By Rocky Nimmons
Publisher

rnimmons@thepccourier.com

BELTON — It is never a good thing to lose for a football team. Sometimes, however, losing can bring rebirth. [cointent_lockedcontent] Sometimes a

heartbreaking loss can pull a team together, and sometimes it makes a team grow up.

On Friday night the Daniel Lions experienced one of those “sometimes,” as they traveled to Belton Honea Path to face the 5-1 Bears on their home turf. Many had written the game off as a loss. Many did, but not the young men wearing Columbia blue and gold and their coaching staff.

The Lions may have been decisive underdogs, but no one told coach Randy Robinson, and as a result, when the whistle was blown at intermission, the Lions were up by 13 points. As the second half started, the two teams battled it out until the game was decided with only nine seconds left. The Lions attempted a two-point conversion that fell short, giving the home-standing Bears a hard-fought 48-47 victory.

“I am just ready for something good to happen for these guys,” Robinson said after the game.

He may have been disappointed with the loss, but not with the way his Lions played.

“If we played like this all year, we might have rolled in here at BHP undefeated,” he said. “I haven’t seen us play like that in a long time. They played with heart and they played together. They did everything we asked.

“We gave our best effort against a great opponent. It is too bad we came up a point short.”

The Lions’ offense was on fire from the very start. Daniel quarterback Ben Batson went 16-of-23 for 289 yards through the air with no interceptions and tacked on 73 yards on 16 carries on the ground. The sophomore signal caller may have played the game of his life, but a tough third quarter cost the Lions, who came out after intermission and were held to three straight three-and-outs that put BHP right back in the game.

“It came down to the offense,” Robinson said. “At halftime, I told them ‘we can’t let up.’ I think halftime slowed our momentum. We had three three-and-outs, and that put the pressure back on the defense.”

The game started with the Lions scoring fast on an eight-play, 73-yard drive. The series saw Batson hitting wide receiver Will Swinney with a couple of passes for 16 yards and picking up 21 yards on a nice run. Running back Stephon Kirksey also contributed with four carries for 22 yards. The touchdown came when Batson, facing second and 10 from the 13, found receiver Carter Groomes open in the end zone. The combination would prove to be there all night for the duo. Lion kicker Rivers Sherrill nailed the PAT with 8:52 to play in the first to give the Lions a 7-0 lead.

The Bears answered like a flash after the ensuing kickoff. It only took a pair of plays for BHP running back Juwan Abney to get into the end zone. Abney picked up 10 on the first carry, then 57 on the second for a touchdown only 29 seconds after the Lions had scored. BHP kicker Lance Jones was true on the PAT to knot the game at 7-7.

The Daniel offense sputtered the next time it had the ball and forced the Lions to call on Justin Craig to punt. The kick was shanked, only covering 16 yards, giving the Bears great field position at midfield.

Again BHP’s offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage. In five plays, the Bears took the lead on a 10-yard run by quarterback Kameron Burton with 3:34 to play in the first quarter. Jones added the PAT, making the score 14-7.

It was the Lions’ turn to strike fast. The next time they had the pigskin, Robinson’s troops hit paydirt on a single play. Batson aired it out again to Groomes, and the sure-handed receiver hauled it in and raced 68 yards for a touchdown 18 seconds after the Bears’ last points. Sherrill’s extra point tied the game back up at 14-14.

The next points in the contest again came on a short drive. Starting at the BHP 46, the Bears produced a two-play series in which Abney pick up five on the first snap, followed by a read-option by Burton that caught the Lions by surprise. The play went 41 yards for a score. Jones split the uprights with 11:02 to play in the half, and the Bears were back out front 21-14.

Following the BHP score, the Lions played as well as they have all season as a team. The defense stiffened and the offense went into beast mode, scoring three touchdowns in about eight minutes.

The first was the result of a great kickoff return by Dante Gilliard that gave the Lions the ball at the BHP 33-yard line. A steady diet of Batson and Kirksey on the ground hammered the Bear defense. The final play saw Batson blast in from a yard out with 7:56 to play in the half. Sherrill had his kick blocked, making the score 21-20 in favor of BHP.

The Bears looked to be on the move the next time they had the ball, pushing it 32 yards in seven plays. On the eighth snap, however, the Lions were ready, as C.J Scott came hard on a corner blitz and blindsided Burton, making the quarterback cough up the ball. Lion defensive end T.J. Reese scooped up the bouncing ball and advanced the rock to the Bear 42.

