Recapping Week 6 High School Football Action
Controversial call hurts Laney's upset bid; Silver Bluff continues dominant run; Greenbrier and Augusta Christian earn blowout wins; and Blackville-Hilda looks to regroup
The road warriors of Laney came up just short Friday in an attempt to earn their third win away from home against top a 10 opponent this season. Putnam County’s Cedrion Brundage scored from 3 yards out with 2:06 remaining, and Chase Upton followed with an interception to seal a 13-6 region win over the Wildcats. #10 Putnam County improved to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in class 2A, region 4 play after toppling Westside (3-2, 1-1) and Laney (3-2, 1-1) in consecutive weeks.
Despite the narrow loss, all signs point towards Laney’s continuing improvement. Putnam County’s 195 rushing yards only resulted in two scores as Laney’s athletic defense was able to hold Putnam’s high scoring offense (42 ppg in the first 4 games) to its lowest point total of the season. The unit is powered by the likes of team captain Kalon Curry, a 6’4” and 190-pound defensive end. And Laney’s balanced offensive attack was nearly enough to pull off the upset as the Wildcats gained 122 yards on the ground and 114 in the air to make the total yardage comparison between the teams (Putnam County - 248 and Laney - 236) almost dead even.
Sanders Fits it into the Smallest of Openings
The Wildcats scored first when junior quarterback Keshaun Sanders gunned an 11-yard touchdown pass over the head of a linebacker that found senior Julian Harrison, who extended his arms high into the air to reel in the bullet pass while a War Eagle cornerback tugged his jersey from behind.
Later in the second quarter Laney appeared to be on the verge of scoring another touchdown when the Wildcats became the victim of what their faithful fans believe was a questionable series of decisions by the officials. It started when Sanders again threaded the needle between a linebacker and a pair of defensive backs to hit Carl Holmes for what appeared to be a 20-yard completion and a first-and-goal at the Putnam County 5-yard line. Holmes was absolutely rocked immediately after the catch by a War Eagle DB, and the film gives credibility to the argument that a targeting call might have been appropriate.
To be fair, neither the clip above nor the one from a different angle directly below conclusively show whether the hit was made with the helmet or the shoulder pad of the defender. Those who saw it live from Laney’s side have no doubt a penalty was warranted, of course.
But the absence of a targeting flag isn’t what had Wildcat fans steaming mad. What had them most angry is that, as the video seems to make clear, no flag was thrown anywhere on the field until at least a moment after the tackle was made deep in Putnam County’s secondary. Well, at some point after the play was dead a flag did appear. Surprisingly, after the referees huddled an offensive holding penalty was assessed on Laney, turning what would have been a first-and-goal at the 5 into a first-and-26 on the 40-yard line. That along with the fact that Laney reportedly suffered 125 yards in penalties to only 30 for Putnam County fueled the belief that the home field advantage was very much a factor in Friday’s result.
Holmes is One Tough Sophomore
Sanders completed 13 of 19 passes for 114 yards and 1 touchdown while rushing for another 50 yards. Holmes logged 4 receptions for 54 yards and showed his toughness by immediately popping straight up to his feet after receiving the vicious hit on what would have been his most impactful reception of the game, had it not been called back.
Progress for Greenbrier and Augusta Christian in Payback Wins
Another region game brought another “hat trick” of sorts Friday for Greenbrier junior Malik Leverett, who is probably the area’s most attractive college prospect. The 6’2” and 190-pound receiver, running back, defensive back and occasional QB scored touchdowns receiving, running and passing for the second straight week in the Wolfpack’s 44-6 home win over Walnut Grove. The victory gave Greenbrier (2-3, 1-1) this season’s first win at home as well as its first win in class 5A, region 8 action. It also avenged last season’s 21-7 loss on the road against Walnut Grove. Importantly, Greenbrier’s offense managed to play turnover free football after struggling with 9 lost fumbles in the first 4 games of the season.
