By Eugene Jolley
Courier Sports

ejolley@thepccourier.com

CENTRAL — It was heartbreak for Pickens and a homecoming survival for Daniel Friday night as the Lions held on to beat [cointent_lockedcontent]the Blue Flame 28-24.

Tommy McGaha/seeyourphotohere.com
Pickens quarterback Tanner Stegall throws a pass under pressure from the Daniel defense during their game Friday night in Central.

The game, never more an example of a game of inches, came down to Pickens having three shots inside the Daniel 11-yard line at the end of the game, only to come up empty.

“There is nothing easy this year,” Daniel coach Randy Robinson said. “2015 has been the toughest year of my career. When we get something going, we find a way to mess it up. Like I told the kids last week, at least we found a way to win one this time.”

Pickens coach John Boggs had plenty of praise for his team after the heartbreaking loss.

“These guys pour their hearts out on this field every week,” Boggs said. “They practice great. They’re great young men. They work their tails off every single day. I’m proud of them. I couldn’t be any prouder of any group I’ve ever been a part of or any group I’ve ever coached. These guys, they just come back and battle. They’re a lot of fun to coach.

“Unfortunately, we don’t come away with a win tonight. It was a heck of a football game, a great game to be a part of. We’ll look back on this one day and remember this one. I’m just proud of the way these guys fight and battle. We had our chances there at the end but

Tommy McGaha/seeyourphotohere.com
Pickens’ Adam Thomas fights for yardage during the Blue Flame’s heartbreaking 28-24 loss to Daniel on Friday night.

just didn’t pull it through. We kept giving us chances, and give them credit for that.”

The game had several momentum changes, and it started early. After the Blue Flame forced a Daniel punt, Carter Groomes picked off a Tanner Stegall pass that sailed, giving the Lions momentum.

Then, when Ben Batson’s pass to C.J. Scott and run across the field in which he nearly went to a knee — the Pickens sideline thought he was down — went for 19 and a first down, the Lions were in business. Three plays later, facing a heavy rush, Batson scrambled and found Will Swinney behind the Pickens defense for a 45-yard touchdown with 7:37 left in the first quarter. Rivers Sherrill’s kick made it 7-0.

Pickens came back using a strong rushing attack. The 57-yard drive covered 15 plays, all on the ground, but stalled at the 12. Kicker Matt Gravely then kicked a 30-yard field goal with 11:17 left in the half, making it 7-3.

The Blue Flame defense kept the Lions’ offense in check on the next series, as Renny Croley had a tackle for loss and Ridge Clark sacked Batson.

Pickens took over at its own 38 and after a 23-yard scramble by Stegall, the Blue Flame were in business again. A third-down pass to Adam Thomas came up two yards short, and Gravely tried a 47-yard field goal that just missed on the left side with 4:52 left in the half.

Daniel tried to get going, picking up two first downs. Batson’s pass then was broken up by Thomas, and two plays later, Thomas again got a hand on the ball, which caromed into the air, and free safety Jamal Blythe picked it off at the Blue Flame 38, got a big block from linebacker Cole Seaborn, and returned it to the Lions’ 30.

“We created turnovers all night,” Boggs said. “I think we won the turnover battle again and lost. Two weeks in a row, we win the turnover battle and lose. Normally, when you do that, you win the football game. We were able to convert on some red-zone opportunities, which we didn’t do last week, and we just needed to convert one more. We had opportunities.”

Two plays later, the Blue Flame cashed in that opportunity as Thomas, playing tailback, took a toss right and fired to a wide-open Isaiah Ferguson for an 18-yard scoring pass. Gravely’s kick with 2:17 left in the halfmade it 10-7 at the break.

The Blue Flame got the ball first to start the second half and looked to build on the momentum. Instead, following a penalty, fullback Gunner Covey fumbled. The ball then bounced for several seconds, with both teams getting chances for the recovery that Daniel’s Bru Nimmons finally fell on at the Blue Flame 20.

