Conway rolls past Socastee for second time this season

Conway and Socastee met for the second time this season, and while the scores are similar, the games and the teams are not.

The Tigers’ 45-6 victory Friday saw Conway roll to a 33-0 halftime lead as junior quarterback Peyton Derrick completed 16-of-17 passes for 192 yards and three scores while the defense limited an injury-depleted Braves squad to just 32 yards of offense in the opening half.

“It was a little sloppy, but I thought we did what we had to do,” Conway coach Chuck Jordan said. “… We are 2-0 in the region, and that is where we want to be.

“Defensively, we are getting better and better. We are getting there, but we certainly are not there. We got the toughest part of our region coming up, but I think our defense has improved a little bit each week.”

Socastee has suffered injuries to several key players including starting quarterback Brandon Goswick since that first meeting, a 43-8 Conway victory. It has left the Braves with only four seniors among the starting offensive and defensive units. Braves starting running back Malachi McClendon rushed for over 100 yards back on Sept. 4, but the junior managed just 40 yards on the ground this time around while the entire offense totaled 130 yards for the game.

“We are about eight players down from where we played them before,” Socastee coach Doug Illing said. “We are piecing together a ball club. … Our kids are fighting hard and giving us everything they have got. We will keep developing our kids and keep getting them ready to play at a higher level. We got a lot of young kids that are having to grow up really fast so we got a lot of growing pains we are going through right now.”

It was the second straight week Derrick had a big game following his seven-touchdown, 458-yard performance last week.

“My biggest challenge with him all year long is just protecting the ball,” Jordan said of his junior signal-caller. “To be a good offensive team, you have to protect the ball and he has done that. I see him growing and getting better every game.”

Socastee forced a three-and-out on Conway’s opening possession, but the Braves were called for illegal participation on the Tigers’ punt attempt. Conway finished that opening drive with a 1-yard scoring run by Jah-Maine Martin on fourth-and-goal that ended a 16-play, 63-yard march covering 9:07 of the first quarter.

Martin, a senior, finished the game with 109 yards rushing and three touchdowns on the ground. Senior receiver Tyrone Bennett had six catches for 86 yards and two scores while Mr. Football finalist Bryan Edwards had seven catches for 70 yards and a score. Edwards also had a 61-yard punt return for a touchdown wiped out by penalty early in the game.

Zach Shear scored the Braves’ lone touchdown on Socastee’s first drive of the second half.

“It is like the month of August. We can’t get out of the month of August,” Illing said. “We are still continuing to teach the things that we teach in August at this point in the year. It is tough because moving people in because of injuries. …

“We are just trying to develop an attitude of never die and that is what our kids are giving us. They are giving us everything they got.”

Another notable difference in Conway now is that the Tigers are ranked 10th in Class AAAA, and the expectations increase with each impressive performance.

“I don’t make a big deal about it,” Jordan said of the team’s ranking. “I think it is good for the program and good for the community, but either way you have to show up and play every game.”

Next week, Conway (7-1, 2-0 Region VI-AAAA) hosts South Florence on Friday, while Socastee (1-7, 0-2 Region VI-AAAA) plays at West Florence on Thursday.

This story was originally published October 16, 2015 at 11:43 PM with the headline "Conway rolls past Socastee for second time this season."