Strom Thurmond shuts down Silver Bluff to move to 2-0

STROM THURMOND 33, SILVER BLUFF 12

PETTICOAT JUNCTION -- Stagnant for so much of Friday night's football game, Silver Bluff looked like it finally found the spark it needed to get within striking distance of Strom Thurmond in the fourth quarter.

A sputtering offense got the big play it needed in a long Drelyn Brown touchdown run. Jameat Williams ripped the ball away from Cam Blacks for Silver Bluff to retake possession one play later. A Strom Thurmond penalty extended the drive, as did a fourth-down conversion by Trellis Riley to the Rebels' 4-yard line. Then Brown got the Bulldogs to the 1, a mere three feet away from turning a 26-12 deficit into a one-score game.

Then, just like that, their hopes were dashed.

A bad snap got away from Riley and was recovered by Strom Thurmond's Deonte Phillips all the way out at the 25-yard line with 5:02 left in the game. And the Rebels turned to their powerful run game from there, driving it 75 yards and taking nearly four minutes off the clock to put the game away.

Strom Thurmond head coach Andrew Webb may not paint any pictures of this one, but the scoreboard was a welcome sight at the end of the Rebels' 33-12 win over their former region rivals to move to 2-0 to start the season.

"I was proud of the way our guys fought," Webb said. "It wasn't pretty at all. We made a whole bunch of mistakes in all three phases of the game, but happy we kept fighting and found a way to win."

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The bad snap took all of the air out of Silver Bluff's balloon. The Bulldogs (0-2) kept putting their defense in difficult spots, and that group kept getting stops. The offense finally started to get moving downhill, only to step on a rake at the bottom.

"That's high school football right there, man," said Silver Bluff head coach Matt Hayes. "You want to say what's the difference between high school, college, NFL, just all those plays matter. All those small things. It's how close we are. Last week, we really didn't know going in and how we were going to respond, and we keep using the 'discipline' word. Driving to make it a one-score ball game. Perfect snaps all game, everything, it goes through his hands and it's a big turnover.

"At the end of the day, over 20 penalties, four turnovers, mistakes on special teams, you're not going to beat a team that good and a coach that good. But man, you're that close. You're driving to make it a one-score game. The guys are cheering each other on. That's the encouragement stuff. I told them at the end just how close we are, and in high school football these small things matter. We worked on it this week, and I was excited to see what were the results of those practices. We haven't turned the corner yet, but we're getting closer."

Strom Thurmond, the second-ranked team in Class AA, rushed for 259 yards on 45 carries. Blacks led the way with 135 yards and a touchdown on 19 attempts, while Phillips went for 83 yards and two scores on 10 carries. The offense found its footing after a sluggish first half during which the Rebels accumulated 83 yards in 20 plays.

"It starts with them five boys up front. Tucker (Mims), Trent (Kelly), Gage (Cockrell), Micah (Warren) and Boat (Carter Boatwright)," Webb said, praising his offensive linemen. "Them five started up front. They did a really good job. We didn't play perfect. First half was not pretty. It was not pretty, and it starts with me. We'll continue to work to get better. Really proud of the guys, the way they fought and the way they blocked. When we put it in their hands, they did good things with it. Still got a lot to get better at, but we're proud of them."

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It was a defensive struggle throughout the first half, with Strom Thurmond holding Silver Bluff to 51 yards in 30 plays and zero points. The Bulldogs' last drive of the first half was their best, but it was derailed by penalties - which was a frustrating theme of the evening for Silver Bluff.

Josh Merriweather brought down Riley in the end zone on the Bulldogs' second possession for a safety and a 2-0 lead, and after Jessie Shelley got Silver Bluff the ball back by intercepting Bri'Shaun Lee it was Merriweather again to bust up a potential punt and give the Rebels the ball back with good field position.

After a turnover on downs, Wytrayvious Dugar picked off Riley to set up a nine-yard Phillips touchdown run. Penalties again snuffed out a Silver Bluff drive, then aided Strom Thurmond's ensuing possession before Phillips cashed in from 28 yards out for a 16-0 lead.

The flags against Silver Bluff were even more costly because the Strom Thurmond defense was already making life miserable enough - aside from Brown's 57-yard touchdown run and two Zean Dicks catches for 38 yards late in the first half, the Rebels only yielded 56 yards on the other 46 plays.

