‘Canes Lose Tough One in State Playoffs
The Canes had a very spirited crowd that traveled all the way down to Sylvania, to come and cheer them on. Despite the incredibly cold weather, the Canes showed up and so did the fans.
The Canes fought hard the entire game, as they did the entire season, Coach Huff mentioned. Unfortunately, we came up just six points shy of advancing to the next round. I think the Canes just simply ran out of time, with the final score being 20-14, Screven County Gamecocks on top.
Coach Huff also said, “If you knew anything about football, then you would say, it was a heck of a football game, I wish we would have come out on top, but I’m extremely proud of the boys.”
The captains for the evening were seniors Garrison Williams, Xavier Gude, Quincy Standifer, and Walt McMichael. The Canes were most definitely outnumbered, but that wasn’t a problem for the Canes.
The Canes chose to defer to the second half, which led to McMichael making the first tackle of the game on the opening kickoff. The Canes applied early pressure to the Screven County Gamecocks with a forced fumble early on, with the Gamecocks recovering. Gude and Standifer were on big tackles to start the game for the Canes.
Unfortunately, the Gamecocks converted on a third down, which moved them further down the field. Jordan Stewart didn’t back down, and came up with a huge tackle in the backfield, which gave the Canes some huge defensive momentum. Not too long after, Jordan Stone and Williams were on a few tackles forcing the Gamecocks to be in a tough 3rd down situation. With about four minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Gamecocks put up the first score on the board with a short run by their powerful running back. After a made field goal, the Gamecocks were up 7-0.
The Canes came right back at them, on the return with sophomore Matthew Lawson on a big return, who brought it out 70 yards for the Canes, which put them in great scoring position. Unfortunately, the Gamecocks defense was ready and forced the Canes to go four and out, and turn the ball over on downs. The Canes defense was definitely awake all night, and made a huge presence throughout the whole game. The defensive line was extremely hot the whole night. Just before the first quarter ended, Colton Clay and Jamaric Bonner were both on two big tackles.
To start the second quarter, the Canes defensive presence was still in action, with Stewart on the tackle and also forced fumble, which led to a Canes recovery. The Canes recovered the ball around the six yard line, which made it very easy for a score. Stone punched it in for a score, after Standifer gave a strong run. A made field goal by Bryce Crawford, tied the game 7-7, at the top of the second quarter. There wasn’t really anymore offensive movement for either team in the remainder of the half. Except for a big pass reception by the Gamecocks which put them in Canes territory.
The Gamecocks were in perfect scoring position, but the Canes “hunkered” down and came up with a big stop. Standifer led that stop with a big third down sack, which forced the Gamecocks to bring out their field goal unit. And Standifer came up big once again, with a blocked field goal, his first of two from the game.
The Canes got the ball back, but unfortunately the Gamecocks applied great pressure once more, and forced the Canes to punt.
Shortly after, Stewart was on a big tackle, which led Stone, who made a tackle in the backfield, which resulted in a long third and 12. The Gamecocks chose to go for it on 4th down, but was stopped by the Canes. The Canes had about two minutes to punch it in the end zone before the half expired. Stone and Johnson ran the ball collectively for a first down. Unfortunately, the Canes fell short of a touchdown in the last few minutes. But Despite the score, the Canes held the Gamecocks scoreless minus the first drive of the game. The Canes went into halftime very confident with a tied score of 7-7.
The Canes came out after the half, and received the ball, with Lawson who brought it out to the 40 yard line. Shortly after, the Canes were forced to punt. The Canes couldn’t really get any offensive movement throughout the game. But the defense helped balanced that for the Canes. Every time the Gamecocks would get some offensive movement, the Canes defense came up big with great plays. Chris Anglin was on a big tackle in backfield, which forced a long third and nine. Shortly after, Standifer came up with a tackle.
The Gamecocks chose to go for it on 4th down, while in the Canes territory around the 15 yard line. Lawson came up big with an interception, and gave the Canes back the ball. Shortly after, Thomas Deraney and Stone rushed for a couple first downs for the Canes. Some say this game was a nail bitter, and made you forget about the weather. And this was when all those effects started to really kick in.
The Canes were tied 7-7 entering the 4th quarter, and sadly forced to punt 30 seconds into the quarter. One play changed the entire game for the Canes, and gave the Gamecocks tremendous amount of momentum. After a big run made by their running back as he brought it all the way down to the 15, and being knocked out of bounds by Lawson. The Gamecocks scored on a short run, which put them up 13-7. Standifer came up with a block, which was his second of the game.
The Canes were quickly running out of time, and were trying their best to march the ball down field. The Canes were at mid field, and it was a big third down for the Canes. Deraney found Standifer, who quickly got the first down, but after a tremendous defensive play by the Gamecocks, Standifer was stripped and the Gamecocks recovered with about three minutes remaining.
With the Gamecocks having lots of momentum they drove the ball downfield. However there was still great tackles made by Gude, Williams, Standifer, and John Davis. The Gamecocks scored once more with about 2 minutes remaining, and with a made field goal, they went up 20-7. The Canes didn’t stop fighting just yet. Deraney worked hard at finding Lawson for two big first down receptions. Shortly after, Deraney hit McMichael for a score. The field goal was made by Crawford, and the Canes trailed with about 45 seconds remaining.
The Canes tried for an onside kick, unfortunately, the Gamecocks recovered, and basically held the ball out for the remainder of the game. The Canes fell short 20-14 in the State Playoffs against the Screven County Gamecocks. “We did a great job of competing all night, and did very well on executing on offense and defense, Despite the loss, I couldn’t be more proud of them, said Coach Huff.”
In spite of the loss the Canes have every right to keep their head up high. After a great win against the Morgan County Bulldogs, who we hadn’t beaten in 30 years and to top things off, making the State Playoffs which we hadn’t done in 15 years! It’s been an extremely great and history making season.
Coach Huff said, “It’s been a lot of fun and also been a great experience for the players and coaches. I really appreciate Xavier Gude, Quincy Standifer, Garrison Williams, Walt McMichael, and Lane Thomas, the seniors of the team for laying down the foundation. Extremely proud of the team for making the playoffs, it’s been a long 15 years. I’m also greatly appreciative of the amount of fans that came to support us last Friday, it spoke highly of the kind of community we have. I’m definitely going to miss the seniors, but we have a lot of talent coming back next year and a lot to look forward too.”