Batson and company came on after the big defensive play and marched the distance in only two snaps — the first a two-yard toss from Batson to wide out Jacob Wichelns and the second a 40-yard pass and catch from Batson to Gilliard. The touchdown came with 4:12 to play in the half. Sherrill nailed the PAT, and the Lions were rolling, up 27-21.

The Lion defense, led by Reese and sophomore line backer Jake Venables, didn’t allow the Bears a first down the next time they had the ball and forced them to punt the ball away from their own 18.

Following a Jacob Maloney fair catch, Daniel was back in business at its own 47-yard line. The Daniel offense again looked like a well-oiled machine. Batson hit Groomes for 37 yards on first down. The final three plays were all Batson as the quarterback picked up three with his legs, followed by two tosses to Groomes — the first for eight yards and the second for the final three yards and a score. Sherrill was true on the PAT, and the Lions were way out front 34-21 as the half ended.

As the second half started, Daniel looked like it was going to pick up where it left off, as Maloney picked off a Bear pass on BHP’s first possession.

The tide turned, however, as the Bears looked to have made some adjustments at intermission, and forced the Lions into three-and-outs on their first three drives of the half, while BHP found the end zone on three straight possessions to claim a 41-34 lead with only 8:21 to play.

The excitement was about to get going, as with only two minutes left to play, the Lions evened the score at 41-41 on an 88-yard drive. Batson looked like a seasoned pro on the series, hitting his first three passes. On the first snap, he hit Wichelns for eight yards, followed by a 17-yard strike to Jamarcus Black and a 16-yard toss to Swinney. Batson then called his own number and picked up five yards. He followed the run by hitting Groomes for 15 yards down to the BHP 22-yard line.

With time ticking away, Batson looked like a man possessed, going around left end and fighting his way in for a score with two minutes to play. Sherrill added the PAT, and the game was again tied at 41-41.

Daniel kicked off praying for a defensive stop, but that was not to be as the explosive Bear offense knew it was do-or-die time. Starting at its own 28, BHP pushed to the 47 on three plays. Then Burton went up with a desperation heave. Jake Hilberts was racing along the sideline and was covered like a glove by Daniel’s Malik Watts. Hilberts somehow found a way to make a one-handed grab, stay inbounds and go the distance for a 59-yard score with 41 seconds to play. Jones added the PAT as all hope seemed lost for the Lions, who trailed 48-41.

Robinson and the Lions were not done yet — they still had one last chance to get the ball. Following the kickoff, the Lions had the ball with only seconds left at their own 38. Batson raced for 15 yards on first down. He then tossed an incomplete pass toward Groomes to stop the clock. A false start call pushed Daniel back five yards to the Bear 48. Facing second and 15, Batson took the snap, stepped back into the pocked and slung a pass way downfield. Scott, who was at wide receiver, looked to be playing center field and ran under the ball, making the grab at the Bear 4-yard line. Once the ball was set up, Batson took the snap and raced to the left, diving in for a touchdown with only nine seconds left.

Robinson and the staff huddled and decided that they would win or lose on the next snap and elected to go for a two-point conversion.

The play was a quick toss to Groomes on a screen, but pressure up the middle forced an early throw and the game ended with a heartbreaking 48-47 loss for the Lions.

“We actually talked before the second-to-last drive,” Robinson said. “If we made it we would kick the extra point, and we did. Then they hit the bomb and then we hit the bomb. Then we voted as a staff to go for a two-point conversion, because the play was actually open the play before. We thought we had the right play. We just got a little pressure on Ben and we didn’t get the ball there.”

The game, even in a loss, improved the Lions’ team in many ways, according to Robinson.

“The kids don’t understand, and very few people understand, that it is about making men out of boys,” Robinson said. “What you saw tonight — the heart and the determination — that is Daniel football. That is why it has always been special and why it gives you a lot of wins. Now, we did not get the win tonight, but we had a winning effort.”

The Lions are now in a spot they have not seen in years, as they must win at least two of their next three games to make the playoffs, with the Pickens Blue Flame coming to Singleton Field this week.

“We played offensively about as well as we could in the first half,’ Robinson said. “We had 34 points at the half, and that is pretty good. I am disappointed we didn’t get a win for our kids.

“We have three weeks left and we have to win some games to get into the playoffs. If we play the next three weeks like we played tonight, this team will get into the playoffs, and we will be a formidable opponent.

“There was a lot to take from this game, but when Sunday comes we have to turn toward Pickens and get ready to play a physical team. Pickens runs the ball real well, too, and they pick up a lot of yards.”

[/cointent_lockedcontent]