Carolina Forest runs out of time in shootout loss to South Florence

It was evident early on Friday night that Carolina Forest and South Florence may go down to the wire in a shootout.

And that’s exactly what ended up happening.

The Panthers and Bruins traded touchdowns and the lead a few times in the second half, but South Florence scored in the final 30 seconds to take the lead and the victory, 41-38, over Carolina Forest.

“Our kids fought hard tonight. They kept fighting,” said Panthers coach Marc Morris, whose team responded and kept it close despite three lost fumbles. “I’m proud of them and their effort tonight. At the end we did everything we could, we got the lead but they just executed and pulled it off. And then we didn’t have enough time to respond.”

The teams came out gunning right out of the gate as five touchdowns were scored in the first quarter.

Carolina Forest opened the game hot as quarterback Matt Beale tossed a long touchdown pass to Ismael Garcia to pick up a 7-0 advantage on the first drive.

But Deshawn Williams and Tony McFadden scored back-to-back rushing touchdowns, and South Florence took a 14-7 lead

Williams scored again to put South Florence ahead 21-7, but Anthony McAfee scored a 76-yard touchdown run on the ensuing drive for the fifth and final touchdown of the opening frame.

“The kids fought hard tonight. I’m proud of our young men, especially how we came out and started the game and kept fighting and did a good job,” Morris said.

The Panthers kicked a 27-yard field goal, and Richmond Collier scored on a six-yard run to cut the team’s deficit to 28-24 at halftime.

With under two minutes to play, Beale threw a strike to Justin Elko for a touchdown to give Carolina Forest a 38-34 advantage and the outlook was looking good for the Panthers until South Florence put together a last-minute drive and ended up scoring with around 30 seconds left.

Carolina Forest got in position for one last heave, and Beale’s Hail Mary pass was complete but ended up just a few yards short of the goal line as time expired.

“Our defense stepped up when we needed it the most,” South Florence coach David Prince said. “They played pretty awful in the first but you know, Carolina Forest again has a lot to do with that. They’re a good football team and gave it everything they had.”

The win has South Florence in good position for a playoff spot as the Bruins sit at 3-2 in Region VI-AAAAA with a contest against Conway remaining.

“It’s not 100 percent yet, but that got us a lot closer to making playoffs,” Prince said. “At least put us in position to get in. We knew if we lost tonight we for sure wouldn’t get in unless it was an at-large bid, and nobody wants that one. This is big for us.

“We’re thankful. Carolina Forest is a good football team; we’re just thankful to get this win on the road.”

As for the Panthers, they hope to earn the last playoff spot out of the region and will have a tough test next week in the regular-season finale as Region VI-AAAAA-leading Sumter (8-1, 4-0) will travel to Carolina Forest.

“Just need to come out next week and do the same thing over. Prepare as hard as we can against Sumter and see how it goes as far as the playoffs and all that,” Morris said. “The kids fought hard tonight and played a good football game, but we just need to keep building on it and keep working.”

This story was originally published November 5, 2016 at 12:18 AM with the headline "Carolina Forest runs out of time in shootout loss to South Florence."