“That was huge, as it gave them a score and momentum coming out of the locker room,” Boggs said. “But there was a lot of football left, and the kids battled back and took the lead. My hat’s off to Daniel. Their kids fought hard, too. Every game in this region is just as important as the other one. We won’t dwell on this too long. We’re very disappointed right now, and it will take a few days to get over, but the good news is that we don’t practice tomorrow and we don’t practice Sunday. We’ll do it on Monday and we’ll bounce back. These kids will be ready to go. These kids will bounce back. They do it every week.”

Two plays later, Batson hit Scott for a score on a slant pattern from 10 yards out, making it 14-10 with 10:36 left in the quarter.

“You think we get a turnover and have got a chance to score right there. We get a good pass to CJ and we take the lead and we think we’re in good shape,” Robinson said. “They kept grinding the football. Coach Boggs and his staff did a good job of running the ball against our defense.”

The Blue Flame offense had trouble early in the second half, similar to issues the week prior against Seneca. Stegall was sacked by Chris Barnes for a 12-yard loss on third down, forcing a punt.

Daniel reached the Pickens 31 following a Batson-to-Groomes connection for 16 yards, but, on the next play, Robert Jones stepped in front of Batson’s pass in the flats for the pick, giving Pickens the ball back.

Again, the Lions defense held, forcing a punt, this one of 62 yards by Gravely into the end zone. The Lions went to work, as Batson found Swinney for 20, and then on third and five, Batson hit Groomes streaking down the Daniel sideline for a 55-yard scoring strike. Sherrill’s kick made it 21-10 with 3:41 left in the third quarter.

The Blue Flame came back. Thomas had a 51-yard kickoff return, and a late-hit penalty spotted the ball at the Lions’ 30. Pickens went to a direct-snap formation to Thomas, and 10 plays later, Covey took it behind right guard Trevor Gillespie and tackle Croley for the one-yard score. Stegall was stopped on the two-point conversion run by Peter Cote and Avery Conrad, keeping the score 21-16 with 10:24 left.

The Blue Flame defense got the ball right back, as two plays later Batson was again picked off by Blythe at the Lions 30.

Five plays later, Covey scored from four yards out, again going behind the right side of the line. The Blue Flame again went for two, and Stegall hit Covey with a pass making it 24-21 Blue Flame with 7:53 left in the game.

Back came the Lions behind Batson, the sophomore quarterback. He scrambled for 12 and then took a run for 43 to the Pickens 25. Four plays later, facing first and 20, he hit Groomes, who made a sliding catch between two defenders with 6:18 left, making it 28-24.

“We can’t ask for any more out of a sophomore quarterback,” Robinson said. “We’ve got to have more guys around him doing more things. We had some issues up front that we didn’t anticipate. We had to fix those, and by then we had some other mistakes made. It was disappointing this late in the season to be making fundamental errors.”

The Lions forced another punt, this one of 61 yards. But, again, the Blue Flame defense came up huge. Croley sacked Batson, and then on third and 13, Covey tipped Batson’s pass and Clark had it in his grasp for a second at the 4-yard line before it fell to the ground.

Following a punt, Pickens took over at the Daniel 42. On third down, Stegall’s fade pass to Ferguson was picked off in the left corner by Scott with 1:33 left.

The Blue Flame defense held and forced another punt, this one of only 19 yards.

Pickens took over at the Daniel 31 with 29.4 seconds left. Daniel was guilty of pass interference and then a late-hit penalty, putting the ball at the Lions’ 9-yard line. Stegall ran out of bounds for a three-yard loss on first down. His second-down pass to Sam Lawson was caught out of bounds. With one second remaining, Stegall tried to hit Covey, but the pass fell incomplete. Pickens felt there was contact, but there was no flag.

“This team is just different than any Daniel team I’ve had,” Robinson said. “We rise and fall so quickly. You get to the point where you know exactly what you’re going to get. This team, we can win a State championship one week and lose to an 0-10 team the next. We’re very inconsistent.”

Pickens will at Palmetto Friday night in a game that could determine an at-large state playoff berth. Daniel will travel to Walhalla.

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