson accounted for 163 yards on four carries — three of which went for touchdowns.

"We have to work on some things defensively. The Wing-T is a tough offense to defend with all the movement," South Florence coach Brian Lane said. "We have to get guys to the right position and make tackles. We didn't do that tonight."

Crestwood struck on game's first play when Wilson raced 65 yards for a touchdown, but BJ Ray's extra point was unsuccessful.

Later in the quarter, Treginald Wilson connected with James Dugas for 51 yards down to the SF 6-yard line. On the next play, Tarik Hall scored and Robert Simon ran in the 2-point conversion giving Crestwood a 14-0 lead with 15 seconds left in the first quarter.

South Florence's offense got going in the second quarter after the Bruins converted a pair of fourth downs. South's Anthony Fonville found the end zone from a yard out to cut the lead to 14-7 with 6:49 left in the half.

On the ensuing possession, Treginald Wilson scored on a 46-yard run for a 20-6 lead with 3:31 left in the first half. Crestwood then got a big defensive play as Travis Jenkins intercepted a Jones' pass, setting the Knights up at the Bruins' 25.

Wilson scored on the next play with 2:56 left. Simon made it 28-6 with the 2-point conversion

"We were battling back and forth," said Crolley. "It was closer game than it looked, we just made some big plays."

South Florence pulled to within 16 points with 19 seconds left in the half as Jones found Hampton for a touchdown, but Keith Gamble picked off Jones's 2-point conversion pass.

Instead of taking a knee to end the first half, Crestwood struck again. Terrance Wilson scored his third touchdown of the first half, breaking free on a 74-yard touchdown run as the first half came to an end.

"That score at the end of the half hurt us," Lane said. "That took the wind out of us."

Crestwood continued its big-play offense in the second half with Wilson scoring on a 34-yard run early in the third quarter for a 40-12 lead.South Florence put its final points on the scoreboard with 11:19 left in the game as Troy Jones connected with Jimmy Hampton on a 20-yard strike.

The bad news on the night was the injuries to some key players for Crolley. Hall went out with a sprained ankle and defensive back Mike Portee broke his collarbone.

"We are battling the injury bug," said Crolley. "Every time we turn around we are losing one here, losing one there. We got some other guys that are banged up.

"I thought the offensive line came out and played pretty well," he added. "Overall, we played pretty well. Other than the injuries, it would have been a very good night for us."
 

By PATRICK ENZOR
Item Sports Writer
penzor@theitem.com

MANNING — Ever see a snowball in early September in Manning? Well, that snowball turned into an avalanche for Manning High School's football team Friday against Crestwood.

A muffed punt by Manning late in the first quarter gave Crestwood life and the Knights took full advantage of it. Down 14-0 at the time, the Knights went on to outscore the Monarchs 56-21 over the next 38 minutes to pull off a 56-35 win at Ramsey Stadium.

"We got a couple breaks and we got back in the ball game," said Knights head coach Keith Crolley, whose team moves to 2-1 on the season. "We were wearing them down a little bit because we continued to go at them hard, but that is a good football team. They are a dangerous team. Our guys never quit."

Manning head coach Robbie Briggs still wasn't sure how everything happened so fast.

"We've got a good football team — it didn't show the last two quarters of the football game," said Briggs, whose squad falls to 2-1. "It is very disappointing, but we'll continue to get better and we'll be there at the end. It is kind of numb right now — I am not used to having that many points scored on me in that short period of time."

Manning looked to blow the game wide open in the first quarter. Already up 14-0 thanks to two touchdown passes from quarterback Chris Hammett to wide receiver Marcus Lloyd, Manning forced a turnover on downs when Crestwood's attempt at a fake punt failed and the Monarchs started on the Crestwood 14-yard line.

However, on the next play Manning running back Jason Witherspoon fumbled the ball away. Crestwood was forced to punt again, but Hammett couldn't get out of the way of the bouncing ball, muffing it, and the Knights recovered at the Monarchs 39.

Eight plays later, Knights running back Mike McMillan went in from five yards out to cut the lead to 14-7 just two minutes into the second quarter. That didn't last long, however, as Hammett conducted a 7-play, 80-yard drive that he capped off with a 22-yard touchdown pass to John Fulton to make it 21-7 with 8:05 left.

Hammett began the game 4-for-5 with 106 yards and three touchdowns before the last drive of the half.

The Knights then went on an eventful, but methodical, 59-yard drive. The Knights converted two fourth downs with passes from quarterback Treginald Wilson and recovered two of their own fumbles, but the result was a 1-yard touchdown run by McMillan to cut the lead to 21-14 with 2:34 left.



"We didn't mean to fumble the ball," laughed Crolley. "Treginald did a good job tonight. He threw the ball well. Our offensive line came out very physical."