Greenbrier’s defense made by far its strongest stand of the season, holding Walnut Grove to fewer than 100 total yards after surrendering nearly 34 points per game during the first 4 outings. And as is often the case, the offensive statistics for the Wolfpack jump off the page:
Leverett accounted for 4 touchdowns, including 2 rushing, 1 passing and 1 receiving. He caught 14 passes for 158 yards. The touchdown pass he threw went to Davin Driskell on a 10-yard lob just inside the end zone.
Driskell caught 2 touchdown passes.
Brooks Pangle completed 26 of 40 passes for 287 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Beyond Friday’s game stats…
Leverett’s production has exploded since region play began. A member of our trusty research department submitted these statistics that illustrate the surge in his output:
Leverett’s Receiving Numbers
First 3 games: 9 receptions for 196 yards and 1 touchdown
Last 2 games: 21 receptions for 344 yards and 2 touchdowns
Leverett’s Rushing and Passing Numbers
First 3 games: 1 rushing TD
Last 2 games: 3 rushing and 2 passing TDs
Pangle is the school’s all-time leading passer and easily the best quarterback we’ve watched during our 5 seasons of closely tracking the sport in the area. During Friday’s game he surpassed 4,000 yards after having played only 16 games for the Wolfpack.
Driskell, a 6’6” and 210-pound basketball star of a wide receiver, has hauled in 6 touchdown passes through 5 games, already tripling the number of TD receptions he managed as a junior. He also joins Leverett as the leaders on the defensive side of the ball for the Wolfpack. Also like Leverett, Driskell has received multiple Division I scholarship offers already.
Augusta Christian Rolls Over First Baptist
Augusta Christian continued its now season-and-a-half long ascent towards the top of the South Carolina Independent School Association with a 48-6 win Friday against First Baptist in AC’s home opener. The convincing victory avenged a 23-21 decision last season in Charleston that went to First Baptist even though the game was called off due to weather only seconds before the halftime buzzer would have sounded.
Second year head coach Andy Stickel confirmed in a text late Friday night that it would be accurate to describe the outing as another dominant night rushing for the Lions. Senior Zack Blackwell ran for 4 touchdowns, making it 7 for him in the last two games. Stickel also commended his defense for its second consecutive strong showing after holding Heathwood Hall to negative rushing yards in a region win the Friday before.
The Lions (4-1, 1-0) turned the ball over twice Friday, with one of those miscues happening long after the outcome was in doubt. This marked an improvement from earlier games, when ball security was one of the few problems for Augusta Christian. AC also benefitted from strong showings by both of its junior quarterbacks Jeb Bradford and Grayson Brooker, whom you’ll see spinning it to Border Bowl honoree receivers Mikeal Sullivan and Adam Bussey as well as others in this full highlight reel:
Silver Bluff Remains the Most Dominant Team Around
The hot streak continued for #4 ranked (South Carolina class 2A) Silver Bluff Friday when the Bulldogs blitzed its 4A rival Aiken 34-0. Coach De’Angelo Bryant’s squad, which has started the season 4-0 while outscoring its opponents 157-0, will ride a 7-game winning streak that dates back to last season into Friday’s showdown at home against #9 Wade Hampton (5-0). Luckily my first live look this season at the Bulldogs will be during the region opener in a matchup that should heavily impact playoff seeding.
Blackville-Hilda Looks to Bounce Back
The Hawks suffered their first region loss since 2019 Friday as the defending class 1A, region 3 champion dropped a 30-22 decision to #7 Ridge Spring-Monetta (4-1, 2-0) at home. #6 Blackville-Hilda fell behind by two touchdowns three separate times in the first half. The Hawks responded every time with a rushing touchdown to come within one score of pulling even, but a final attempt to tie it from inside the red zone late in the fourth quarter fell short.
In addition to filing the full game report found at this link, we caught up with third year head coach Brandon Isaac after the game. Isaac lamented “a lot of bone-headed mistakes in the first half,” referring to 3 turnovers that directly led to 16 points for the Trojans.
But Isaac spoke highly of his young team’s perseverance. And he explained what he liked about the performances by junior Omarion Buckmon and sophomore KJ Sabb, two workhorse backs who hit just as hard on defense as they run on offense.
Blackville-Hilda (2-1, 1-1) will try to get back on track Friday on the road against Calhoun County (1-4, 0-1).