By Jimmy Kirby
Courier Sports

jkirby@thepccourier.com

WALHALLA — Good things continue to happen for the Liberty High Red Devils at the start of the 2016 season.

For the second consecutive week on the road to start the season, the Red Devils came away with another thrilling victory on Friday night, this time a 21-17 win over the Walhalla Razorbacks.

There was a large crowd with plenty of energy and noise for the home opener, which marked Liberty’s first visit to the new Walhalla High School, which opened last year. Not only were the Red Devils trying to dampen the spirits of the home crowd, but the weather also gave an assist when a terrible thunderstorm with severe lightning delayed the last 3:44 of the fourth quarter for nearly two hours. The delay helped take the excitement out of the Razorback offense on their last-gasp drive in an effort to take the lead early on Saturday morning and move to 2-0 under new head coach Padgett Johnson. The game ended at 12:16 a.m.

The Red Devils made it more of a game than they needed to by losing three fumbles and committing several untimely penalties in the game. They were on their way to a dominant first half ahead 14-0, but allowed the Razorbacks back in the game as Walhalla scored on a five-yard pass from Corey Donald to Aaron Seigle as time expired on the first half.

The Razorbacks went 80 yards in 13 plays. Donald completed passes good for 17 and 15 yards on the drive, along with a 10-yard run. There were also 25 yards in penalties on the Red Devils on the drive to aid the Razorbacks.

The Liberty offense looked much more crisp Friday night than it did the previous week against Pendleton. The Devils almost tripled their offensive output, with a total of 291 yards of total offense against the Razorbacks. In the opener, they managed only 100 yards against the Bulldogs.

“We have some major errors that we need to correct,” Liberty coach Kyle Stewart said after the game. “We have got to get better with ball security for one. Penalties also cost us in some key times of the game.”

Cavaugio Butler had a big night for the Red Devils, as he gained 118 yards on 16 carries and scored two touchdowns. He scored on runs of three and 25 yards. The second touchdown run regained the lead for the Red Devils after Walhalla had taken its first lead of the game at 17-14 early in the fourth quarter on Donald’s second touchdown pass of the game, a 10-yarder again to Seigle.

Perhaps no play was bigger in the game than a third-quarter stop by sophomore defensive back Jeremy Cason, who chased down Razorback running back Adrian Massey at the Liberty 4-yard line following a 45-yard run. The Red Devil defense then regrouped and held Walhalla out of the end zone, as the Razors settled for a 27-yard Patrick Nations field goal to make the score 14-10 with 2:02 remaining in the third quarter.

The Red Devils fumbled on their ensuing drive and turned the ball back over to the Razorbacks at their own 35-yard line. Six plays later, they were in the end zone on the Donald pass to Seigle and had their first and only lead of the game.

The Red Devils came right back and showed that they could move the ball and come back after giving up the lead. Kevon Tebron rushed for 18 yards to the Liberty 38-yard line. He then added 11 more yards on a pass reception from Nick Reeves to the Red Devil 49-yard line, and then another 18-yard gain on the next play to get the ball inside Razorback territory at the 33-yard line. Butler scored four plays later to put the Red Devils up for good 21-17 with 8:12 remaining in the game.

From there it was up to the Liberty defense to make a statement. The weather delay made it interesting for both teams. For Walhalla, it took the crowd out of it, and for the Red Devils, the question was how they would handle the waiting game.

“I was also proud of how we played coming out of the delay,” Stewart said. “I was a little worried as I watched our guys sit for nearly two hours, and it was getting pretty late. They were tired, but they put all that aside and came out for a big defensive stand that secured the game.”

In the second quarter, the Red Devils extended their lead to 14-0 on a nice pass by Nick Reeves to Michael Spruill in the back of the end zone for 11 yards. Spruill is becoming Reeves’ go-to receiver, as he finished the night with three catches for 47 yards and the score.

Reeves had an efficient night throwing the football, as he was 6-of-9 for 79 yards. He had no interceptions and was only sacked once in the game. Cole Murphy caught two passes for 21 yards to aid the passing attack.

