Silver Bluff cruises past North Charleston into round 2 of Class AAA football playoffs

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Nov. 8—SILVER BLUFF 39, NORTH CHARLESTON 12

PETTICOAT JUNCTION — The Silver Bluff football team knew it was going to face a big test Friday night in the form of North Charleston running back Lorenzo Kitching Jr.

A 1,000-yard rusher and also the Cougars' leading receiver, Silver Bluff knew Kitching was going to get his touches — and his yards — in the teams' first-round Class AAA playoff matchup.

So the Bulldogs made sure no one else got anything.

Silver Bluff countered Kitching's exploits with key defensive stops and score after score on offense, rolling to a 39-12 win and a trip to Dillon for the second round of the playoffs.

"Control what you can control. We had a good game plan," Silver Bluff head coach Matt Hayes said. "My coaching staff did a great job kind of having to stop their running back. He's a special player, explosive guy. We just focused on blocking and tackling, making sure we didn't get misaligned on defense. Offensively, I thought we took care of the ball. Very efficient. Could throw it. Could run it. Very proud of how we performed tonight."

Kitching got his, rushing for 178 yards and adding 24 receiving yards, but the rest of the Cougars (5-5) combined for -12. Meanwhile, Silver Bluff (7-4) leaned on its line to pile up 339 yards of total offense, with four different players rushing for at least one touchdown.

"Offensive line played great," Hayes said. "Those five seniors, the continuity they've got together now — I just told them at halftime, 'We're going to get behind you.' That stable of running backs, and then you've got the ability to throw the football. It was a complete game on offense, defense and on special teams."

Drelyn Brown ran for 135 yards and a touchdown, Dorian Jones rushed for 81 and two scores and also intercepted a pass on defense, and Akeem Walcott and Kendrick Workman bookended the Bulldogs' scoring with five-yard touchdown runs.

Jordan Williams went 8-for-14 passing for 103 yards, with Zean Dicks as his top receiver with five grabs for 70 yards. Regular starting quarterback Trellis Riley caught two passes for 25 yards.

"Blessed. To have a 6-4 backup quarterback, he knows the system," Hayes said of Williams. "Trellis has done a great job. He's still playing quarterback, but he's so dynamic so we moved him to running back. He's playing some defensive back. He wants to play football. Jordan Williams steps right up, commands the offense. That two-minute drill at halftime, does a great job of just commanding the offense, and we're blessed to have him."

Keyaideen Williams terrorized North Charleston quarterback CJ Furby, sacking him twice and also bringing down Kitching in the end zone for a safety that made it 15-6 with under a minute to go in the second quarter — and, after the Cougars were flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the safety that was enforced on the ensuing kick, the Bulldogs were quickly right back in range for JJ Brittain to kick a 36-yard field goal on the last play of the half.

Now ahead 18-6, Silver Bluff came back out of the locker room and went right back to the power rushing attack, with back-to-back dominant drives finding the end zone and giving the Bulldogs a commanding 32-6 lead midway through the third quarter.

Up next for Silver Bluff is a trip to historic state powerhouse Dillon, which beat Fox Creek 49-8 on Friday.

"You can't talk high school football in South Carolina without talking about that program," Hayes said. "They've got great coaches, great players, great tradition. We've had some battles in the past, years ago, but this time in 3A. What a great opportunity. Get on the road, and this time of year players make plays to win. That's what we'll focus on. We're going to have to play well to go down there to Dillon, and we'll see what happens."

NC 0 6 0 6 — 12

SB 7 11 14 7 — 39

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

SB — Akeem Walcott 5 run (JJ Brittain kick) 5:24

Second Quarter

SB — Dorian Jones 11 run (kick blocked) 2:59

NC — Lorenzo Kitching Jr. 42 run (conversion failed) 2:13

SB — Safety, Kitching tackled by Keyaideen Williams in end zone 0:21

SB — Brittain 36 field goal 0:00

Third Quarter

SB — Drelyn Brown 4 run (Brittain kick) 10:17

SB — Jones 14 run (Brittain kick) 6:57

Fourth Quarter

SB — Kendrick Workman 5 run (Brittain kick) 8:36

NC — Kitching Jr. 56 run (conversion failed) 2:15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

NC — Lorenzo Kitching Jr. 19-178-2, Zyquell McClary 3-2, CJ Furby 3-(-15). Totals 25-165-2.

SB — Drelyn Brown 13-135-1, Dorian Jones 7-81-2, Jordan Williams 3-10, Akeem Walcott 1-5-1, Kendrick Workman 2-5-1. Totals 26-236-5.

Passing

NC — CJ Furby 5-12-25-0-1.

SB — Jordan Williams 8-14-103-0-0.

Receiving

NC — Lorenzo Kitching Jr. 2-24, Caleb Wright 1-2, Ta'kari Brown 2-(-1). Totals 5-25.

SB — Zean Dicks 5-70, Trellis Riley 2-25, Drelyn Brown 1-8. Totals 8-103.

Interceptions

SB — Dorian Jones.

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