By Ben Robinson
Staff Reporter

brobinson@thepccourier.com

LAURENS — After an open week to prepare, Easley went on the road[cointent_lockedcontent]

Tommy McGaha/Courier
Easley’s Will Drawdy, seen here trying to shrug off a Wren tackler during their game earlier this month, scored a game-tying touchdown on a 72-yard pass at Laurens on Friday night, but the Raiders pulled away for a 27-14 win.

to Laurens to open its Region I-AAAA schedule on Friday night, but crucial mistakes plagued the Green Wave in a 27-14 loss.

Easley outgained the Raiders offensively — racking up 434 yards compared to Laurens’ 420 — but four lost fumbles, turnovers on downs and penalties doomed the Green Wave.

After battling back from a 14-0 deficit to tie the game in the third quarter, Easley had a golden opportunity to claim its first lead after the Green Wave defense recovered a Laurens fumble two plays later. However, Easley’s drive stalled at the Laurens 22-yard line, where the Wave turned the ball over on downs.

After Laurens responded with a one-play touchdown drive but missed an extra point, Easley again had a prime opportunity to take the lead, but another drive into Raider territory ended on downs after a first down and goal from the 10-yard line ended up in a fourth down and goal from the 30-yard line due to a penalty and two quarterback sacks.

The Raiders again scored on the very next play, and Easley missed another chance to put points on the board when Carter Wiles caught a long pass from Dalton Black but had the ball knocked from his grasp and go out of bounds in the end zone, giving Laurens the ball with a touchback.

Easley’s last possession of the game also ended in a turnover on downs.

In addition to the lost fumbles and turnovers on downs, the Wave were penalized 13 times for 100 yards in the game.

Laurens opened the scoring in the first quarter when Kezario Whitmore found the end zone from four yards out. Irvin Angeles’ extra point gave the Raiders a 7-0 lead with 7:10 to play in the first.

Whitmore, who finished the night with 153 receiving yards on six catches, got the Raiders on the board again in the second quarter on a 24-yard pass from Toby Jackson with 11:11 to play in the opening half, putting Laurens up 14-0.

Bralan Fuller finally got the Green Wave on the board on a 27-yard reception from Black in the final offensive minute of the first half. The extra point attempt was blocked, leaving the Green Wave trailing 14-6 at halftime.

Easley knotted the game at 14-14 on its second possession of the third quarter when Will Drawdy caught a pass from Black and sprinted 72 yards for a touchdown with 4:44 left on the clock. Black hooked up with Wiles for the game-tying two-point conversion.

After Laurens fumbled the ball back to Easley and the Green Wave came up short on a fourth-down play at the Raider 22-yard line, Laurens regained the lead for good when Jackson hooked up with Whitmore for a 78-yard touchdown with 1:59 to play in the third quarter. Angeles’ PAT attempt was no good, giving Laurens a 20-14 lead and leaving the door open for the Wave.

Easley drove to the Raiders’ red zone before being pushed back and failing on a fourth and goal from the 30-yard line, and Laurens struck quickly again, with D.Q. Floyd taking a handoff 70 yards to paydirt on the first play of the next series. Floyd finished the night with 155 yards on 17 carries.

Easley’s final chance to come back came when Black connected with Wiles for a short pass that appeared to transform into a long touchdown, but before Wiles reached the end zone, Laurens’ Zed Anderson knocked the ball out of his possession and out the back of the end zone for a touchback.

The teams had differing offensive philosophies, as Easley aired the ball out, with Black completing 17 of 33 passes for 368 yards and the Raiders running 43 times for 262 yards, but the crucial mistakes made the difference in the game.

Leading receivers for the Green Wave were Wiles with seven catches for 150 yards, Drawdy with two catches for 102 yards, and Fuller with five catches for 94 yards.

With the loss, Easley will now travel to T.L. Hanna looking for its first region win on Friday night.

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