PHOTO AND VIDEO GALLERY: Dillon Christian School Football Team Wins State Title

By Craig Brown
The Dillon Christian School Warriors defeated the Colleton Prep Academy War Hawks, 42-0, Saturday in Columbia at Benedict College to claim the SCISA division 1A State Championship. This is the Warriors third state title, and their first undefeated season at 13-0. It was also the first time that the Warriors have defeated the War Hawks.
The Warriors wanted to make a statement, and they played their hearts out with many players having their best game of the season.
Benedict hosted the SCISA division 2A at 12:30 with 1A playing at 3:30 and division 3A following at 6:30. It was apparent to fans in attendance that the Warriors were stronger than the 2A teams that played earlier.
The Warriors struck early with quarterback Michael Minges hitting wide receiver Tyreke Toomer with a 51-yard touchdown pass. Gage Bazemore added the point after kick to put the Warriors up 7-0 with 11:02 in the first quarter.
A defensive battle was waged the remainder of the quarter with the quarter closing with the Warriors up 7-0. The hard-hitting battle continued until late in the second quarter with Minges breaking the stalemate on a 61-yard touchdown run breaking several tackles on the way. Bazemore’s kick upped the Warrior lead to 14-0 with 4:13 left in the second quarter.
On the War Hawks next possession, the hard-hitting Warrior defense forced a fumble with Warrior defensive back Demontez Alford scooping the ball up and returning it 17 yards for the touchdown. Bazemore’s point after kick increased the Warrior lead to 21-0 with 4:02 left in the second quarter with the first half ending with this score.
The Warriors made a few mistakes early in the start of the third quarter but finally got it together with Minges finishing a long drive handing off to running back Diaz Alexander for a four yard touchdown run. Bazemore’s kick was on target to give the Warriors a 28-0 lead with 5:18 left in the third quarter with the quarter ending with this score.
It has been several weeks since the Warriors began the fourth quarter with the clock not being run without stoppage but the Warriors showed no signs of tiring.
On the Warriors first possession of the fourth quarter Minges broke away from several would be tacklers for a 62 yard touchdown run. Bazemore’s kick put the Warriors out front 35-0 with 10:51 left in the fourth quarter.
With 8:31 left in the fourth quarter, the Warriors put together a solid drive that ended with Minges hitting Alexander with a four yard touchdown pass.
The wind blue hard and erratic Saturday at Benedict’s Tiger Stadium and made it hard on the kicking game but Bazemore found a way to get the ball through the goal post uprights 6 of 6 times to give the Warriors the 42-0 lead.
Both sides decided to play reserves at this point in the game to give young players game experience and not add further to the lopsided score. It had been seven long years since the Warriors won the big game and nothing was going to wipe the smiles from their faces.
It was very cold on the field but the Warriors were not going to let Coach Christian Wolfe get away without the traditional Gator Aide bath.
It was days like this that many coaches wished the old days were back when the players carried the coach off the field after a big win.
Coach Wolfe smiled and said we won in his post-game interview then added that these were some of the finest young men he had ever coached. They did not know how to quit and that is why we won.
On offense for the Warriors, Michael Minges was 10 of 14 passing for 153 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 213 yards on 11 carries with two touchdowns, Diaz Alexander had 88 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown and caught a four yard TD pass, Tyreke Toomer caught four passes for 109 yards with a touchdown and had seven yards rushing on one carry. Jackson Wolfe caught three passes for 23 yards. Luke Price caught two passes for 17 yards, and Garret Collins had one carry for five yards. On Defense, Luke Price had 16 tackles, two assists with a fumble recovery and an interception, Walt Bailey and Garret Collins had seven tackles two assists each with Collins adding a fumble recovery, Dallas Feeko and Jared Ivey had six tackles two assists each with Ivey adding an interception, Michael Minges and Bryan Davis had five tackles, two assists each with Minges adding a quarterback sack, Diaz Alexander had four tackles three assists, Demontez Alford had four tackles with one assist adding a fumble recovery returned 17 yards for a TD and batted down a pass, Hamilton Hodges and Daniel Camp had three tackles each, Tyreke Toomer and Jared Darmon had two tackles each, Jackson Wolfe, Corbin Wethington, Jacob Dubose, Evan Paul and Collin Hamilton added one tackle each. The Warriors received the traditional police and sheriff’s department escort through town to their school that capped off a wonderful day.

PHOTOS AND VIDEOS
The Dillon Christian School Warriors football team won the state title on Saturday defeating Colleton Prep, 42-0. Below is a gallery of more than 200 photos by Johnnie Daniels/The Dillon Herald and Craig Brown.

PHOTO GALLERY
PHOTOS BY JOHNNIE DANIELS/THE DILLON HERALD AND CRAIG BROWN
Click once on a photo to bring it into a single screen and then again to enlarge.