A look back at where Darlington stands coming off the bye
By Drake Horton, Contributing Writer
The Darlington Falcons wrapped up its week off from competition this week and now will set its eyes on a region road game this week against the Lakewood Gators.
Currently 1-6 overall and 0-1 in the region, the Falcons have very little room for error with only three region games left for the season if they want any chance to make the playoffs.
It starts this Friday in Sumter against Lakewood before Darlington travels back home for the last home game of the year against Lugoff-Elgin. The Falcons end the regular season on the road against one of their biggest rivals, the Hartsville Red Foxes.
But before we get ahead of ourselves about these next three football games let us take a moment to look back and see just how the Falcons got here.
Cheraw 51, Darlington 19
Opening the game on the road, Darlington kept the game close for about a quarter with the Falcons trailing only 14-6 after a quarter of play. Those six points, however, were all Darlington would score until late in the fourth quarter when Cheraw had its second string defense on the field.
Wilson 37, Darlington 14
This game might go down as the game of missed opportunities. The Falcons were 0-4 in the red zone in the first half and turned the ball over way too many times. Fourth down defense was also a problem as the Tigers converted at least one fourth down on three of the five touchdown drives of the game.
Lamar 57, Darlington 6
This was by far the worst game of the year for the Falcons. Maybe it was because the game was moved up to Thursday because of weather, but regardless Darlington looked like it never got off the bus. Right from the start Lamar did anything it wanted.
Marlboro County 40, Darlington 7
After starting on the road for the first three games of the season, the Falcons were able to play their first home game of the year. While the Falcons Nest might be friendly confines for Darlington it was also pretty cozy for the Bulldogs who were up 40-0 at half.
Darlington 36, Lake City 8
This game was a breath of fresh air. After two poor performances against Lamar and Marlboro County, Darlington put together a complete, dominating game against the Panthers in front of home crowd cruising to its first win of the season.
South Florence 28, Darlington 27
This was definitely the most exciting game of the year and it might be one of the most exciting games I have ever covered for Darlington, especially when it comes to how it ended. Down by seven, quarterback Brian Robinson connected with Jordan English for the seven-yard touchdown to bring the Falcons to within one as time expired on the clock.
With momentum riding and the game not effecting Darlington in any way towards making the playoffs the Falcons rolled and went for two to try to win the game. Robinson’s pass was broken up and the comeback was stopped just one point short.
Crestwood 26, Darlington 0
This game had an oddity to it. Darlington’s defense played pretty good, but so did Crestwood’s. The Falcons were able to move ball offensively between the 20s at times, but it was never able to do anything after that.
Also it did not help the offense that Robinson was knocked out of the game midway in the second quarter, but as Darlington head coach John Jones has always said it is the next man up and excuses cannot be made.
This game was the first game of the region and it was the most important game up to date. The loss put Darlington behind the eight ball when it comes to making the playoffs. In a region with only five teams, the margin for error is very slim.
Darlington @ Lakewood, Friday.
This is who the Falcons play this week and this is who the Falcons have to beat if they want to make the playoffs.
While a loss does not necessarily eliminate Darlington from playoff contention it puts the Falcons needing to win both the Lugoff-Elgin and Hartsville game, a tall task to ask for any team, let alone a team as young as the Darlington is this season.
