Loris benefits from a couple big plays, holds off Green Sea Floyds

Coming into Friday night’s contest, Loris coach Jamie Snider knew it would be a fight to come away with a victory over Green Sea Floyds.

For the Lions (2-2), a defensive touchdown and a big-strike passing touchdown would provide enough spark to earn a hard-fought 28-14 victory over the Trojans (1-2).

“I told Coach (Tony) Sullivan before the game that they play as hard as anybody and he’s done a great job with that program,” Snider said. They came to play tonight; we were able to take advantage of a couple of things to come away with the win.”

The Trojans came out aggressive, winning the opening coin toss and receiving the ball. They then went on a drive that lasted for more than half of the first quarter and capped it off with a 2-yard score by its bell-cow running back, Mahammud Graham.

Graham and his teammates would have a hard time moving the ball the rest of the game, as Loris’ defense brought run blitzes from all areas of the field to stymie the Trojans’ attack, eventually scoring on a fumble recovery by Nakeem Jenerette to take the lead in the contest in the second quarter.

“After that first score, I thought our defense really tightened down and did a great job,” Snider said. “They made some great plays to put Green Sea (Floyds) in some tough spots behind the chains and in long distance situations.”

While Loris has missed starting quarterback Clay Faircloth the past few weeks, backup Levon Stevenson made enough plays in the passing and running games to give the Lions a spark on offense. In the second quarter, Stevenson found a wide-open Xavier Bellamy for a 64-yard score and narrowly missed on a number of other big pass plays. He finished the game with 118 yards passing, adding another 18 on the ground to lead the Lions. Much of the offense came from running backs Tevin Livingston and Tyrek Williams. The duo combined for more than 150 rushing yards and two scores – both by Williams in the second half.

“I was real proud of our effort tonight – especially in the running game,” Snider said. “It’s one of those things we wanted to do better last week and it just didn’t work. I thought our offensive line did a better job of blocking tonight and our backs ran hard. I was proud to see that out of that group of players.”

Next week, Green Sea Floyds will look to get back in the win column as they play host to Military Magnet Academy. Loris will have a week off as they prepare to play Carolina Forest in two weeks.

This story was originally published September 10, 2016 at 12:25 AM with the headline "Loris benefits from a couple big plays, holds off Green Sea Floyds."