By Rocky Nimmons
Publisher

rnimmons@thepccourier.com

CENTRAL — It came down to a single kick in the final second.

It was do-or-die time for the Daniel Lions Friday night, and the stars just didn’t line up for the Columbia blue and gold.

John Bolton/BoltonPhoto.com
Daniel receiver Carter Groomes stretches unsuccessfully for a pass Friday night at Singleton Field.

Cross-county rival Easley took a huge 19-17 victory over the Lions at Singleton Field on a night that started out with celebration only to end in one of the strangest finishes in Daniel football history.

The night began with the honoring of three of the Lions’ greatest fans, who all passed away over the last 12 months. Long-time chain crew captain Mack Ross, former player Bobby “Snag” Stancell and Daniel graduate and Singleton Field fixture Rick Nimmons were all honored during the pre-game festivities. The event culminated with the naming of the field’s press box after “The voice of the Lions” Hal Garrett.

Fans of both schools filtered in anticipating a battle, and the game lived up to the hype, with Easley jumping out front early and the Lions clawing back in the second half only to come up short on the game’s final play on a strange and little-known rule.

With the Lions trailing 19-17 and a little more than a second to play, Daniel pulled out an obscure play from the rule book and attempted a 51-yard free kick to win the game. The kick fell short of the goal post, sending the Green Wave fans into a frenzy and leaving the Daniel faithful scratching their heads on just what had happened when the final whistle sounded.

“If you fair catch it, you have the opportunity to free kick,” Daniel coach Randy Robinson said after the game. “If we would have made that, we would have won the game with the field goal. We had a shot at it, and we should have made it.”

But the play was one many had never seen before, and the mass confusion sent many home wondering what exactly had happened.

Poor clock management and several resets as timekeepers tried to correct mis-starts left the Lions with little other option than to call the free kick.

“I still think we had some clock management issues,” Robinson said. “I thought we would have had time to run a play, but it didn’t happen. We would have liked to have been able to take one shot. All we had was to try the free kick, so we took advantage of it.”

From the opening whistle, Easley came in ready to play, exposing holes in the Lions’ defense early and hitting big plays as the Daniel offense sputtered to find its way.

The Green Wave had a plan and executed on opportunities offensively and capitalized on Daniel turnovers to take a 19-7 lead at the half. The Lions made a game of it in the second half, but inconsistency offensively never gave them a lead.

“Defensively, we played well in the second half, but you can’t give up 19 points in the first half,” Robinson said. “We were just giving things away fundamentally. We were letting people run wide open and nobody covers them. That is just poor coaching. We have got to do a better job.”

The Wave got rolling early, mounting a scoring drive on their second possession. The series went 72 yards in five plays. Yellow flags rained down all night as both teams made many early-season mistakes. The drive saw four penalties, the most costly a roughing-the-passer call on the third snap that erased a Daniel stop and kept the Wave’s march alive.

New Easley head coach John Windham looked to keep it simple and relied on his running game from the start. Will Drawdy pounded the ball at the Daniel defense on the series, but it was Easley’s QB Dalton Black’s 57-yard pass to Holden Martin that drove in the final stake for the touchdown at the 7:32 mark of the first quarter. The point after was blocked, but the Green Wave took the early 6-0 lead.

It looked like the rust had worn off when the Lions got the ball back. The offense went to work and produced a classic Daniel drive. In 12 plays, the big cats went 80 yards and answered with a score of their own. Only two passes were thrown on the drive — a six-yard toss from Lion quarterback Ben Batson to Will Swinney and a 22 yarder to Carter Groomes. The rest came on the ground, with a tag-team effort by running back Stephon Kirksey and Batson carrying the load. Kirksey picked up 27 yards on five carries on the drive, while Batson got 10 yards on two. The 22-yard strike to Groomes capped the drive with 3:14 to play in the quarter. Rivers Sherrill grabbed the lead for the Lions with his extra point, making the score 7-6.

The drive looked to ignite the Green Wave, who answered in the blink of an eye. Following the ensuing kickoff, the green machine took over at their own 31-yard line following a nice return by Donte Cade. Windham decided to roll the dice and go up top, calling for senior quarterback Dalton Black to air it out. Black quickly spied a wide open Carter Wiles streaking uncovered in the flat and shot a bullet his way. The Lion defense was caught flat-footed, and the speedster went 69 yards to regain the Easley lead with 2:53 left in the first quarter. Windham elected to go for a two-point conversion, but the try came up empty as Black again tried his luck with Wiles. The Lion defense was up to the task, but the damage was done with Easley out front 12-7.

