Socastee plays spoiler, ends West Florence’s playoff chances

Socastee wasn’t about to let its seniors down.

Instead, the Braves came together and fought for pride, sending the team’s 13 seniors out winners in the final game of their high school careers as Socastee took down Region VI-5A foe West Florence 53-27 and also played spoiler, ending any possibility of the Knights entering the Class 5A state playoffs.

Braves coach Doug Illing saw his team lose four straight region contests, but never got discouraged. His team didn’t, either.

“I’m really proud of them. And doggone it, we got too many penalties there and sometimes we don’t handle success real well. But I’m just so proud of their effort and their execution; they just continue to work and like I said, this bunch right here has gotten better,” Illing said. “We were just running out of time. We’ve grown up and we’re excited to do well here at the end. We beat a good football team tonight; they’re a lot better than their record shows. But we kind of took away their pride tonight and they’re going home disappointed, something this team knows real well.”

The Braves led by just two points (21-19) at halftime before making a strong push in the second half to secure the win. In the second half, Socastee outscored the Knights 32-8.

“We just kept moving the chains and we’d get takeaways. We kept moving the football, get a takeway, and move the football,” Illing said. “And when you play together like that, that’s the outcome you’re going to have. Defensively, we played real well. We held them to under 30, so that’s a victory.”

Along with West Florence, the Braves will not see the playoffs, either, as they finish the season 3-7 overall and 1-5 in region play.

But that didn’t stop them from feeling good about this one.

“I’ve never played on a better team ever, and we’re all so close,” Socastee running back Edward Tucker said. “This one was for the seniors and we want to keep making them and all the others around the program proud.”

Illing said he feels honored to have coached this current group of seniors and he – along with a few others – offered some encouraging words when the team huddled following the win.

“It’s big because we had a lot of seniors quit on us early on; times were tough and decided to give it up. These guys hung in there and held their chins up high and if I had this bunch here eight weeks ago, our record would be a lot different,” Illing said. “They’ve got the right attitude and determination, so it’s huge. To come together and appreciate the effort, work, time and sacrifice. When you’re not winning, it’s easy to quit so there’s a lot of character in that group right there and I’m extremely proud of them. Those boys are good boys”

Illing said he’s already looking forward to next year when he will have a lot to work with as his team is expected to see a lot of returning starters.

“The big jump to next year is what we’re capable of. There’s a lot of talent on that football team and we just need to develop some more people, some more depth and get an even bigger talent pool,” he said. “We’ll have to fill in some gaps of the seniors we’re going to lose, but it’s huge to win and get a little excitement heading into the offseason and know what we’re capable of.”

This story was originally published November 12, 2016 at 1:26 AM with the headline "Socastee plays spoiler, ends West Florence’s playoff chances."