Derrick, Conway cruise past South Florence, earn No. 2 seed
Conway quarterback Peyton Derrick dropped back, floated a 79-yard touchdown pass to Juwon Moody on the game’s first play and the Tigers were off and running.
So much so that Derrick finished with 441 passing yards and three touchdowns as Conway clinched second place in Region VI-5A with a 36-21 win over South Florence on Friday, the Bruins’ homecoming night at Memorial Stadium.
“We’re used to that stuff out of him,” said Conway coach Chuck Jordan, whose team also spoiled West Florence’s homecoming with a 48-14 win. “It wasn’t but two weeks ago when he rushed for five touchdowns, and last week he threw for five. Peyton’s gamey, but our offense allows for a lot of that in what we do and what we ask him to do.”
South Florence, though, will still host a first-round playoff game next Friday as the region’s third seed against Blythewood. The Bengals defeated South Florence 38-34 during last year’s regular season.
Two Bruins rushes Friday toward the end zone resulted in turnovers. One, as Conway led 24-14, was by Tony McFadden when a Tiger stripped the ball and it went through the end zone just before McFadden was to cross the goal line for a touchback.
The other occurred late in the game as a Conway player stripped the ball from Hykeem White just as he was about to cross the goal line, and the Tigers recovered it in the end zone.
“Oh gosh, we were very fortunate, there’s no doubt about it,” Jordan said. “And, we had two of those and I think that could have been the difference in the ballgame.”
After South Florence quarterback Austin Moore’s fifth interception of the game, tempers flared on both teams, and they did not shake hands after the contest.
South Florence coach David Prince had no comment after the game.
Conway, which built a 10-0 first-quarter lead on a 28-yard field goal by Will Smith, saw the Bruins make a charge when Moore completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Ty King.
But Derrick, who passed for 253 yards before halftime, responded in the second quarter on a scramble and 28-yard pass to Moody. A short time later, the series culminated with a Deandre Huggins touchdown. After a 40-yard interception return by Conway’s Jaylen Moody, Huggins scored his other TD of the first half to make it 24-7.
South Florence then appeared to catch the Tigers by surprise when running back Tony McFadden sped around the right corner for a 77-yard touchdown.
Derrick’s other two touchdown passes, though, came in the third quarter, and Conway began to distance itself.
Moody had five catches for 167 yards and a score, and Malachi Miller had nine for 133 and a score.
South Florence, meanwhile, was led by McFadden with 105 yards and his score, as well as Deshawn Williams with 95 yards and a fourth-quarter score.
Conway | 10 | 14 | 12 | 0 | — | 36 |
South Florence | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | — | 21 |
First quarter
C – Juwon Moody 79 pass from Peyton Derrick (Will Smith kick), 11:42
C – Smith 28 FG, 9:58
SF – Ty King 26 pass from Austin Moore (Hunter Benton kick), 4:24
Second quarter
C – Deandre Huggins 1 run (Smith kick), 10:53
C – Huggins 8 run (Smith kick), 8:33
SF – Tony McFadden 77 run (Benton kick), 8:12
Third quarter
C – Malachi Miller 74 pass from Derrick (kick failed), 7:45
C – Darren Stanley 37 pass from Derrick (kick failed), 3:07
Fourth quarter
SF – Deshawn Williams 9 run (Benton kick), 4:58
Individual leaders
Rushing: C: Deandre Huggins 13-31, Derrick 3-2, Miller 2-5, Daiquawn Clark 2-3, Xavier Kinlaw 1-2. SF: White 10-25, Williams 14-95, McFadden 10-105, Moore 1-(-7).
Passing: C: Derrick 25-38-0-441. SF: Moore 14-37-5-133.
Receiving: C: Moody 5-167, Rakim Bellamy 3-23, Daiquawn Clark 1-(-2), Miller 9-133, Huggins 1-10, Pooh Brantley 3-32, Darren Stanley 3-76. SF: Williams 2-7, King 3-45, Dedric Huggins 2-16, Rivers Benton 2-16, White 2-21, Tyriq McNeil 1-1, Freddy Sparks 2-28.
This story was originally published November 12, 2016 at 12:05 AM with the headline "Derrick, Conway cruise past South Florence, earn No. 2 seed."