Socastee holds on to beat West Florence
West Florence’s fourth forced turnover of Thursday’s contest against Socastee put its offense in prime position to tie it up 28-all midway through the fourth quarter.
It was the Knights’ third interception of the evening, however, that gave the Braves the ammunition they needed to hold on for their first region victory.
Picking off Bowman Hiller’s 13-yard pass a yard deep in the end zone, Socastee defensive back Dalton Jonas proceeded to return it 101 yards for a touchdown to put the game on ice in a 34-21 win.
“We’ve got some kids that are hurt and just sucking it up, fighting through pain and going out there and giving it their all,” said Socastee coach Doug Illing. “Jonas made that play after coming out with a shoulder injury early on, refused to go down and ended up scoring. We needed something like this tonight.”
The two sides combined to turn the ball over seven times, but the Braves’ ability to capitalize on two of the Knights’ three mishaps proved to be the difference-maker late.
Well before Jonas’ big return, Socastee (2-7, 1-2 Region VI-AAAA) took full advantage of a Hiller interception in the opening minutes of the first.
Taking over at the West Florence 38-yard line, the Braves advanced inside the 10 behind seven straight runs before scoring on Keyon Clora’s 7-yard scamper, going ahead 7-0 midway through the quarter.
Clora finished with 48 yards rushing and threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Taylor Karnap midway through the second while sharing snaps at quarterback with Hunter Illing.
It was Malachi McClendon, though, who stole the spotlight. The junior running back carried the ball 29 times for a game-high 213 yards, scoring a touchdown late in the first on an 81-yard run.
“I’m really proud of our offensive line. They came out strong and gave us a good push up front,” Illing said. “I thought we dominated the line of scrimmage early and that opened up those holes for Malachi. We wanted to lean on the running game if we could tonight, and I’m glad our kids responded.”
The Knights rallied from a 28-7 deficit in the second to score 14 unanswered points before the break, narrowing the gap behind a 2-yard run by James Haynes and a 6-yard pass from Hiller to Scottie Robinson.
West (1-8, 0-3) saw four possessions reach Socastee territory in the second half, but all four came up empty.
Hiller finished 9-of-16 passing for 106 yards. Mike Lowery led the Knights with 49 yards on 10 carries, followed by Eron Darby with 32 yards and a 5-yard touchdown on 13 attempts.
This story was originally published October 23, 2015 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Socastee holds on to beat West Florence."