Daniel’s offense just couldn’t get in sync on its next series. A holding call on the first snap put the Lions in a hole, and a fumble ended the series two plays later when Kirksey was tackled hard and coughed up the pigskin deep in Daniel territory at the 12.

Easley was in great position to add points. A pair of penalties forced the Wave back to the Lions’ 29, but that did little to stop Easley, as Black again saw a soft spot in the Daniel defense and connected with Drawdy for a 26-yard pass that pushed the ball to the Lions’ 1-yard line. A play later, Black pushed into the end zone with only 10 seconds left in the first quarter. The Green Wave added the extra point for a controlling 19-7 lead.

The second quarter saw the two squads battle it out with their defenses dominating and forcing an exchange of punts.

The Lions got one last chance before the half and produced a 12-play drive that was helped along by a roughing-the-punter call midway through. The drive went 48 yards to the Wave 25, only to be ended by the Easley defense with a sack on the fourth down to send the game to half with the Wave up 19-7.

Robinson took his team to task at the intermission, and the Lions came out with fire from the start. Taking the opening kick and putting the ball in play at the 33, Robinson’s troops went straight to work.

Batson was not crisp, but he did find wide receiver Isaac Weaver on the series’ third snap with a beautiful rainbow of a pass for a 52-yard gain to the Wave 16. Kirksey carried three of the next four plays for 11 yards, including the final three for the touchdown. Sherrill added the point after with 9:23 to play, cutting the deficit to 19-14.

The Lion defense had enough of being used, and coordinator Jeff Fruster’s unit responded, forcing a three and out on Easley’s next possession.

Daniel went back to work after the Easley punt and mounted a 42-yard drive that sputtered to a halt at the Wave 21. Robinson sent in Sherrill, and the senior kicker aced a 38-yard field goal with 4:32 left in the third quarter to pull the Lions to within two points at 19-17.

The Daniel defense stayed tough and again forced an Easley punt.

The Lion offense took charge at the 49 and was on the move again. Batson looked a lot older than his sophomore status, running for 23 yards on five carries and passing for 19 yards on two completions on the possession. All was going good until Jacob Maloney lost his handle on the ball at the Wave 19, with Easley recovering to end the Daniel threat.

The teams exchanged punts on their next possessions, and the Lions looked to have a chance late when the offense pushed the ball deep into Easley territory at the 25. All looked good until the Green Wave defense stiffened and sacked Batson for a three-yard loss on second down, setting up a third and 21 from the Easley 28. Disaster struck, though, as Batson forced a pass and Easley’s Shawn-Thomas Faulkner snagged an interception at the 5-yard line to seemingly ice the contest for the Green Wave.

That is when the fun began.

Easley took over with 1:21 to play, and three big stops by the Lions’ defense gave Daniel one last chance. Facing fourth and 14 from the 3-yard line, Easley had to punt.

The Wave ran the clock down as far as they could, but Robinson had a plan. He knew he would get the ball with only a split-second left, and he gambled by having his deep men call for a fair catch, hoping the clock would stop with at least a tick left. That it did, with 1.2 seconds showing on the scoreboard clock.

The Lions had the ball at the Easley 41, and Robinson sent on his kicker with tee in hand. Sherrill set the ball in place, and the crowd was in awe, not sure exactly what was happening. It was a once-in-a-career chance to call a free kick. Sherrill lined the ball up and took his shot, but it wasn’t enough and the ball fell short, sending a surge of excitement through the Green Wave team and fan base.

Following the loss, Robinson reflected on what fans should understand about his 2015 team.

“People just don’t listen — I have told everybody that it was going to take time,” he said. “This offense is going to get there. It is going to take weeks. Nothing can simulate live game action and live bullets flying at you. We are going to make mistakes offensively. We are young at the key spots.

“Yeah, we accumulated a lot of yards, but we didn’t finish drives. The problem is we were jumping offsides and had a bad snap here and there. Easley did not stop us. They are not very good on defense. We simply didn’t put the ball in the end zone. That is our fault.”

Robinson acknowledged his young quarterback will take some time to develop.

“Batson made some big plays for us,” he said. “The key to being successful is the guys around him that do have experience have to really do a great job so all the pressure doesn’t fall to him. That is part of the process. I have told the seniors, ‘you have to go above and beyond until we get him settled in.’ You can’t tell a sophomore that he has to make every play. That is not fair and unrealistic.”

