BLADENBORO – Senior quarterback Tyre Boykin ran for 356 yards and 5 touchdowns Friday night to lead West Bladen’s Knights to a 36-33 Three Rivers Conference football victory over West Columbus.
Boykin carried the ball 26 times, scored a pair of 2-point conversions and completed 1 of his 2 pass attempts for 6 yards. He figured statistically in 28 of the Knights 36 plays from scrimmage.
“Wow! We didn’t intend to run him that much,” said Knight Coach Jon Sherman. “But it was working, and Tyre wanted to keep it going. I am really impressed with the way he played.”
The Knights overcame 16 penalties that measured 170 yards and 2 lost fumbles. “Some of it was us, some of it was just the way things happen in a football game,” noted Sherman. “But we have go to clean those things up going forward.”
A fumble at the Viking 29 yard line halted the Knights’ opening drive, and a holding penalty helped stymie their second possession.
West Columbus covered 63 yards in 5 plays to take a 7-0 lead. Jordan Williams scampered 28 yards to ignite the drive, and a facemask penalty moved the ball into the red zone. Senior quarterback Zach Shrum hurled a 7-yard touchdown pass to 6-4 Brandis Kelly, and Austin Booth tacked on the extra point.
Viking sophomore Naqiis Johnson snatched the ball away from the Knight kickoff returner and dashed 29 yards for a touchdown and a 13-0 lead at the 2:08 mark.
The Knights responded with a 77-yard drive in 5 plays. Boykin circled right end for 20 yards, broke loose for 27 more then bolted 13 yards up the middle for the touchdown ten seconds before the quarter break that sliced the margin to 13-6.
On the first play of the next West Bladen possession Boykin popped free around left end and scooted 66 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. Sophomore Damarius Robinson banged off the right side for the 2-point conversion and a 14-13 Knight lead at the 8:17 mark.
After a bad snap was recovered by the Vikings at the West Bladen 40 yard line, Knight senior Davian Willis-Howard pounced on a Viking fumble on the next play at the West Bladen 31 yard line.
Boykin started around right end, cut back all the way across the field then flew down the left sideline on a 69-yard touchdown run that padded the Knight lead to 20-13 with 4:53 on the first half clock.
Keonta McKinney rallied the Vikings with a 15-yard scramble then tossed a 36-yard pass to Darius Marshall for a first down at the Knight 9 yard line. However freshman Deonte Lacey and junior Xzavion Morrison dropped McKinney back at the 22 yard line to end the threat.
The Vikings moved 59 yards in 6 plays to begin the second half. Shrum flipped a pass to Johnson for 24 yards then connected with Marshall on a 12-yard TD pass. Shrum hit Kelly with a 2-point conversion pass that vaulted West Columbus ahead 21-20.
A snap over Shrum’s head resulted in a 26-yard loss and turned the ball over to West Bladen. On the next play Boykin scampered right and skipped out of a pair of tackles to finish a 33-yard touchdown run. Boykin charged around right end for the 2-point conversion and a 28-21 Knight lead at the 3:53 mark.
West Columbus answered with a 79-yard drive that featured 4 15-yard penalties against the Knights for roughing the passer twice, face mask and unsportsmanlike conduct. Johnson dashed 12 yards for the touchdown that trimmed the lead to 28-27 on the first play of the fourth period.
The Knight defense held the Vikings for no gain on 3 consecutive plays midway the period at the West Bladen 46 yard line to take over possession on downs.
Boykin carried 6 times for gains of 11, 10, 9, 4 and 9 yards on a 54-yard Knight scoring drive. Boykin scored the touchdown on a 1-yard run then banged into the end zone for the 2-point conversion and a 36-27 lead with 3:26 left.
Williams returned the ensuing kick-off 57 yards to set up a 20-yard Viking scoring drive. Kelly snagged a 17-yard TD pass from McKinney to closed the gap to 36-33 at the 1:17 mark.
Jadakiss Baker recovered the Viking onside kick at the West Columbus 48 yard line, but Knight sophmore Javonta Matthews intercepted a Shrum pass 2 plays later to seal the verdict.
“I told him it was a great play but next time get down after you catch it,” said Coach Sherman. “Davian (Willis-Howard) played a great game at defensive back and made some big plays. Tra’shawn (Ballard) did a good job of shooting gaps for us on defense.”
“I was really impressed with our grit and our fight tonight,” continued Sherman. “With everything that went wrong with the penalties and the turnovers, we were really resilient and didn’t give up.”
Williams carried 15 times for 65 yards to lead the Viking offense. Shrum completed 7-18 passes for 63 yards, and McKinney was 2-2 passing for 53 yards.
The Knights held a 375- 100 edge in rushing yards and a 381-226 edge in total yards.
West Bladen, now 2-3 in the Three Rivers and 2-5 overall, will travel to St. Pauls on Friday night.
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