Derrick, Conway passing attack overwhelm Socastee in victory
The high-flying Conway offense was at full strength Friday as the Tigers rolled over Socastee 54-21 behind six passing touchdowns for quarterback Peyton Derrick.
The Appalachian State commit put on a dual-threat display in the Region VI-AAAAA showdown with Socastee (2-7, 0-4 Region VI-AAAAA), passing for 288 yards and running for another 120.
He found four different teammates for touchdowns, hitting Deandre Huggins and Juwan Moody for two scores each.
“We just ran our game plan, (Socastee) ran a lot of two high safeties and played man under; we really like that,” Derrick said. “We felt comfortable running and throwing the ball. We showed tonight that we’re not a one-dimensional team, tonight was a balanced game. I’ll take my guys in man-to-man coverage any day of the week.”
On the ground, Conway (5-4, 3-1 Region VI-AAAAA) piled up 229 yards and two scores, establishing the physical run game early in the first quarter.
“Offensively, we want to be able to establish the run and that helps the pass protection throughout the game,” said Conway coach Chuck Jordan. “Early on, we were able to run the ball and got confidence built up in our line play, so when we threw the ball [it was] without a lot of pressure. When Peyton can sit back there and throw the ball, he’ll dice you up.”
Conway started fast, scoring a touchdown just 56 seconds into the game when Huggins found the end zone from 5-yards out. Socastee would answer with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Illing to Malachi McClendon. Conway would score the next three touchdowns, all thrown by Derrick, before each team added a score to go into halftime with the Tigers leading 34-14.
In the second half, Conway would put the game out of reach with two more passing touchdowns, a 26-yarder from Derrick to Moody and a 36-yard strike to Xavier Kinlaw.
“This was a good confidence builder. It let us know, as an offense, that if we don’t beat ourselves out there, we can put up points on anybody in the state,” Derrick said. “The past three games, we’ve been able to put up points on Sumter, Carolina Forest and Socastee and proved to ourselves that we don’t have to be one dimensional.”
While the Conway offense led the way in the game, its defense held a strong Socastee attack to just 133 rushing yards on the night and feasted on the Braves’ offensive line, sacking quarterback Hunter Illing five times.
“I thought we played well on defense; we had several stops on fourth down, which was key to not playing on long fields on offense,” Jordan said. “They did some good things on offense, the quarterback played well, but our defense played well-enough to win.”
As Conway and Socastee continue their seasons with Hurricane Matthew-related make-up games continuing next week, the goal is for consistent improvement.
“Everybody in the area has had an awkward season because of the hurricane, but we’re starting to play better football right now,” Jordan said of his team. “This is a good time to do it; we’re trying to be a really good playoff team. Our goal is to hit our stride going into next week and into the playoffs.”
Next week, Conway will play at South Florence, while Socastee will host West Florence. With a win, Conway will be assured second place in the region and a home playoff game.
Socastee | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | — | 21 |
Conway | 14 | 20 | 13 | 7 | — | 54 |
First quarter
CON – Deandre Huggins 5-yard run (Will Smith kick good) 11:04
SOC – Hunter Illing 22-yard pass to Malachi McClendon (Fernando Velez kick good) 5:26
CON – Peyton Derrick 10-yard pass to Huggins (Smith kick) 2:53
Second quarter
CON – Derrick 55-yard pass to Darren Stanley (Kick failed) 11:16
CON – Derrick 39-yard pass to Huggins (Smith kick) 7:01
SOC – McClendon 18-yard pass to Aeneas Green (Velez kick) 2:22
CON – Derrick 20-yard pass to Juwan Moody (Smith kick)
Third quarter
CON – Derrick 26-yard pass to Moody (Smith kick) 7:09
CON – Derrick 36-yard pass to Xavier Kinlaw (Kick failed) 1:01
Fourth quarter
SOC – Dashaun Myers 5-yard run (Velez kick) 4:28
CON – Darren Grainger 10-yard run (Smith kick) 1:36
Individual leaders
Rushing: SOC: Myers 22-104 TD; Illing 11-0; McClendon 2-1; Edward Tucker 11-30. Total 46-133 TD. CON: Derrick 9-120; Huggins 8-23 TD; Daiquawn Clark 4-36; Tyrek Weaver 3-32; Kinlaw 5-5; Grainger 3-13 TD. Total 32-229 2TD.
Passing: SOC: Illing 8-13-250-1-0; McClendon 1-1-18-1-0. Total 9-14-268-2-0. CON: Derrick 13-19-288-6-1; Grainger 1-1-5-0-0. Total 14-20-293-6-1.
Receiving: SOC: McClendon 3-102 TD; Green 3-87 TD; Devin Stamp 1-32; Myers 1-6; Ryan Pezzullo 1-41. CON: Malachi Miller 1-14; Rakim Bellamy 1-8; Huggins 2-48 2TD; Darren Stanley 3-68 TD; Moody 4-97 2TD; Grainger 2-21; Kinlaw 1-36 TD.
This story was originally published November 5, 2016 at 12:30 AM with the headline "Derrick, Conway passing attack overwhelm Socastee in victory."