03/28/2024
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TABOR CITY – South Columbus captured the Three Rivers Conference football championship Friday night with a 28-13 victory over East Bladen.

Coach Russell Dove’s Stallions remained unbeaten at 11-0, while Coach Robby Priest’s Eagles saw their nine-game winning streak snapped. East Bladen, now 9-2 will receive the No. 2 seed from the TRC in tomorrow’s play-off pairings.

Junior Rajon Graham returned the opening kick-off 47 yards, and 4 plays later, fullback Tate Lee plowed 3 yards for the touchdown. Junior Adolfo Cardenas booted the extra point for a 7-0 lead at the 10:24 mark.

After a short Eagle punt, Lee gained 14 yards, and senior Trequan Bellamy raced 31 yards to the East Bladen 10 yardline. However Eagle senior Tyvon Townsend pounced on a Stallion fumble at the six yardline to end the threat.

The Eagles responded with 94-yard, 12-play drive. Senior Shy Pone hauled in a long pass from sophmore Zach Meares and juked his way past a defender to complete a 58-yard play. Senior Eric Chancy banged in to the end zone from a yard out, and junior Gabe Barber’s extra point tied the game 7-7 with 2:02 on the clock.

Back came the Stallions with a 58-yard, 10-play drive. An 18-yard pass from senior Brady Ivey to senior end Brady Sumner started the march, and Bellamy ripped off a pair of 7 yard runs. Ivey sneaked a yard for the touchdown, and Cardenas added the point for a 14-7 lead 10:14 before halftime.

On their next possession the Stallions covered 57 yards in 8 plays. A 20-yard burst by Bellamy ignited the drive, and Ivey connected with Graham on a 17-yard pass before tossing a 16-yard touchdown pass to senior Payton Ray. Cardenas converted again for a 21-7 South lead with 5:34 left in the half.

The Eagles answered with a 51-yard drive. Junior Xavier McKoy made a leaping catch of a Meares pass for a 32-yard gain, but a holding penalty and a procedure penalty stalled the East drive at the Stallion 28 yardline and a fourth down pass fell incomplete.

Lee powered 22 yards to move the Stallions across midfield, but East Bladen’s Lawson Hester intercepted an Ivey pass to end the threat.

East Bladen took the second-half kick-off and marched 61 yards in 6 plays. Junior Kasey Price charged through the middle and blasted through a pair of tackles for a 39-yard gain. Lawson Hester bucked over the left side from a yard out for the touchdown, but the kick failed and South led 21-13 two minutes into the second half.

Five plays later Chancy recovered a Stallion fumble at the Eagle 35 yardline, but a procedure penalty helped force another East punt.

South senior Daquan Keel dashed 46 yards, but Lawson Hester’s tackle forced the ball loose, and senior Dayveon Washington recovered for the Eagles at their own 22 yardline.

The Eagles embarked on a 61-yard, 14-play drive. A late hit penalty got the drive moving, but on fourth down and four at the East 42 yardline, a direct snap to Chancy who was an up-man in punt formation resulted in a 6-yard gain that picked up the first down.

Chancy reeled off runs of 7 and 13 yards for a first down at the South 24, but on fourth-and-three at the 17 yardline, an Eagle pass sailed incomplete 38 seconds into the final quarter.

The Stallions then ground out an 83-yard, 14-play drive that consumed almost 7 minutes. Bellamy had runs of 16, 7, 4 and 7 yards before scoring the clinching touchdown from 3 yards out. Cardenas’ extra point pushed the lead to 28-13 with 4:41 remaining.

Meares connected with Lawson Hester for an 11-yard gain then hurled a 31-yard pass to Xavier McKoy for a first down at the Stallion 21 yardline. However two plays later South junior Aveon Bellamy intercepted an Eagle pass to end the threat.

Trequan Bellamy carried 17 times for 128 yards and a touchdown. Keel rushed 10 times for 100 yards, and Lee finished with 83 yards rushing on 15 attempts. The Stallions rushed for 361 yards and had 412 yards of total offense.

“I thought they were every bit as good as the team that I saw on film,” said Coach Priest about the Stallions. “We had some drives, and I thought our taking it down the field and scoring to start the second half was big. I thought if we did that we could get back in the game and we did.”

Chancy was the workhorse for the Eagles toting the ball 22 times for 95 yards and a touchdown. Price ran 4 times for 44 yards. The Eagles rushed for 184 yards and had 336 yards of total offense.

Meares completed 7 of 15 passes for 152 yards, but suffered two interceptions in the closing minutes. Pone caught 4 passes for 78 yards, and Xavier McKoy snared 2 passes for 63 yards.

The Eagles were penalized 7 times for 45 yards, and several key procedure penalties helped end East Bladen possessions. “I haven’t got that second-and-15 play ready yet,” said Priest. “We will see what happens tomorrow (with the brackets) and get ready for next week.”

Coach Dove, a Bladen native and former West Bladen coach, was not happy with the four Stallion turnovers (3 fumbles), “I asked Robby, do you want it? It seemed like we were trying to give it away.”

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