Georgetown rebounds from loss with dominant victory over Waccamaw

Coming off a stinging loss to South Carolina Class 3A kingpin Dillon a week earlier, Georgetown coach Ken Cribb was concerned his Bulldogs could suffer a letdown as the favorite on the road against Georgetown County rival Waccamaw on Friday night.

Cribb’s concerns were quickly eased as the Bulldogs scored touchdowns on their first three possessions on the way to a dominating 35-0 Region VI-3A victory over the Warriors.

“I thought we gave pretty good effort and bounced back from a pretty tough loss last week,” Cribb said. “The kids really played their guts out last week and I was really worried about them bouncing back. I’m proud they came out and gave good effort tonight.”

Georgetown (5-3 overall, 2-1 region) hosts Lake City next Friday in a crucial game in the region race.

“We still have Lake City and Loris left, and it’s going to be awful tough,” Cribb said. “It’s got to be the toughest AAA conference in the state hands down. We’re going to have to have a good week to be ready and have a chance.”

The Bulldogs quickly took control, driving 90 yards in 13 plays for a touchdown after taking the opening kickoff.

Quarterback Tyler McAlister found Fred Taylor open over the middle on fourth-and-12 from the Waccamaw 19-yard line for the touchdown.

On the next possession Shammond Holmes broke free down the sideline for a 41-yard touchdown run. Then McAlister hit Alex Smith on a fade with 7:44 left in the first half for a 21-0 Bulldogs lead.

Waccamaw (1-7, 0-3) drove inside the Georgetown 10-yard line twice in the second quarter but came away with no points.

“The kids played hard tonight, we couldn’t get any breaks,” Waccamaw coach Tyronne Davis said. “We were down inside the 10 twice and just didn’t get anything from it. I take my hat off to Georgetown, they’re a very good team, good program.”

After Waccamaw’s second empty trip inside the 10, McAlister and Smith connected again to sting the Warriors by extending the Georgetown halftime lead to 28-0.

McAlister, under heavy pressure, rolled right and found Smith on the sideline. The 6-foot senior wide receiver made one defender miss and then weaved his way down the sideline on an 81-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown with 49 seconds left in the half.

“We had a scramble drill going on, the quarterback broke it off, got a little pressure,” Cribb said. “The receiver did what he is supposed to do in a scramble drill, and found some open space. Good players make good coaches. I’m glad they were on my side tonight.”

In the second half, with the clock running except during timeouts and changes of possession, the Bulldogs added one more touchdown on a 69-yard touchdown scamper by Holmes.

Georgetown rolled up 449 yards total offense, including 296 rushing yards on 28 carries. Holmes piled up 134 yards on just six carries.

McAlister, a 5-foot-8 junior, completed 8 of 11 passes for 153 yards with Smith catching four for 123 yards.

“That’s what we strive to be (balanced),” Cribb said. “We try to take what the defense is giving us.”

Running back Antrix Green, a 5-foot-7, 185-pound junior, led Waccamaw with 59 yards rushing on 19 carries.

“We’ve got two games left, (including) Aynor here next week for Senior Week, and we’re aiming toward that one,” Davis said.

This story was originally published October 28, 2016 at 11:37 PM with the headline "Georgetown rebounds from loss with dominant victory over Waccamaw."