“I thought effort was there,” Stewart said. “Bottom line is we have to execute better. We can’t go backwards. I was proud of how the team responded after going down 17-14. We were able to put a drive together to regain the lead.”

The Red Devils now return home for the first time this season as they take on an 0-2 Pickens Blue Flame team that is looking for a win after falling 31-10 at Pendleton last week.

By Cole Little
Courier Sports

news@thepccourier.com

EASLEY — Leading 28-10 to start the fourth quarter, Coach John Windham’s Easley Green Wave squad appeared poised for an impressive road victory over the Daniel Lions on Friday night.

However, the fourth quarter was all Daniel, and the Lions eked out a one-point victory in a strange 29-28 game.

With more than two hours of delayed time brought on by an injury to a Daniel player in the third quarter and a lengthy lightning delay soon after, Easley’s momentum — and 18-point lead — evaporated in a span of 12 minutes, leaving Windham far from pleased.

Asked post-game about what effect the lengthy weather-related delay had on his team, Windham said, “Not a good one, obviously. (Daniel) had the same delay. We just didn’t handle it well. We didn’t play very good the last 12 minutes.”

With 222 rushing yards on the night, the Green Wave produced several impact running plays in the first half, allowing them to take a commanding 21-10 lead into halftime. Senior running back Derrick Phillips led the charge for the Green Wave, accruing 142 yards on the ground. With Easley trailing 7-0, Phillips’ 46-yard run in the first quarter sparked the Green Wave offense and culminated in a four–yard Will Drawdy touchdown rush that knotted the game up.

On Easley’s next scoring possession, Drawdy topped Phillips’ long rush with one of his own, a 49-yarder that set up a seven–yard touchdown pass from Easley quarterback Weston Black to wide receiver Carter Wiles. Wiles compiled six receptions on the evening for 93 yards.

Two possessions later, Easley found the end zone once again, this time via a three-yard touchdown run by Phillips. Highlighted by a 64-yard pass-and-catch from Black to the electrifying Wiles, the touchdown-producing drive provided the Green Wave with a 21-7 lead in what was beginning to shape up as an Easley blowout victory.

In a surprising move that ended up costing the Green Wave, Easley opted for an onside kick following the Phillips touchdown that was recovered by Daniel and converted into a field goal just before the half.

Out of halftime, with his Easley squad leading 21-10, Black marched his troops down the field but faltered deep in Daniel territory, throwing an interception to Daniel linebacker Jake Venables, son of Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables.

Soon after, the game took an unfortunate turn, as a frightening injury occurred on an Easley punt return. A block on the play resulted in a serious injury to Daniel’s Nick Taylor that brought the game to a halt. Although he was stretchered off of the field, the brave Lion waved to the crowd as he was being taken off, sending relief through both sides of the stadium. Daniel coach Jeff Fruster said after the game that Taylor’s injury was less serious than it seemed, and he was transported to the hospital as a precautionary measure.

The punt return by athletic Green Wave two-way player Sean-Thomas Faulkner placed the ball at the Daniel 30-yard line. Facing a third and 14 soon after, Black dropped back and threw a dime to wideout Levi Segee for a 34-yard touchdown.

With seconds remaining in the third quarter, lightning began to streak through the night sky, and a weather delay ensued. Following a downpour and an hour and a half wait, the game returned to action, with Easley leading 28-10.

Although the fourth quarter was littered with mistakes that proved to be costly for the Green Wave, Easley was given a reprieve by the football gods for its first fourth-quarter bungle.

A bad snap deep in Easley’s own territory was recovered by the Lions at the Green Wave 12-yard line. The Lions were unable to capitalize, though, as they went three and out and botched a short field goal attempt.

At the 7:13 mark, Daniel produced its first touchdown since the game’s opening drive but failed on the two-point conversion attempt, making the score 28-16 in favor of the Green Wave. Needing only to gain short yardage while allowing the clock to run, Easley was in great shape to come away victorious even after Daniel scored another touchdown on an impressive reception in the end zone, with 3:04 remaining.