Behind McMillan, who ran for 201 yards and five touchdowns, the Knights cut up and diced the Manning defense in the second half for 297 yards in the half alone. The Knights defense also switched to a nickel package and limited Manning to just six second-half first downs after it gained that many in the second quarter alone.  Tarik Hall chipped in 107 yards as well on just 7 carries.

McMillan tied the game with a 1-yard run with 7:37 left in the third. Then Hammett got hurt and had to sit out two series after being helped off the field.

After a 3-and-out, Crestwood blocked a punt and Wilson found Isaiah Young wide open in the end zone for a 28-21 lead. After another three-and-out and another blocked punt, running back Tarik Hall took a reverse 25 yards to make it 35-21.

On Hammett's first play back, he threw an interception to Xavier Dinkins. McMillan scored six plays later to make it 42-21. Manning finally got on the board when Lloyd caught his third of four touchdowns onf the night to cut the lead to 42-28, but McMillan scored two plays later on a 48-yard run.

"I have been here 14 years and I have never seen a muffed punt, two fourth-down conversions, two blocked punts inside our 20, an interception and three of our key players cramp within an 8-minute game span," said Briggs. "It is very frustrating. I am disappointed."
 

By WORTHY EVANS
Special To The Item
 

DALZELL — The Crestwood High School football team left no one doubting its 40-7 victory over Lancaster Friday night at District 2 Memorial Stadium.

Tarik Hall rushed 15 times for 185 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Knights offense to their first win of the season, as Crestwood rolled up 414 yards on 49 attempts against the 1-1 Bruins.

"We challenged them this week, especially our offensive line," said Knights head coach Keith Crolley, whose team fell to crosstown rival Sumter in its season opener last week. "They came out and accepted the challenge. I felt like we played pretty well on the offensive line and our backs blocked well for one another."

Lancaster had some early success in a long first-quarter scoring drive, but the Crestwood defense wore down the Bruins, forcing three second-half fumbles and holding them to 171 total yards.

"We settled in and got used to their speed," Crolley said in stopping the Bruins. "Our defensive coaches did a good job at making some adjustments and things to help us out here in the ballgame."

Crestwood wasted no time in putting points on the board. After Knights' returner Mike McMillan ran the opening kickoff to the Knights 39-yard line, quarterback Treginald Wilson fed the ball to Dion Franklin, who burst through the line of scrimmage on the right side and took off for the end zone for a 61-yard touchdown run just 18 seconds into the game. Placekicker B.J. Ray's point after made it 7-0 Crestwood.

Not to be outdone — at least not yet — Lancaster responded by cranking out a 9-play , 71-yard scoring drive that included a 38-yard Jamais Clark scamper and was closed out by Clark's TD run from four yards out to make it 7-7 at the 7:42 mark in the first quarter.
 

Both teams moved up and down the field capably for the rest of the first half, but the Knights made good on two scoring drives in the second quarter. The first strike came at the end of a 10-play, 67-yard effort that Hall capped with a 6-yard touchdown run at the 5:33 mark to give the Knights a 14-7 lead. The second came with six seconds in the half, as McMillan dove into the end zone from two yards out to give Crestwood a 21-7 advantage at intermission.

"We couldn't come out and have a letdown," Crolley said. "A break here and there and another team will get in back in there. They're a talented football team and they've got some weapons and can hurt you."

As it turned out, the Crestwood defense made some breaks go its way.

The Knights snuffed out any potential Bruins rally in the third quarter, jumping on three Lancaster fumbles and eventually taking two of them back for scores.  Terrence Wilson scored on an 11-yard touchdown run at the 8:32 mark of the third quarter to make it 28-7 Crestwood. Later in the third, Hall ran for his second score of the night, a TD run from six yards out to make it 34-7 Knights.

Hall put the exclamation point on the win when he dashed off a 64-yard touchdown with 6:30 left to close out the scoring.

"The turnovers helped us, that's a big part of the ballgame there," Crolley said. "I love to get the ball more than I do giving it away."

Clark ended up leading Lancaster with 109 yards rushing and the team's only score on 15 carries. Otherwise, the night was bleak for the Bruins.

"We didn't play," said Bruins head coach Bennie McMurray. "We got beat in all phases of the football game, offense, defense, we just got beat. They're a real good football team.

"I thought our kids were at a point where we could respond to a little adversity and we haven't gotten to that point yet. The one good thing about it, it's still early in the season and we've got a chance to make corrections."
 

By PATRICK ENZOR
Item Sports Writer
penzor@theitem.com

DALZELL – Roderick McDowell did just about everything for Sumter High School Friday against Crestwood in their season-opening football game at District 2 Memorial Stadium.

