Hartsville Comes Up Short Against West Florence
By: Don Gearhart
The Hartsville Red Foxes traveled to Florence trying to spoil Senior Night for the West Florence Knights. For most of the night it was an offensive explosion as both Darren Lloyd (Knights) and J’shawn Anderson traded touchdown runs all night. Lloyd won that battle, tallying six rushing touchdowns to five for Anderson. But the tension was tight until late in the game when the Knights stole the show.
Hartsville received the opening kickoff and appeared to have a 62-yard touchdown run by Carmello Mcdaniel. A suspicious holding call negated that score, and the Red Foxes would have to punt. On the Knights first play from the Hartsville 41, Lloyd broke through the line and sprinted 59 yards to paydirt. Sam Spence drilled the extra point through the uprights to give the Knights a 7-0 lead with 9:51 left in the first quarter. Hartsville was unable to move the sticks and punted to the Knights 19-yard line. A 34-yard run by Lloyd put West Florence into Hartsville territory, but a penalty and a sack forced the Knights to punt. Penalties doomed the Red Foxes on their next possession and West Florence took over after the punt at their own 48. Quarterback, Deuce Hudson, wasted little time and his 52-yard touchdown run with 2:21 in the quarter included track-type speed. Spence again converted the point-after and the Knights lead increased to 14-0. Starting on the Knights 48 after the kick, Hartsville wasted little time tallying a score of their own. An 18-yard pass to Anderson and 12-yard run by Mcdaniel set up an 18-yard touchdown run by Anderson with just 0:34 left in period one. The kick for the extra point went wide. However, Hartsville eliminated the zero on their side of the scoreboard and trailed 14-6.
The second quarter was a showcase of talented running backs as both Lloyd and Anderson scored three touchdowns apiece. After Hudson was sacked for a four-yard loss, Lloyd was up to the task as he ripped off a 64-yard score breaking several tackles before speeding down the field. Spence tallied the extra point and the Knights led 21-6 with just eleven seconds off the second quarter clock. Balancing passing and running plays enabled the Red Foxes to put more points on the scoreboard after Anderson pounded the ball in from the 3-yard line. Jahlil Lewis connected for the extra point and with 6:28 showing, the game was closed again with the Knights leading 21-13. est relied on the workhorse and Lloyd didn’t disappoint. His 4-yard run got the Knights across midfield, and he eventually finished off the drive with a 15-yard scoring run with 3:52 left in quarter two. Spence collected his fourth PAT to give the Knights a 28-13 lead. Hartsville didn’t roll over and Anderson was the spark. He ripped off a 52-yard sprint and then a 1-yard plunge for the score just 40 seconds after West had scored. The Lewis kick was true and the score tightened to 28-20. On the Knights next possession, the Red Foxes defense stopped Lloyd on the first play. However, the next play was a 62-yard touchdown by Lloyd with 2:02 left. The PAT kick sailed wide and the Knights figured on going into the locker room with a 34-20 lead. Never count the Red Foxes out. Starting from their own 48, a pass completion to Tristian Spann for 19 yards and a 15-yard run by Anderson set up a 24-yard scoring pass to a wide-open Jackson Moore with just 35 ticks o the clock. Even though a bad snap spoiled the PAT, the Red Foxes went into the locker room with a 34-26 deficit.
If one figured the offensive fireworks were finished, they would have been mistaken. West took the second half kickoff at their own 23. Lloyd ran for 17 yards then Hudson called his own number and ran for 47. Lloyd finished the drive with a 13-yard score with 10:07 left in the third quarter. A Spence PAT kick made the score 41-26. In less than two minutes, Hartsville answered right back behind runs from Anderson and Mcdaniel and a 22-yard pass completion. Anderson finished off the drive with a 2-yard run