"They played well, especially in the first half," Webb said of his defense. "Second half, we started getting tired. Part of it, it ain't got nothing to do with what kind of shape we're in. It's 90 degrees in August. You saw both teams kind of fight that. The 11 guys that got out there, they kept fighting hard. Sometimes we created turnovers, and sometimes we got a little lucky. We'll certainly take it."

Still, Silver Bluff fought back. The Bulldogs forced a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half, with Trey Harris recovering at the Strom Thurmond 5. Brown stretched across the goal line from there to make it 16-6, and then the defense held on the ensuing possession to limit the Rebels to a 24-yard field goal by Orlando Rivera with 5:02 left in the third quarter.

The Strom Thurmond defense struck next, standing up Brown and ripping the ball away from him on third and short. The Rebels converted on fourth down at the Bulldogs' 3-yard line, then faced fourth-and-goal from the 4 before the Bulldogs were twice flagged for encroachment. Strom Thurmond sent the kicking team back to the sideline and went for it from the 1, and Blacks crashed into the end zone for a 26-6 lead with 11:01 left to play.

It only took 23 seconds for Silver Bluff to answer, with the offense finally shifting out of neutral to generate a big score. It's a unit with a ton of speed and playmaking ability at the skill positions, and all it takes is for one guy to miss for the Bulldogs to take it to the house - Brown did that on first down, bringing life to a home crowd that had been grumbling behind the sideline.

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Williams, one of those big-time playmakers who was held to 22 yards on five catches, took matters into his own hands by taking the ball away from Blacks on first down on Strom Thurmond's next possession, making it a ball game until it wasn't a few short minutes later.

"We knew we were going to have to play solid defense and, especially those first three quarters they just battled. They really did," Hayes said. "Strom Thurmond stretches you horizontally and vertically. They're physical on the perimeter. We worked on some techniques all week, and we saw it on film. Any time you can practice something and you see those fundamentals and those techniques transfer on Fridays, it's encouraging, especially with a young team.

"But yeah, punch that in going in to make it a one-score game, who knows what happens? Credit Strom Thurmond, man. They're just battle-tested. Up front they play really well, and they're well-coached. They're a good football team."

The Bulldogs will try again next Friday for win No. 1 under Hayes when they host Hampton County. The Rebels are off next week and will next be in action Sept. 13 at home against North Augusta.

The win is Strom Thurmond's seventh in a row against Silver Bluff in a series that had been dormant since 2015 until they were grouped together in Region 3-AA in the previous two seasons. The Rebels won both of those on their way to undefeated region titles, with Hayes an assistant under Webb before taking over at his alma mater.

"It's always fun. The respect that these two schools have going back with Coach (Lee) Sawyer and Coach (Al) Lown," Webb said. "This rivalry will always be respected. Now, one of my best friends, Coach Matt Hayes. Love him. Love competing against him, and we'll certainly be pulling for him."

ST 2 14 3 14 -- 33

SB 0 0 6 6 -- 12

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

ST - Trellis Riley -4 run 6:08

Second Quarter

ST - Deonte Phillips 9 run (Orlando Rivera kick) 10:58

ST - Phillips 28 run (Rivera kick) 1:54

Third Quarter

SB - Drelyn Brown 5 run (kick blocked) 11:44

ST - Rivera 24 field goal 5:03

Fourth Quarter

ST - Cam Blacks 1 run (Rivera kick) 11:01

SB - Brown 57 run (conversion failed) 10:38

ST - Kaden Wigfall 4 run (Rivera kick) 1:14

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

ST - Cam Blacks 19-135-1, Deonte Phillips 10-83-2, Tranquillis Mathis 2-33, Kaleb Simpkins 6-9, Kaden Wigfall 1-3-1, Crooze Watkins 1-3, Bri'Shaun Lee 6-(-7). Totals 45-259-4.

SB - Drelyn Brown 14-79-2, Dorian Jones 4-5, Jameat Williams 1-(-8), Trellis Riley 7-(-13). Totals 26-63-2.

Passing

ST - Bri'Shaun Lee 1-6-7-0-1.

SB - Trellis Riley 13-23-88-0-1.

Receiving

ST - Jay Sewell 1-7.

SB - Zean Dicks 6-55, Jameat Williams 5-22, Cam'ron Frazier 1-8, Drelyn Brown 1-3. Totals 13-88.

Interceptions

ST - Wytrayvious Dugar.

SB - Jessie Shelley.