By Craig Brown
The Dillon Christian School Warriors hopes of returning to the SCISA division 1A state championship game ended Friday night in Walterboro as the Warriors went down 24-19 to the War Hawks of Colleton Prep Academy.
The Warriors end the season with a respectable 9-3 record. The War Hawks will play Robert E. Lee Academy this week in the championship matchup.
The Warriors were weakened with loss of key players to injury, transfer and in my opinion an unfair ruling that demands a player ejected from a game cannot play the next game.
While I am not entirely against this ruling, in the case of the Warriors they lost their star cornerback and sure-handed receiver as a result of an on-field altercation.
Last week some Warriors and players from Thomas Heyward Academy were ejected from the game following an altercation on the field. The problem is that Thomas Heyward receives no further punishment because they were eliminated.
If both sides cannot be punished in the same fashion then the punishment should have ended with the players ejections and not followed into the next week that only affected the Warriors.
There is no way to prove that the Warriors would have won if the ejected player had made the game but the odds would have been better.
The War Hawks got on the score board first when Nick Padgett broke loose for a 70 yard touchdown run. Bryan Murdaugh ran in the conversion to give the War Hawks a 8-0 lead with 11:36 left in the first quarter.
Midway into the first quarter Warrior quarterback Michael Minges picked up a touchdown on a 15 yard run. The kick failed leaving the Warriors trailing 8-6 with 5:35 left in the first quarter.
The remainder of the first half was a defensive battle with the first half ending with the 8-6 War Hawk lead.
On the War Hawks second possession of the third quarter, Murdaugh ended the drive with a 7 yard touchdown run. Murdaugh hit Fisher Jackson with the two point conversion pass to up the War Hawks lead to 16-6 with 7:30 left in the third quarter.
On the Warriors next offensive possession they marched down the field quickly with Kelvin Stackhouse finishing the drive on a one yard touchdown run.
Jackson Wolfe added the point after kick to close the War Hawks lead to 16-13 with 47 seconds left in the third quarter with the quarter ending with this score.
With 3:13 left in the fourth quarter Warrior DB Garrett Collins intercepted a pass and returned it 56 yards for a touchdown.
The point after kick failed but the Warriors had a 19-16 lead. The War Hawks were not to be denied as Murdaugh hit Padgett with a 36-yard touchdown pass with Murdaugh running in the two point conversion with 1:11 left in the game to give the War Hawks the 24-19 lead and win.
On offense for the Warriors, Michael Minges had 87 yards rushing on 16 carries with a touchdown and was 3 of 8 passing for 41 yards with an interception, Kelvin Stackhouse had 77 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown and caught a pass for 5 yards, DeShaun Lane had 64 yards on 11 carries, Tyreke Toomer caught a pass for 31 yards and Corbin Wethington caught a pass for 5 yards.
On defense, Kelvin Stackhouse had eight tackles with a fumble recovery, Garrett Collins had seven tackles, with a interception returned 56 yards for a touchdown, Jake Boykin had five tackles, Michael Minges and Connor Hamilton had four tackles each, Tyreke Toomer and TeShaun Lane had three tackles each, Hunter Tyner had two tackles, David Williams and Samuel Coleman added a tackle each.
The Warriors are to be congratulated on a good nine win season.
If not for a few what-ifs they would likely be playing next week but for now Warrior fans will have to hold their hopes until next year.