Leading 28-23 at that point, Easley came up short when it mattered most, garnering multiple unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and stalling out at every turn. Despite the defense being shaky throughout the fourth quarter, a special teams collapse ultimately did the Green Wave in. Senior Daniel return specialist Brandon Peppers darted up the sideline for a 75-yard punt return to the house that put the Lions up 29-28 with 1:43 remaining. Daniel was unable to convert the two-point try, but the damage had been done.

Thanks to a short kickoff, Easley took over at midfield following Peppers’ return. The Green Wave were unable to take advantage, though, as the Daniel defense pressured Black every play on the possession, resulting in a hastily thrown pass on fourth and 20 that was picked off by Daniel’s Malik Watt to end Easley’s hopes. The Lions were then able to run out the clock and seal the deal on an improbable victory.

Even though they finished with 54 more yards and several more quality drives than the Lions, the Green Wave’s fourth-quarter unraveling dropped them to 1-1 on the season.

Windham said his team must focus and “just keep playing” to prevent a similar outcome in the future.

“We played very strong for three quarters,” he said. “We just didn’t play very good the last quarter, across the board.”

Easley will look to rebound Friday night in its home opener against the Belton-Honea Path Bears, who are 2-0 on the season with wins over Blue Ridge and Powdersville under their belt.

“They’re a good team,” Windham said of the Bears. “We’ll have to get ready and have to get our guys back and focused on Monday and go from there.”

Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday night at Green Wave Stadium.

By Rocky Nimmons
Publisher

rnimmons@thepccourier.com

CENTRAL – In what will go down in Pickens County football history as one of the wildest finishes that nobody saw, the Daniel Lions stormed back from an 18-point deficit to beat Easley 29-28 in a game that finished after midnight following a pair of delays.

 Most fans headed for the house following the call for a lightning delay that came just before the game entered the fourth quarter. Fans had just waited through a delay after Daniel’s Nick Taylor took a vicious hit near the Easley sideline. The injury halted play until an ambulance could get on scene and take Taylor to the hospital for treatment. The young Lion was released later in the night with no serious injuries.

Just as Taylor was taken from the field, flashes of lighting began to cover the sky. Play did resume, but only for a few snaps, as officials called for all players and spectators to head for cover until the lightning moved through the area.

The Lions, who were huddling in their locker room down 28-10 after just seeing a teammate being taken off the field by ambulance, could have thrown in the towel, but they had other plans. The Lions took the adversity that was given to them and turned it into energy. When the game finally restarted, shortly after 11:30 p.m., the Lions were in a different mindset. They were ready, and it showed, as the Daniel defense shut down Easley and the offense lit up the scoreboard with 19 points in the final quarter with less than 100 people in the stands.

“We are going to be the type of team that stays focused on never giving up,” Daniel head coach Jeff Fruster said with excitement minutes after the final whistle.

Fruster said his coaches and players did not waste the down time during the break.

“I told them 12 minutes is an eternity in football,” he said. “You never know what will happen. You just have to keep fighting.”

And fight they did, coming out of the break like a rodeo bronco out of a chute, Dominating 5A Easley over the last 12 minutes.

When the game kicked off, no one expected the second game with Fruster at the helm would be so full of peaks and valleys.

The Lions looked to be running on all cylinders as the defense stymied the Wave and forced a three and out, despite a nice 48-yard kick return by Easley’s Will Drawdy that gave the wave the ball at the Lions’ 45.

Following the Easley punt, the Lions put together an 11-play drive that covered 88 yards for the first points of the contest. Daniel signal-caller Ben Batson was in control as the dual-threat QB used both his arm and legs to move the pigskin for Fru’s crew.

Batson took a sack to open the series, but followed that with two pass completions. The first was a quick seven-yard toss to wideout Will Swinney, and the second was a 10 yarder to Hampton Earle. Kiandre Sims took a handoff and picked up a couple yards, followed by a pair of keepers by Batson for 15 more yards, putting the Lions in a second-down-and-six situations at the Green Wave 46.

