By Craig Brown
The Trinity/Byrnes Collegiate School Titans defeated the Dillon Christian School Warriors 41-32 Friday night in Darlington County. Watching the Titan offense was a little like going back in time to the 1960s and 1970s.
The Titan offense was similar to the Marion Swamp Foxes of the early 60s and the Hartsville Red Foxes of the late 60’s and the Paul Chapman Wildcat teams of the early 70s.
These teams were famous for letting the other teams know that they were not going to run trick plays or spread the offense.
We are going to run the ball up the middle, off tackle and around end, stop us if you can. Very few teams could against those teams and the Titans basically dared the Warriors to stop the few offensive plays they had prepared for this game. Titan running back, Javontay Robinson found holes in the Warrior defense all night and Shamar Byrd drug three to four Warrior defenders down the field for big gains on several running plays.
The Titans only passed three times during the game but scored on every offensive possession but one and that was a fumble at the five yard line as the ball was knocked loose from behind just as the runner was crossing the goal line by Ian Patterson and recovered by Garrett Collins.
As defenders are no longer allowed to use their helmets to spear the running backs, it is very difficult to stop a bruising back head on one on one but two or more defenders should be able to stop a running back for little or no gain.
Warrior quarterback Diaz Alexander and running back Demontez Alford proved to be better in the backfield than any of the Titan runners when they were used in that manner, but the Warriors have geared their offense for the pass and the Titan defenders seemed ready for this action holding the Warriors to limited yardage from the air.
When they made it into the Titan secondary Alexander and Alford were hard to stop. Jackson Wolfe, John Rourke and Garrett Collins did make a few good grabs for TDs or good yardage but for the most part the Warrior running game was far more effective than the passing game.
The Warriors played hard and never quit but may have been a little over matched in this contest.
The Titans got on the board first when running back Javontay Robinson crossed the goal line from five yards out. Eddie Buckhouse added the point after kick to put the Titans up 7-0 with 5:35 left in the first quarter.
The quarter would end with this score. On the Titans next offensive possession Robinson ended the drive on a 12 yard touchdown run. Buckhouse’s point after kick upped the Titan lead to 14-0 with 11:55 left in the second quarter.
Demontez Alford broke loose for a 48 yard touchdown run with 10:04 left in the second quarter. The point after kick failed holding the score to 14-6.
When things are going your way even mistakes turn positive as Titan back Brandon Scott fumbled near the goal line only to have team mate Brycen Rogers scoop the ball up and take it in for the touchdown.
The kick failed holding the Titan lead to 20-6 with 4:05 left in the second quarter. With 1:05 left in the first half Jackson Wolfe made a spectacular leaping catch for a 17 yard touchdown.
Gage Bazemore added the point after to close the Titan lead to 20-13 with the first half ending with this score.
On the Titans first possession of the third quarter, Robinson added his third touchdown of the game. Buckhouse’s kick put the Titans up 27-13 with 6:24 left in the third quarter.
The Warriors continued the fight with Alexander crossing the goal line from six yards out on a quarterback keeper. Bazemore’s kick closed the gap to 27-20 with 4:11 in the third quarter with the quarter ending with this score.
On the Titans next offensive possession Shamar Byrd plowed his way to the goal line from four yards out with Warrior defenders hanging on for the ride.
The kick failed holding the Titan lead to 34-20 with 11:54 left in the fourth quarter. Alexander added his second touchdown on a seven yard keeper run.
The kick failed leaving the Titans up 34-26 with 8:39 left in the fourth quarter. Robinson added his fourth TD of the game on a five yard run with Buckhouse’s point after kick giving the Titans a 41-26 lead. Bryan Davis connected with Garrett Collins for a 14 yard touchdown pass with four seconds left in the game. The conversion failed to end the scoring with the Titans getting the 41-32 win. On offense for the Warriors, Diaz Alexander had 137 yards on 10 carries with two touchdowns and had 85 yards passing with a touchdown. Demontez Alford had 114 yards on seven carries with a touchdown and caught a pass for 12 yards, Jackson Wolfe caught four passes for 42 yards and a touchdown, John Rourke caught two passes for four yards, Garrett Collins caught a 14 yard touchdown pass thrown by Bryan Davis.
On Defense, Azeon Brown had 11 tackles with eight assists, Garrett Collins had eight tackles with eight assists and a fumble recovery, Ereck Eck had six tackles five assists, Ian Patterson had five tackles nine assists, Samuel Coleman had five tackles five assists, Caleb Boykin had five tackles four assists, Evan Paul and Jared Ivey had four tackles four assists each, John Rourke had four tackles three assists, Hamilton Hodges had three tackles two assists, Corbin Wethington had two tackles seven assists, Bryan Davis had two tackles with an assists, Demontez Alford and Gage Hunt had two tackles each and Daniel Camp added a tackle.