This Friday the Lions will travel to Emerald to take on the Vikings.

“It does not get any easier,” Robinson said. “We are going to Emerald, and all I have heard is how fast they are. They have the fastest defense in the state, that is for sure. It is going to be a challenge for an inconsistent offense, and that is what we have got. It is going to be a big challenge for us. If these seniors want to turn their season around, they better come to practice on Monday ready to work.

“We need support. I just hope the fans will be patient with this team. Offensively, we are sputtering, but we are getting closer. Defensively, if we can just coach them better in the first half, they probably don’t score on us. We have some work to do for sure.”

By Kerry Gilstrap
Courier Sports

news@thepccourier.com

CENTRAL — The Easley Green Wave faithful were breathing a collective sigh of relief Friday night as they watched Daniel Lions kicker Rivers Sherrill’s free kick tail off to the left in a game that will be remembered for years to come at Singleton Field in Central.

Easley running back Will Drawdy sprints past Daniel defenders during the Green Wave’s 19-17 win Friday night at Singleton Field.

The missed kick was the result of a last-ditch effort by the Lions to squeak out a victory over the Wave, who hold on for a 19-17 win to move to 2-0 on the season.

The kick was the result of a rule that rarely gets used in football. If a team fair catches the ball with time left on the clock, that team has one chance to try a free kick, which looks much like a kickoff from the spot of the catch. If the kick goes through the uprights, that team earns three points, just like a normal field goal.

The Wave produced a dominating first half, taking a 19-7 lead into intermission thanks to some great play-calling by Green Wave head coach John Windham.

The Wave took it to Daniel from the start, picking apart the Lions’ defense with both the run and the pass. On the night, the Wave offense produced 361 yards of offense, much of which came in the first two quarters.

If Easley has a weakness so far this season, it would be the amount of flags the green machine have had thrown on them in their first two outings. This week the Wave were called for 14 penalties that cost them 126 yards, with most coming in the game’s second half, in which they could have iced the game if not for all the laundry on the field at critical moments.

The Wave got on the scoreboard first on a 72-yard drive that saw the offense firing on all cylinders. Easley got into the end zone when Dalton Black connected with a nice toss over the middle to an uncovered Holden Martin. Martin took the catch and found a seam, racing 57 yards for the game’s first points. Easley came up short on the PAT as Joshua Hansen’s kick was blocked with 7:32 to play, making the score 6-0.

The Lions answered with their only points of the first half. Daniel put together an 80-yard drive that was capped with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Ben Batson to Carter Groomes with 3:14 left in the first quarter. Sherrill added the extra point to make the score 7-6 Lions.

Windham’s team was not about to lay down after the Daniel drive and answered like a bolt if lightning. Starting at his own 31 after the ensuing kick, Black went back to the air. This time he again found a wide open receiver over the middle in Carter Wiles. Windham had to see that the Daniel defense was breaking down on coverage and capitalized on the soft spot in the secondary. Once Wiles made the catch, there was no stopping him, and the speedster went 69 yards for a Green Wave touchdown. Windham decided to try for two, but the conversion came up short as Black again tried to hit Wiles, but the pass fell incomplete. Only 21 seconds after the Lions captured the lead, the Wave were back on top, 12-7.

Tough defense set up the Wave’s final points of the half. A big hit on Lion runner Stephon Kirksey forced him to cough up the pigskin, with Easley recovering deep in Lion territory at the 12-yard line. The Wave looked to be shooting themselves in the foot with a holding penalty and an illegal shift on consecutive plays. The flags didn’t kill the drive, though, as the Easley offense regrouped and got into the end zone. Facing a first and 26 from the Lions’ 29-yard line, Will Drawdy got the call and picked up a couple of yards. Next, Black went to his bread and butter and found Drawdy coming out of the backfield for a nice 26-yard completion to save the series. The play got the big green to the 1-yard line with goal to go. Black called his own number and plunged in from a yard out with 10 seconds left in the first quarter. Hansen nailed the PAT, and the Wave were out front 19-7.

Both teams pounded each other in the second quarter, but neither was able to gain momentum, and the half ended with the Wave in command.

As the second half started, Easley knew it had to play defense, because the homestanding Lions were not about to lay down. Daniel proved that point by mounting a seven-play drive that covered 67 yards to begin the second half. The Lions pulled to within five on the series when Kirksey drove in from three yards out to cap the drive with a touchdown. Sherrill tacked on the PAT with 9:23 to play in the third quarter, and it was obvious the game was far from over.

