Savannah Morning News

Friday night football highlights: Benedictine gives top ranked Buford a battle on the road

By Dennis Knight, Savannah Morning News,

10 hours ago

Benedictine went on the road and gave Buford, the No. 1 ranked team in Class 6A by the AJC, all it could handle before the Wolves scored late to pull off a 29-28 non-region victory.

The Cadets made news earlier in the day when the AJC first reported the program backed out of its game set for Sept. 14th in Ohio due to a time change by the event organizer.

Buford quarterback Dayton Raiola connected with Ethan Ervin on a 27-yard scoring pass with 1:05 left and then Kenyon Rivera ran in a two-point conversion for the go-ahead score for Buford.

Raiola hit Jordan Allen with an 8-yard scoring pass, and Buford (1-1) converted another 2-point conversion to tie the game at 21 with 9:06 left.

Benedictine quarterback Stephen Cannon had a strong showing. The junior's 11-yard touchdown run with 4:23 left put the Cadets up 28-21, but BC couldn't put things away. Cannon added a touchdown on a quarterback sneak in the second half.

Trailing 10-0 in the first quarter, BC rallied as Cannon hit Bubba Frazier over the middle for a 33-yard score to cut the lead to 10-7 with 2:43 left in the first quarter. Then BC junior defensive back Micah Williams, who missed the season opening loss to Rabun Gap with turf toe, picked off Raiola and took it back for a 52-yard touchdown as BC went up 14-10 with 1:24 left in the quarter.

"I was extremely proud of the boys, they played unbelievably hard," BC Coach Danny Britt said. "They kept fighting and got stronger as they game went on. For us to go play a perennial national power at their place in front of a huge crowd like that showed me a lot. The moment wasn't too big for them."

Benedictine (0-2) which entered the game ranked No. 5 among Class 4A teams in the state, is set to host Burke County in a non-region matchup next Friday at Memorial Stadium.

Here are highlights of the rest of the action involving Savannah area teams on Friday night.

Richmond Hill 31, Glynn Academy 12

Richmond Hill went on the road and knocked off Glynn Academy as the Wildcat ground game dominated.

The Wildcats (1-0) racked up 420 yards rushing and four touchdowns to put the game away. Richmond Hill's offensive line ― including Ho'O Naki, Brody Miller, Billy Meadows, Thomas Zimbalatti, Brooks Gilbert and Colton Sanchez, all seniors ― paved the way.

Senior Caleb Easterling rushed for 146 yards and two scores on just five carries and had 240 all-purpose yards. Joshua Ulrich-Troupe rumbled for 137 yards on 23 carries, while Amire Miller added a rushing touchdown while running for 60 yards on 12 attempts.

Senior quarterback Kirk Scott ran for 77 yards and a score and was 3 of 6 passing for 34 yards with a touchdown pass to Colton Sanchez.

Aiden Grant had five tackles and blocked a pair of extra points and Lee Johnson had nine tackles, with three going for losses. Gabe Bauman added eight tackles for the Wildcats.

Windsor Forest 20, Brantley County 8

The Knights went on the road and earned the non-region victory in C.J. Frazier's debut as head coach.

Jayden Thomas sealed the deal late with an interception return for a score of about 40 yards.

Quarterback Anthony Williams had close to 100 yards rushing and scored on a quarterback sneak, while throwing for close to 100 yards, with a touchdown pass to Jaysen Jackson, who had close to 100 yards receiving, Frazier said.

Senior Izaiyah Cooper racked up five sacks for the Knights (1-0).

Houston County 44, Effingham County 41

The Rebels went on the road and nearly pulled off a dramatic comeback in a loss at Houston County.

Trailing 37-20 with about seven minutes left, Effingham's Tucker Perkins hit Jacque's King with a 15-yard scoring pass as the Rebels started to rally, according to a Maxpreps score tracker on the game.

Perkins then hit senior Ryan Wells on scoring strikes of 79 and 12 yards as the Rebels made a game of it.

Perkins, a junior making his first start at quarterback, added a short touchdown run for Effingham and Kris Swinney returned a kickoff 82 yards for a score for the Rebels (0-1).

Beach 41, Savannah High 0

Chandler Reid got the start at quarterback for the visiting Bulldogs and made the most of it with an impressive performance behind center in the win, according to Nathan Dominitz, who covered the game for the Prep Sports Report.

Reid, the senior who is also a standout guard on the Beach basketball team, was 9 of 14 for 148 yards with a pair of scoring passes to Dakari Smith. Reid got the start because Jayvion Williams was serving a one-game suspension after being ejected in a loss to Calvary Day last week. Beach Coach Michael Thompson told Dominitz that film showed Williams didn't throw a punch in the incident.

LaDonte Bright had 16 carries for 81 yards and a score and Ke’juan Ferguson had a pair of short touchdown runs for the Bulldogs (1-1), while James Johnson had a pick-six in the third quarter.

Thomas Heyward 42, Bethesda Academy 31

Special teams mistakes hurt the Blazers as they gave up a pair of kickoff returns for touchdowns and had a botched punt at their own five yard line that led to a Thomas Heyward score.

In his first start at quarterback, Bethesda junior Luke Larson was 17 of 33 for 226 yards with three touchdown passes, but had four interceptions, two that were returned for scores, Coach Atwain Turner said.

Junior Malachi Morris had five catches for 88 yards and two scores, and Raleigh Wesley had six receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown. Assir Best had a rushing touchdown and returned a fumble 100 yards for a score for the Blazers.

Isaiah Reynolds had eight tackles and a sack for the Blazers (0-1).

Hilton Head Prep 19, St. Andrew's 13

St. Andrew's standout Amari Cook scored on touchdown runs of 68 and seven yards for the Lions (0-2), but Hilton Head Prep rallied with 13 unanswered points in the second half to win it, according to Jeff Moeller, who covered the game for the Prep Sports Report.