Doing his best impersonation of the New Orleans Saints' Reggie Bush, McDowell ran nine times for 54 yards and a score and caught three passes for 89 yards and two more touchdowns as Sumter downed its cross-county rival 28-13.

"Everybody knows he has got great talent," Sumter head coach Paul Sorrells said of McDowell. "He is not only a great running back, but he catches the ball so well and runs great routes. We are going to try to use him that way. It is really good when you can move him around that way so defenses can't key in on him in just one spot."

McDowell and fellow running backs Steven Lewis and Jamarious Ward made things easy on sophomore quarterback Stephen Curtis, a first-year starter.

"One thing about us, we don't argue and we play as a family," said McDowell. "We don't have no stars. When you see one of us down, another one will step up."

The trio combined to run for 180 yards to take the pressure off Curtis, who finished with 137 yards passing on 5-of-12 passing.

"Pretty good for a sophomore quarterback," said Sorrells. "We feel that he is going to be a good one."

Facing the first fourth down of his young career — just over seven minutes old for those counting — from the Crestwood 23-yard line Curtis helped execute the play call from SHS offensive coordinator Grayson Howell to perfection. In the shotgun with Lewis to his right and McDowell to his left, Curtis rolled right as Lewis picked up a big block, and after looking the Crestwood defense to the right, Curtis lobbed the ball to a waiting McDowell on a screen pass.

Other than running into his own blocker in Michael Waldkirch, McDowell scampered and cut back a couple of times to score the first touchdown of the season. David Chambers' extra point made it 7-0 with 4:13 left in the first quarter.

"All I can say is we had a great win," said McDowell. "As long as we are winning and the offensive line is playing great, I can't complain."

After Sumter's Cardell Scarborough intercepted a tipped pass from Crestwood quarterback Treginald Wilson, Curtis and McDowell went right back to work. On a first-and-10 play from their 48-yard line, Curtis threw the fade to McDowell, who was covered one-on-one by Mike Portee. McDowell outjumped Portee as the defensive back fell to the ground and McDowell trotted in for a 52-yard touchdown reception. Chambers made it 14-0 with under a minute left in the first quarter.

Down two scores in the second quarter, Crestwood needed to get something going so it went to its bread and butter — the Wing T offense. Thanks to a 46-yard scamper by fullback Mike McMillan, the Knights found themselves in business with a first-and-goal from the SHS 10.

The Knights moved to the 6 on the first three plays and faced fourth down with just 30 seconds left in the first half. The Knights called a quick slant to Randy Moulds, who caught the ball but was collar-tackled down right at the goal line. Moulds leapt into the end zone for an apparent score, but the referees said his knee went down first — just inches at best — from the goal line for a turnover on downs.

"They said it was right before the goal line — I don't know what they called," said Crestwood head coach Keith Crolley. "When one signals a touchdown, and it is right in front of him, and lets the other one overrule him, it kind of aggravates you and takes some of the life out of the kids. They said the ball didn't cross the plane and the guy from 40 yards away saw it when the guy right on top missed it.

"It is a game of momentum and that would have given us something."

The Knights took the opening drive of the second half and put together an 11-play, 80-yard drive that McMillan capped with a 28-yard touchdown run. McMillan's tight-rope effort down the left sideline and B.J. Ray's PAT put Crestwood back in the game at 14-7 with six minutes left in the third quarter.

"We talked about coming out, try to establish something, and drive the ball down the field," said Crolley. "We just aren't consistent. We look good at times and sometimes we look bad."

The Gamecocks answered, thanks to good field position, with a 22-yard return by Jamarious Ward. Six running plays later, the Gamecocks were set up at the Knights' 27-yard line. Curtis went to the air and found Travis Fredimon on a crossing route at the 12-yard line. Fredimon made a tackler miss and strolled into the end zone to make it 21-7 with Chambers' kick.

"I challenged them at half time," said Sorrells. "The plan was that we'll kick off, get a 3-and-out and get our offense on the field and score. I said if that doesn't happen, the next best thing is if they score — with that offense sooner or later, it's tough — we got to take it right back and score again. Great football teams respond. That doesn't mean we are a great football team, but that is what we are striving to be."

After a change of possessions in the final quarter, Crestwood took over at their own 26-yard line and went to the air. Treginald Wilson completed four passes to get the Knights to the Gamecock's 43-yard line, but Scarborough came up with his second interception to end the drive.

McDowell made the Knights pay on the ensuing drive with a 32-yard run to the Knights' 4-yard line and McDowell scored one play later to make it 28-7.

McMillan returned the ensuing kickoff 27 yards to the Sumter 46-yard line and after a 29-yard run by Dion Franklin, Wilson found Tarik Hall in the front corner of the end zone with a 1-handed catch to make it 28-13.  McMillan finished with 104 yards on 11 carries as well