Batter Creek opens playoffs at home Friday night against Manning
By Justin Jarrett
LowcoSports.com
The stands were packed, the band was on fire, and for the first time in what felt like forever, the stakes — and the expectations — were sky-high at Battery Creek.
The Dolphins did everything they could, keeping their die-hard fans biting their nails until the final seconds before Philip Simmons escaped with a 42-33 win and captured its third straight Region 5-2A title.
Battery Creek’s Eddie Heyward rushed 15 times for 133 yards and two touchdowns, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark for the season in the process and scoring a 17-yard touchdown with 2:20 left that gave the Dolphins a brief glimmer of hope before he was stopped behind the line of scrimmage on the two-point conversion try, keeping the margin at nine points and essentially sealing the outcome.
After a three-and-out on the opening series, the Dolphins had a tough time slowing down the Iron Horses’ offense for the remainder of the evening. Dual-threat quarterback Hayes Goddard sliced and diced the Dolphins’ secondary for much of the night, then called his own number again and again in crunch time, willing his way to the end zone on a twisting 20-yard touchdown run that proved to be the final dagger in Battery Creek’s region title hopes.
Goddard completed 16 of 19 passes for 288 yards and three touchdowns and added 57 yards on the ground. Freshman phenom Tyrus Alston racked up 112 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions, including several shovel passes on jet sweeps and a 45-yard deep strike, while Patrick Clarke had 78 yards on five catches, and Maurico Curry added 58 yards and a TD on three grabs.
“We had a great scheme all week, and the receivers helped me out left and right,” said Goddard, who completed 13 consecutive passes before a rare drop ended the streak. “We’ve got good chemistry, me and the receivers. I said at the beginning of the season we’ve got one of the most slept-on receiving rooms in the Lowcountry, and that was really on display tonight.”
Heyward and Elijah Frazier made hay running behind Sample at right guard and Ford at right tackle, and left tackle Deonta Watson left guard Mason Benke and center Tyshaun Simmons also got good push up front to help the Dolphins rack up 246 rushing yards.
Battery Creek’s Michael Williams had a productive night, too, catching five passes for 85 yards and rushing for 40 yards on six carries.
The Iron Horses (7-3) have won seven straight since an 0-3 start and ran through a tough region without a loss for the third consecutive season.
“Really, the expectation every year is to win region, but that doesn’t take away from how big of a deal it is and how it deserves to be celebrated,” Goddard said. “We work way too hard to not celebrate.”
Freshman James Shultz continued his crazy production since coming up from the JV team in October, rushing 25 times for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Shultz has rushed for 680 yards and 10 touchdowns in his first five varsity games.
Of course, that’s a credit to the Iron Horses’ offensive line, which gave Goddard a clean pocket more often than not and opened holes for Shultz to slash through. Shultz did much of his damage running behind his interior linemen — guards Donald Lynch and Matthew Langer and center Greyson Salvo — who did their jobs well against a formidable defensive front led by Kiawan Ford and Marcus Sample.
“We’ve got a one-two punch,” Goddard said. “I mean, as soon as they want to stop the pass, how are you going to figure out how to stop 22 and our O-line. That’s were it all starts, up front.”
The Iron Horses never trailed, but they were never comfortable, either. The teams traded scores throughout the first half before Shultz plowed in from the 2 to give Philip Simmons a 28-21 halftime lead.
After a defensive stop, Goddard led the Iron Horses down the field and connected on a short pass to Curry, who spun out of a tackle for an 18-yard touchdown that pushed the margin to two scores for the first time. Ford capped off a long drive for Battery Creek with a 2-yard run in the jumbo package, pulling the Dolphins within 35-27 heading into the fourth quarter, but Goddard responded again and darted through the defense on a quarterback draw to restore the 15-point lead.
All is not lost for the Dolphins, who are the No. 8 seed in the Class 2A playoff bracket and open the postseason at home Friday against No. 9 seed Manning. The winner earns a trip to top-seeded Dillon next week.
