Hartsville falls in Key Region Matchup with South Florence
By Don Gearhart
In a marquise matchup between Region favorites, the Red Foxes from Hartsville invaded the Bruins den at South Florence. Hartsville received the opening kickoff and wasted little time. Starting at their 39, the Red Foxes mixed up rushing and passing in putting together an eight-play drive that finished when McKendrie Douglas punched the ball in from a yard out with 9:49 left in the first quarter. Jude Williams split the uprights on the PAT attempt to give the visitors an early 7-0 lead. South Florence was held without a first down and punted from their own 21. With good field position, the Red Foxes managed to reach the Bruins 37 when a perfectly thrown fourth down pass was dropped in the endzone with 6:07 left. With Zion Gilbert carrying most of the load, the Bruins put together a nine-play drive of their own with Syree Livingston capping the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. Evan Holland tied the score with his PAT kick with 1:56 left. Hartsville started their next drive on their own 20 and moved the ball to the South Florence 26 before the end of the first quarter. The big play on that drive was a 33-yard pass from Douglas to EJ Smith.
Carmello McDaniel opened up second quarter action with a 19-yard scamper to the Bruins 7, then scored from seven yards out on the next play. Williams kicked the PAT to make the score 14-7 in favor of Hartsville with only 18 seconds off the clock. If you blinked, you would have missed the 87-yard kickoff return by Quincey Rhodes, Jr. And, eight seconds later, the score was tied when Holland’s kick sailed through the uprights. South Florence tried to surprise Hartsville by attempting an onsides kick but were flagged when they were offsides on the play. The ensuing kickoff put the ball on Hartsville’s 36. A 15-yard completion from Douglas to Smith and a critical fourth-and-six quarterback draw by Douglas moved the ball just outside the redzone. From there, Hakeem Watters rushed twice, the second one a 10-yard score and Williams kick made the score 21-14 with 9:55 left in the half. Rhodes, Jr. almost did it again. He fielded the kickoff at his own 2 and took it to the house. But, South Florence was called for holding and were backed up to the Hartsville 41. Facing a fourth-and-seven from the Red Foxes 23, Bryan McCartt lofted a pass to a wide-open Raleigh Jett and Holland made the score 21-21 on a perfect kick with 7:14 left. Hartsville had to punt on their next possession and South Florence coughed up a fumble on their next try. On the Red Foxes next series, a tipped pass was picked off by Jeremiah Mitchell and returned to the Hartsville 19. After consecutive rushes from Gilbert moved the sticks, McCartt found Fielder Gibson all alone in the endzone to move the Bruins in front for the first time at 28-21 with just 1:03 left until halftime.
As the teams headed for the field house halfway through the game, those in attendance wondered if this was one of those games where whichever team had the ball last would come out on top. The Bruins received the second half kickoff and marched to the Red Foxes 24-yard line in seven plays that were marred by three false starts by the hosts. With fourth-and-long, Holland’s 41-yard field goal attempt bounced back from the goal post crossbar and Hartsville took over at their own 20. Two plays later the crowd went silent as McDaniels suffered a vicious hit and lay motionless on the field. After 25 minutes of somber reflection by the fans and medical staff attention on the field, McDaniels was transported by ambulance to the hospital. The situation appeared to deflate the Red Foxes and after a bad snap cost them eleven yards the wrong way, a Douglas pass in the flats was anticipated by Cameron Coe who intercepted and returned the ball 43 yards for a touchdown with 4:16 left in the third quarter. Holland went 5-5 in the place-kicking chores to up the Bruins lead to 35-21. On Hartsville very next series, another Douglas pass was picked off by Kemonte Rose who returned the ball forty yards to the Red Foxes 27. Gilbert did the rest, carrying four straight times to score on a 1-yard dive with 1:32 left. Holland once again added the PAT to bring the score to 41-21. Hartsville ran off five plays from scrimmage to end the quarter at the South Florence 39.
The Red Foxes snapped off four more plays before a 12-yard completion from Douglas to Smith ended in a lost fumble. Both teams failed to advance past a single first down and punted. With 6:13 to play South Florence began at the Hartsville 48. It took seven plays, all rushes by Latrelle McClary, to dent the scoreboard for the final time. McClary’s one-yard plunge with 2:27 left in the game was finished by Holland’s seventh extra point and gave the Bruins the 49-21 win.
Before his injury, McDaniel rushed 16 times for 68 yards. Watters was the leading rusher for the Red Foxes with 83 yards on 14 carries. Douglas was 12-22 for 181 yards and three interceptions. Half of his completions were to Smith for 111 yards. The Bruins were led by Gilbert who toted the ball 17 times for 130 yards. Jett complemented that effort with 63 yards on 12 carries.
While McDaniel’s condition now is uncertain, it is hoped that this young man recovers in full health. It would be a shame that this talented student athlete cannot continue his senior season at some point in the season.
