Socastee unable to mount comeback in loss to New Hanover (N.C.)

Socastee fought hard, but in the end it had no answer for running back Tre Age, who scored four touchdowns and ran for 172 yards for New Hanover (N.C.) as the Wildcats downed the Braves 48-21 on Friday in the Derrick Law Firm Carolinas Kickoff Clash at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium.

Age had rushing touchdowns of 71, 4 and 3 yards, and spun away from a would-be tackler on a screen pass for a 50-yard touchdown reception.

“We played a really good football team tonight and we saw what it takes to play at a higher level,” Socastee coach Doug Illing said. “We saw a really good running back and we didn’t tackle very well.

“…We are a better football team, a better tackling team than we showed tonight.”

Socastee scored first on Malachi McClendon’s 22-yard touchdown run, but New Hanover responded quickly with a nine-play, 65-yard drive capped by Javeon Hall’s 1-yard touchdown run.

Age’s 71-yard scoring run came on the first play of the Wildcats’ next possession, and the 50-yard scoring catch came on New Hanover’s first drive of the second quarter as it built a 21-7 lead.

The Wildcats nearly scored on defense when Socastee quarterback Brandon Goswick’s pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and returned to the end zone by Nas Brown, but a clipping call negated the score.

New Hanover kept the ball, however, and five plays later Hall leapt over the goal line to give the Wildcats a 28-7 edge going into halftime.

Socastee showed life after the break, coming out in a no-huddle offense and forcing the the ball down the field, marching 71 yards on 13 plays, finished off by a 9-yard quarterback keeper from Goswick to cut the lead in half.

“We tried to change the pace of play,” Illing said. “We needed something good to happen there in that first series, so we tried to change the tempo a little bit, and we got them tired and were able to execute and punch it in and give our team a lift.”

After a Wiz Vaughn touchdown, Socastee put together another solid drive, going 58 yards and scoring on a Goswick screen to Dalton Jonas to the left side.

Age tacked on touchdown runs of 4 and 3 yards in the fourth to close out the game, but Illing said he saw some promise from his team despite the loss.

“We persevered. We held on,” Illing said. “Offensively we came out in the second half and played a lot better and executed a lot better. We fought hard. I was very proud of our team. We didn’t give up.”

McClendon finished with 101 yards on 21 carries for Socastee, and Goswick was 8-for-17 passing for 80 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Burke Estes was 18-for-22 for 229 yards passing for the Wildcats, Garrett Walston had eight catches for 95 yards and Hall added 54 rushing yards on 10 carries.

Socastee fell to 0-2 after back-to-back losses to teams from above the border. The Braves play at Conway next week in the first of two meetings this season between the Region VI-AAAA rivals.

New Hanover scored 48 points for the second straight game and improved to 2-0. The Wildcats play Havelock (N.C.) next week.

This story was originally published August 29, 2015 at 1:03 AM with the headline "Socastee unable to mount comeback in loss to New Hanover (N.C.)."