By Craig Brown
The Dillon Christian School Warriors hosted the Rebels of Thomas Heyward Academy from Jasper County Friday night in a first round playoff game in SCISA division 1A and came away with a 32-14 win.
The game could be described as ugly. It was a damp foggy night with referees having to hold several conferences for decisions on calls with one incident that resulted in the ejection of six players. There would be a lot of pushing and shoving during this game but the incident where the players were ejected had many fans on both sides wanting to know what happened and why.
All that could be seen from this side of the field was a Warrior defender made a sideline tackle that resulted in the players going down near the Rebel bench.
Several players came off the Rebel bench and some appeared to be assaulting a Warrior player. Bodies became piled up and it seemed in one area that two Rebels were holding a Warrior player while another used his fist on the down Warrior.
This looked more like assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature than a game infraction.
Whatever really happened resulted in non-starters from Thomas Heyward being ejected against starters from Dillon Christian School. Warrior Head
Coach Christian Wolfe did a good job in keeping his players on their side of the field while he investigated the incident.
It is hard to watch your teammates getting assaulted without joining in the fight but the results would have been costly for the Warriors with more starters being ejected from the game.
A SCISA rule states that any player ejected from a game cannot play the next week.
The Warriors are hoping the game film will help SCISA officials change their mind in this case. With the games getting tougher the Warriors cannot afford to thin their ranks anymore. Warrior Assistant Coach, Phillip Price vowed to do all he could to get the decision reversed.
On the Warriors first offensive possession, TeShaun Lane finished the drive with a 21 yard touchdown run. The point after kick was blocked holding the Warrior lead to 6-0 with 10:18 left in the first quarter. Michael Minges finished the Warriors next drive with a 46 yard touchdown run on a quarterback keeper play.
Jackson Wolfe added the point after kick to up the Warrior lead to 13-0 with 8:40 left in the first quarter. With 17 seconds left in the first quarter, Rebel defensive tackle, Carson Boyles caught a Warrior back in the end zone for a safety. The quarter would end with the Warriors out front 13-2.
Late in the second quarter the Warriors finished a long drive with Kelvin Stackhouse crossing the goal from two yards out. The kick was off holding the Warrior lead to 19-2 with 4:39 left in the second quarter. The quarter would end with this score.
The Warriors received the kickoff to start the second half of play and on the second play from the line of scrimmage, TeShaun Lane would break several tackles on his way to a 63 yard touchdown run. Wolfe’s point after kick increased the Warrior lead to 26-2 with 10:57 left in the third quarter. The quarter would end with this score.
With 5:55 left in the fourth quarter, Rebel quarterback, Logan Thomas hit Harrison Wall with a 12 yard touchdown pass. The conversion failed holding the Warrior lead to 26-8. The Rebels stopped the Warriors on the Rebel two yard line on the Warriors final offensive drive but fumbled the ball in the end zone where Warrior linebacker Jake Boykin fell on the ball for a Warrior touchdown. The kick was off holding the Warriors to a 32-8 lead with 2:15 left in the game. The Rebels mounted one final drive that finished with Thomas hitting Collin Roach with an eleven yard touchdown pass as time ran out. The conversion failed ending the game with the Warriors taking the 32-14 win.
On offense for the Warriors, TeShaun Lane had 232 yards rushing on 15 carries with two touchdowns and caught a pass for six yards, Michael Minges was 6 of 10 passing for 71 yards and had 55 yards rushing on 13 carries with a touchdown, Kelvin Stackhouse had 83 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown, Jackson Wolfe caught two passes for 29 yards, Red Williams caught a pass for 41 yards and Corbin Wethington caught a pass for two yards.
On defense, Hunter Tyner had 13 tackles, Kelvin Stackhouse had 11 tackles, Jake Boykin had nine tackles, two fumble recoveries with one for a touchdown, one interception and one batted down pass, David Williams had eight tackles with two quarterback sacks and a batted down pass, Ethan Shackelford had five tackles, three assists with two quarterback sacks, Garrett Collins and Noel Miller had four tackles each, TeShaun Lane had three tackles, Michael Minges and Samuel Coleman had two tackles each and Corbin Wethington had a tackle and an interception.
The Warriors will be on the road this week for a second round playoff game with Colleton- Prep. Game time is set for 7:30 and the address is 165 Academy Road in Walterboro.

PHOTOS BY CRAIG BROWN