Sims got the call again, and the sophomore answered with a big 12-yard run and a first down at the 34-yard line. Brandon Peppers gained 10 more yards and another Lion first down. Batson went to the air on the next two snaps, and it was the second toss that hurt Easley most when he spied Earle open deep and connected with a 20-yard strike, giving the Lions a first and goal at the Wave 5. Batson capped the drive by blasting into the Easley end zone on the next play. Lion kicker Nick Muchow trotted on and split the uprights on the extra point with 7:17 left in the first quarter.

The two teams exchanged punts on their next series, and no one could really get anything going, But Easley coach John Windham was just getting his team warmed up, and that is when the big Green Machine got to rolling.

Windham’s team started to mesh, and put together a quick five-play drive that covered 66 yards. Derrick Phillips took a Weston Black handoff and picked up seven yards. Then Black called his own number and gained seven more yards and an Easley first down. Phillips was not close to done after his first carry and ripped off a huge 45-yard scamper that had the Lion defense on their heels. Phillips didn’t get rounded up until he was deep in Lion country at the Daniel 6-yard line. Noah Lupton took the first Black handoff, but was brought down by Daniel’s Miles “Boogie” Turmon and company at the 4. Windham again challenged the front five to make some space, and this time Drawdy got the call and blasted into the end zone as time expired in the first quarter. Garrett Rookard added the point-after attempt to even the game at 7-7.

The score looked to ignite Windham’s Wave as they halted the Lions quickly and forced a punt following the ensuing kickoff.

Again it was a tidal wave of Green that swept over the Lions defense. In only six plays, Easley had traveled 69 yards for another touchdown. This time around another big run mid-way through broke the Lions’ defense down. Sean-Thomas Faulkner found a crease and zoomed 39 yards to give Easley a first and 10 at the Lions’ 12-yard line. The touchdown came two plays later, as Black found his favorite target, wideout Carter Wiles, open over the middle from seven yards out. Rookard again nailed the PAT, and the Wave were cruising 14-7 with 7:56 to play in the first half.

The Daniel offense could not produce a sustained drive following the kickoff and again was forced to punt the ball away.

At that point the Green Wave were in command and had all the momentum. Taking over at their own 15-yard line, the Wave were on the move again. The series lasted eight plays and was highlighted by an incredible pass-and-catch from Black to Wiles that covered 64 yards. The drive was capped by a three-yard plunge by Phillips three plays later for the score with 1:30 left in the half. Rookard added the point after, and the Wave were in control, leading Daniel 21-7.

The Lions managed to turn the momentum a little and got three points on the board before half when Fru’s crew put together a 45-yard drive that ended with a nice 34-yard Muchow field goal just before halftime.

At halftime, former Daniel state championship teams were honored, including the 25th anniversary of the 1991 3A state championship football team, many of whom were on the field at intermission.

As the second half got underway, the Wave again grabbed momentum and halted the Lions right away and forced a quick three downs and out sequence.

Taking the Lions’ punt and putting the ball in play at the Easley 30-yard line the Wave were again on the move. This time it was a steady diet of Phillips and Drawdy with a sprinkle of Black passes that kept the Lion defense off balance.

The formula worked until the series’ 10th play, when Black aired it out looking for Wiles only to have Daniel linebacker Jake Venables pick the receiver’s pocket and snag a turnover for the Lions.

The Lions tried to get something going offensively and did push the ball 27 yards in 10 plays, but the series stalled and Muchow punted the ball away.

The punt was taken deep by Faulkner, and like green lightning, the speedster managed a great return all the way to the Daniel 30-yard line. Windham went for the jugular and called on Black to go to the air on the drive’s third play. This time Black hit Levi Segee for a 34-yard TD with only 35 second left in the third quarter. Rookard nailed the PAT, and the Wave were rolling 28-10.

