By Thomas Grant Jr.
New season, new lease on life for the Lexington School District Two schools.
Both Airport and Brookland-Cayce dropped their first three games. They opened Region 4-4A play Friday seeking their first victory of the season.
The Eagles and Bearcats accomplished their respective missions. Airport rallied in the second half to defeat Aiken 34-16, while Brookland-Cayce held off South Aiken 34-27.
“Region is where everything is on the line,” Airport head coach Steve Fidler said. “Our kids all week were asked to embrace adversity not run from it. Each week in this region is a challenge and we have to take it head on each time.”
The Eagles jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter. The Hornets got within 13-8 at halftime and had a 16-13 lead in the third quarter.
Airport proceeded to score 21 unanswered points, led by quarterback Jay Eady. The freshman quarterback had three touchdowns – passing, rushing, and receiving.
“Our freshman quarterback looked the whole offense in eyes on the sidelines when they took lead early in third quarter and rallied them,” Fidler said. “The OL then banded together to dominate and lead us to those three scores.”
Avery Jones also threw a touchdown and caught one and Kendrick Pearson rushed for a touchdown. On defense, linebacker Montrelle Keys led the Eagles.
Airport (1-3, 1-0) needs a similar effort against South Aiken. The Thoroughbreds are led by one of the state’s leading running backs in senior Jevon Edwards, who surpassed the 1,000-yard plateau for the fourth straight year in the loss to Brookland-Cayce.
“Right now we’ve got to fix our mistakes and get ready to play a well-coached South Aiken team that has tremendous talent,” Felder said. “We lost a tough fought game to them last year and look forward to playing them with the opportunity to get another region win.”
Despite 255 yards and three touchdowns by Edwards, the Bearcats (1-3, 1-0) managed to hold the lead for most of the game. They received a major boost from junior quarterback Dre’von Dopson, who was playing his first game after undergoing a medical procedure.
The Gray Collegiate transfer threw two touchdowns in his debut. The Bearcats also got two rushing touchdowns from Jimmy Thompson and a touchdown run by Aden Price.
Gators still undefeated
A dominant effort on both sides of the football allowed River Bluff to shut out Cheraw 44-0 to improve to 5-0 on the season.
Darius Cane rushed for 99 yards and three touchdowns and Caleb Pinckney returned an interception for a touchdown. The Gators’ defense also held the Braves to 83 total yards.
River Bluff is idle this week and opens Region 4-5A play Oct. 4 at home against defending region champion White Knoll.
Other Scores
Gray Collegiate also opened play in Region 4-4A. It got a late touchdown from running back B.J. Montgomery to defeat winless Midland Valley 26-21.
Quarterback Tyler Waller also rushed for a touchdown as the War Eagles (2-2) snapped their 2-game losing streak.
Northside Christian Academy improved to 4-1 with a 54-19 rout of Spartanburg Christian Academy.
B.J. Suits accounted for 175 total yards, two rushing touchdowns and a passing score. Quarterback Jefferson McCallum threw 3-4 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns and Adrian Wilson rushed for two scores for the Crusaders.
Jake Jeffrey caught two touchdown passes and had four receptions for 139 yards.
MAXPREPS.COM RPI RATINGS
(For the first time, the S.C. High School League will utilize the Maxpreps.com RPI rankings to determine playoff seeding in Class 5A Division I and II and Class 4A. The points is based on 50% of a team’s winning percentage, 40% on their opponents’ winning percentage and 10% on your opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage. The complete rankings can be found at the South Carolina Administrators Association website.)
(Class 5A)
*1. Dutch Fork, 4-0 0.80781
#2. Northwestern, 4-0 0.77029
#3. Gaffney, 4-0, 0.76740
*-4. Summerville, 4-0, 0.75948
*-5. Dorman, 3-1, 0.71677
*6. Spartanburg, 3-1, 0.71188
*7. Sumter, 5-0, 0.69317
#8. Greenwood, 3-1, 0.67490
*9. River Bluff, 5-0, 0.67183
#10. Chapin, 4-1, 0.66525
#11. Irmo, 5-0, 0.64383
*12. JL Mann, 3-1, 0.63333
#13. Hillcrest, 4-0, 0.62813
#14. White Knoll, 3-1, 0.62771
*15. Lexington 3-1, 0.61750
#16. TL Hanna, 2-2, 0.61250
*17. Boiling Springs, 3-1, 0.60188
*18. Ridge View, 1-3, 0.59813
#19. Westwood, 3-2, 0.59542
#20. West Florence, 4-1, 0.59092
*21. Fort Dorchester, 3-1, 0.58969
*22. Blythewood, 4-1, 0.58242
*23. Ashley Ridge, 4-1, 0.57692
24. Riverside, 3-1, 0.57240
25. Catawba Ridge, 4-1, 0.56025
* – Division I, # – Division II
(Class 4A)
1. Westside, 4-0, 0.77208
2. South Florence, 3-2, 0.70950
3. Richland Northeast, 5-0, 0.70200
4. Seneca, 4-0, 0.67323
5. Camden, 3-2, 0.64117
6. North Augusta, 4-1, 0.64015
7. May River, 7-0, 0.62906
8. Fountain Inn, 4-1, 0.61917
9. Gray Collegiate, 2-2, 0.60219
10. Hartsville, 2-1-1, 0.59875
11. South Pointe, 3-2, 0.59333
12. Daniel, 3-1, 0.59000
13. Bishop England, 3-1, 0.57521
14. Dreher, 2-2, 0.57500
15. Wren, 3-1, 0.57104
16. Crestwood, 2-3, 0.57075
17. A.C. Flora, 3-2, 0.55125
18. South Aiken, 2-3, 0.53850
19. Hilton Head Island, 4-1, 0.53767
20. Brookland-Cayce, 1-3, 0.52885
21. Lakewood, 2-3, 0.52075
22. Bluffton, 3-2, 0.51815
23. Pickens, 3-2, 0.51500
24. Greer, 2-3, 0.51208
25. Gilbert, 1-3, 0.48667
FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE
(All Games Start at 7:30 p.m.)
Airport at South Aiken
Brookland-Cayce at Midland Valley
Gray Collegiate at North Augusta
Providence Athletic Club at Northside Christian Academy
Photo by Palmetto State Sports Network – Airport quarterback Jay Eady
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