Easley’s offense sputtered and was forced to punt on its next possession, gaining only eight yards on three plays. Kicking from their own 13, the Wave gave the Lions great field position as the punt traveled only 24 yards.

It was up to the Green Wave defense to save the day, and it did just that, halting the Lions’ attack and forcing them to settle for a 38-yard field goal with 4:32 to play in the third. Sherrill’s kick pulled the Lions to within two at 19-17.

The teams’ defenses dominated from that point on. Disaster almost struck for the Wave late in the fourth quarter, but some great heads-up play from Hansen from the punter position saved the Wave. Facing fourth down and four from the Easley 38, the Wave called on the punting team. Back deep to kick, Hansen was shocked when the snap sailed over his head down inside the 10-yard line. Keeping his wits, Hansen scooped up the ball and somehow got his punt away, keeping the Lions from an easy score.

The Lions looked to be on the prowl following the great save and pushed the ball down to the Easley 17-yard line on three plays. The drive was helped along by an interference call on the Wave, but the defenivese unit made up for the penalty when Sean-Thomas Faulkner picked off a Lion pass at the Easley 5-yard line.

The Wave needed just one first down to ice the game with under a minute and a half left in the contest, but the Daniel defense was fired up and stiffened, and that was when the fun started.

Officials kept starting and stopping the clock until it was finally settled that the Wave would have to punt and hope for a stop with only seconds left.

With less than six second left in the game, Hansen kicked the ball away, and unbelievably the Lions called for a fair catch. Stumped by the call, Easley’s defense expected to take the field for a last-second Daniel Hail-Mary pass. Instead, the Lions went deep into the rule book and called a rare free kick. The rule is so rare that hardly anyone in the stadium had a clue as to why Daniel was lining up for what looked like a kickoff.

With 1.1 seconds remaining, Daniel had one last chance to pull it out. There was no time for full explanations on what was going on — it was time to either win or lose for both teams.

Windham sent his troops on the field and hoped for the best. The whistle blew for game play to start, and Sherrill approached the ball. The kick started off great but hooked more and more as it got closer to the goal post, eventually falling short and giving the Wave a 19-17 victory.

“The win feels great — I have been coaching a long time and never seen (the free kick rule) happen,” Windham said following the game. “This really was a crazy game. I don’t think I have ever witnessed one of those kicks, and certainly not one for a game-winning kick. I haven’t ever even seen that on SportsCenter.”

Even though the Wave are still unbeaten on the young season, Windham knows his team still has plenty of room for improvement.

“So many penalties — we just have a lot of penalties,” Windham said.

This Friday night, the Green Wave will host the Seneca Bobcats. The Bobcats are coming off a 56-27 win last week against the Greenville Red Raiders.

“That’s going to be another big test,” Windham said, “so we will rest up and get ready for it.”

By Eugene Jolley
Courier Sports

ejolley@thepccourier.com

PICKENS — Pendleton held off a furious fourth-quarter comeback Friday night to beat Pickens, 26-16, thanks in large part to nine quarterback sacks.

Tommy McGaha/Courier
A swarm of Pickens defenders take down a Pendleton runner during the Bulldogs’ 26-16 win in the Blue Flame’s home opener on Friday night.

It was the season opener for Pendleton and the home opener for Pickens.

Pendleton junior defensive end Brad Johnson led the way for Pendleton with four sacks and two forced fumbles. Fittingly, his sack of Blue Flame quarterback Tanner Stegall ended a final comeback attempt.

“It’s frustrating,” Pickens coach John Boggs said. “I think at times we are our own worst enemies offensively. We get behind the sticks and are going backwards. You get some positive yardage and you start going backwards. You can’t do that. I like these guys’ fight and I like their effort and I like how hard they play. We’ve got to figure out a way to not shoot ourselves in the foot early. I think Pendleton is a good football team. I think they did a great job defensively shutting us down at times. We had to do some different things — spreading them out — to move the ball late.”

For a second consecutive game, the Blue Flame defense faced a third-year starting quarterback. Bulldog signal-caller Gibson Black led on the first drive. Covering 80 yards in 12 plays, Black converted once on third down and twice more on second and long before calling his own number from 12 yards out with 6:53 left in the first quarter.