On the ensuing kickoff, Taylor took the hit that sent the game into an injury delay. Following the delay of more than 30 minutes, the Lions had the ball at their own 23-yard line with seconds remaining in the third. Fruster and company got off three snaps, moving the ball 18 yards to the 41-yard line before officials called for the lightning delay as the night sky flashed around Singleton Field.

Finally, more than an hour and half later and with most fans safely at home, the Green Wave and Lions trotted back on the field at 11:30 p.m. to put the game in the books. The Lions appeared to have little chance of victory down 18 points with just 12 minutes left to play, but fate smiled on the blue and gold.

When the game resumed, the Lions had the ball at their own 41, facing second down and four yards to go. It looked bleak, as time ticked away and the Lions were forced to punt.

Daniel’s defense had other plans, and the unit rose up and wreaked havoc on the Green Wave offense as soon as they took possession. Looking possessed, the defense stormed the Wave and caused them to fumble on the series’ third play, with Daniel’s Khalil Anderson covering the ball at the Green Wave 12-yard line.

But again the Lions could not push the ball in for a touchdown, and on the series’ fourth play Fruster called on Muchow to come on to try to make it a two-score game. A bad snap ended any hopes for three points, and things looked bad for the Lions as the scoreboard clock was approaching eight minutes to play.

That is when it happened. The young Lions, who had one of the toughest seasons in decades last year, grew up before the eyes of those in attendance. They all bought into what the Fru was cooking and set the tone for what could prove to be a remarkable season ahead.

The defense was already playing the best it had played all night, and again stuffed the Wave and forced a punt without allowing a first down.

Taking over at the Easley 35 yard line, the Lions’ offense finally started clicking. On the drive’s first and only play, Batson slung a rainbow downfield and into the waiting arms of Isaac Weaver, who rumbled into the end zone with 7:13 to play. Fruster went for a two-point conversion, but Batson’s pass over the middle to Swinney missed its mark, making the score 28-16 in favor of Easley.

Whatever Daniel defensive coordinator Kirk Ellison told his unit during the delay must have done the trick, because the Lion defense was ferocious and hammered Easley again, forcing a punt.

Taking over at his own 38, Batson looked like an old veteran as he marched his team downfield. He hit Swinney with three completions for a total of 25 yards on the seven-play drive. His biggest toss, though, was reserved for Brandon Peppers and covered the final 21 yards for another Lion touchdown. The few fans who were still in the stadium were screaming, as hope was still alive. Fruster went to reserve kicker Eamon Espy, and the kicker nailed the PAT with 3:04 to play, pulling the Lions to within five at 23-28.

The Lions had to have the ball, and the blue and gold defense knew that. So the unit, following the kickoff after the score, hunkered down and delivered with a quick three-and-out on the Easley offense, which had all but lost its punch. With the Wave kicking from their own 30, Fruster had Peppers back deep to return. The speedster lit up the stadium more than the lightning ever did as he juked and dodged Green Wave defenders all the way down the field and into the end zone for a touchdown with just 1:43 to play. Again Fruster called for a two-point conversion try, hoping to push the Lions to a three-point lead. Batson went over the middle to Swinney once more, and again it failed, but the Lions had jumped on top 29-28.

Now it was all up to Ellison’s defense to win the game and preserve the lead, and the unit did what it had to do, stopping the Wave dead in their tracks when defensive back Malik Watt picked off a Black pass to seal the deal, giving the Lions an incredible come-from-behind victory that was one for the ages.

“I am very proud of these kids,” Fruster said. “They are going to talk about this one for a while. Who knew? I am proud of them for never giving up. I am very proud of the kids — proud of the fight, proud of the heart, proud of my team and proud of the way we fought today.

“But we are still going back to the drawing board on Monday.”

The Lions will have to shake off the big win as they take to the road for the first time this season on Friday night, crossing county lines to face perennial rival Seneca. Although Seneca may be for the first time in years not in the Lions’ conference, the game still means bragging rights for both schools.

“Seneca is not going to be an easy one, but I’ll tell you what — it’s not going to be a game we have to get up for,” Fruster said. “Everybody loves a good rivalry.”

Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. at Tom Bass Field in Seneca.