South Florence takes to ground to outrun Carolina Forest

South Florence’s football team needed a boost, and it got one – only it was not from the Bruins’ passing game.

Michael Grimsley and Hykeem White delivered a punishing rush attack, combining for 414 yards and four touchdowns as coach David Prince’s team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 35-28 win against Carolina Forest on their homecoming night Friday at Memorial Stadium.

White rushed for 269 yards and touchdown runs of 26, 4 and 38 yards. No run, though, was as crucial as that 38-yarder that gave the Bruins the lead for good on what turned out to be the final score midway through the fourth quarter.

Grimsley, meanwhile, rushed for 145 yards and a 3-yard score of his own.

“Well, you know, you have to take what people give you,” said Prince, whose team’s record improved to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in Region VI-AAAA. “They were giving us the run, so we took it.”

Even Bruins quarterback Lindsey Robinson got into the rushing act, powering up the middle on fourth-and-inches to continue a drive that led to White’s 4-yarder early in the fourth quarter for a 28-20 advantage after his two-point pass to David Vereen.

“It was just something we were going over in practice and something we were going to do in the game,” said White, who averaged almost 15 yards per carry Friday. “We just wanted to win this one really bad.”

But Carolina Forest (4-4, 1-1) had its share of big plays Friday, scoring on Matt Beale touchdown passes of 78, 52 and 77 yards. White’s 4-yard score was answered by Beale’s 77-yarder to Jason Craft to tie the game at 28.

That only set the stage for one more dominating South Florence rushing drive.

“We never came out and ran the ball as much as we did tonight, and that really worked well for us,” Grimsley said.

But the Panthers were the ones who scored on their first offensive play when Beale completed his 78-yarder to Xavier Lynch for a 7-0 lead.

South Florence then tied it on a 40-yard pass from Robinson to Ty King.

Grimsley, who had 121 yards on 19 carries at halftime, tied the score at 14 with his 3-yard run. But a missed point-after kick left the Panthers with a 14-13 lead.

South Florence did not miss on many more opportunities. They now come away from this with another possible opportunity – a shot at reaching the playoffs.

“Oh, it means a ton,” Grimsley said. “We were thinking last week we might not even make the playoffs. But we were committed to practice all this week. It was probably the best practice we’ve had all year long. So, we came out here and got done what we needed to do. So, we’re going to the playoffs – one way or another.”

This story was originally published October 17, 2015 at 1:28 AM with the headline "South Florence takes to ground to outrun Carolina Forest."