Pickens answered with a nice drive. Fullback Gunner Covey ripped off a 17-yard run and had a 16-yard reception from Stegall. But a sack and a dropped pass stalled the drive, setting up Matt Gravely to kick a 44-yard field goal, making it 7-3 with 3:18 left in the first quarter.

The big play was again a bug-a-boo in the first half for the Blue Flame defense, and Pendleton hit it big on its next play from scrimmage. Black went play action and found Kiso Williams for an 80-yard scoring strike. The kick missed wide left, making it 13-3 with 3:04 left in the first quarter.

Pendleton forced a punt following a sack and looked to convert again, but Nicquan Ramsey fumbled in the end zone and Adam Thomas recovered for the Blue Flame.

Unfortunately, Pickens gave it back three plays later as Johnson hit Stegall from behind, causing a fumble. On the next play, Black threw a fade pass on the right side to Wake Forest commit Malik Grate, who made a leaping catch with Thomas in good coverage. Nate Higginbotham’s kick missed, leaving it at 19-3 with 8:06 left in the half.

The Blue Flame struggled offensively in the first half, but finally got a break late in the half when Black dropped the ball in punt formation and Ridge Clark clobbered him at the Bulldog 39. The drive stalled, and Gravely tried a 51-yard kick, but it just missed left, easily carrying the distance with 1:08 left in the half.

Pendleton could get no more as Black was sacked by Tyler Gravely to end the half.

Stegall got the Blue Flame going with a 24-yard keeper on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. On the next play, Johnson hit Stegall from behind again, causing another lost fumble.

This time, the Blue Flame defense came up big. Thomas nearly picked off a third-down pass and then broke up another with a big hit on Grate on fourth down.

“Adam Thomas did a great job,” Boggs said. “He did a great job defensively making some plays, too. He’s a guy that came in late. He’s really playing hard and kind of starting to blossom for us, and that’s good to see.”

Pickens began to move the ball and got two Bulldog pass interference penalties to set up a potential score. Back-to-back sacks — one by Johnson — forced another kick, this time from 46 yards, that again was just off on the right side with 1:53 left in the third quarter.

“I thought defensively we did a good job in the second half. We came back and kind of settled down,” Boggs said. “I think the thing that hurt us tonight was the big plays defensively, and we missed some kicks, which is a little surprising. They were long kicks, but (Gravely) is going to usually make those.”

The Pickens defense again held. Black was stopped on third down by Cole Seaborn, Will Reynolds, Jerrad Pace and Matt Gravely, forcing a punt. The offense couldn’t convert, and after a third long 50-plus yard punt by Gravely, Pendleton hit on another big play. Facing third and six, Black hooked up again with Williams over the middle for a 34-yard scoring strike, and Higginbotham’s kick made it 26-3 with 9:03 left in the game.

Pickens didn’t quit. Stegall found Sam Lawson on third and long for a 33-yard connection and then hit Isaiah Ferguson for 34 to set up Covey’s one-yard touchdown run. The try for two by Covey was stopped, making it 26-9 with 6:36 left.

“I thought Sam Lawson made some big catches for us tonight to keep some drives alive,” Boggs said. “Isaiah Ferguson made some big catches. We’ve got to find a way to be more consistent offensively. I thought Gunner (Covey) ran the ball hard.”

The Blue Flame defense got the ball back as Ramsey fumbled and Clark recovered at the 49. Ferguson and Lawson had big catches, and Pendleton was hit with a facemask penalty on a fourth-down sack, keeping the drive alive. Covey scored from four yards out with 2:48 left, and Gravely’s kick made it 26-16.

Pickens got the ball once more, but Johnson sacked Stegall on fourth down to end the comeback.

“I did a poor job as offensive line coach of coaching up our protections,” Boggs said. “We’ve got to get that better. We’re better than that. And our players are better than that. We sort of cut him loose a few times, and that’s why we were not able to do a few things in the passing game.”

Pickens will play host to Liberty Friday night. The Red Devils won last year’s game 27-16, so revenge should be on the Blue Flame’s minds.

“I was proud of the team’s effort,” Boggs said. “This team has a lot of fight in it. They’re going to show up every Monday ready to work. We’ll work hard this weekend to try and correct our mistakes and start getting ready for Liberty next Friday.

“These guys are pretty resilient. They had a great week of practice this week. I was proud of them. We got better. It didn’t necessarily show tonight on the field, (but) we’re making strides and we’ll continue to try and get better every day and get ready for them next week.”