LowcoSports.com
The final score might raise an eyebrow or two, but the biggest stress the Beaufort Eagles had to endure in Friday’s 42-36 win at Bluffton was alleviated when freshman Amare Patterson plucked the ball out of the air to thwart the Bobcats’ efforts to recover a second consecutive onside kick.
After watching most of a 28-point lead dissipate in the fourth quarter with the reserves in the game, the Eagles sent in the first-team offense following Patterson’s onside recovery and drove inside the 15 before kneeling out the clock on a fourth straight win following an 0-2 start.
Jadyn Andrews continued his strong production out of the backfield with 184 yards and five touchdowns on 21 carries, and Samari Bonds added 107 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries and went 4-for-6 for 104 yards through the air as the Eagles outgunned a prolific Bluffton offense for three quarters before easing off the gas.
The Bobcats (3-2) struck first, as Owen Bayes and Brandon Bryant hooked up for a touchdown pass on the opening series, but the Eagles responded in force. Bonds bolted 48 yards to the end zone to tie it then, after a defensive stop, threw a dart over the middle to Jaemin Odom, who ran over a pair of tacklers before being dragged down at the 15 to set up Andrews for the first of his five touchdown runs.
Two plays later, he was back in the end zone.
The Eagles struck gold and recovered an onside kick, and Andrews bounced around the right side on the next snap and won the race to the pylon for a 35-yard touchdown and a 21-7 lead with 5:11 left in the first quarter.
After a 53-yard Andrews jaunt to the end zone came back due to a penalty, Bonds and Patterson hooked up for a pair of spectacular plays to help him make up for it. On second-and-13, Bonds evaded pressure and scrambled to his left before throwing a strike 50 yards downfield to Patterson, who made a leaping grab at the 20 against double coverage. The freshman wide-out hauled in a bullet from Bonds over the middle on the next play to get the Eagles to the doorstep, and Andrews kicked in the door two plays later from the wildcat formation to make it 28-7.
The defense lost track of Bobcats receiver Carnell Warren on the next series, and Bayes found him open in the end zone to cut the deficit to two scores, but the Eagles answered with a workmanlike drive capped by a 7-yard Andrews touchdown to take a 35-14 lead to halftime, and you can probably guess who delivered the dagger after halftime.
On the first play from scrimmage after the break, Andrews ran off left tackle and raced up the sideline before cutting back across the field and leaving Bobcats in his wake as he dived for the right pylon for a 66-yard touchdown that sent most of Beaufort’s starters to the bench.
With the reserves in the game, Bluffton backup quarterback Aedan McCarthy went to work with nothing to lose — and he and Bryant nearly orchestrated an epic comeback, hooking up for three long touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to pull the Bobcats within six with just over two minutes left. The first-team defense was ready to resume its duties, but that was unnecessary when Patterson snatched the onside kick and Beaufort’s offense ran out the clock.
The Eagles (4-2) travel to Philip Simmons on Friday for a showdown that figures to serve as the de facto Region 8-3A championship game. The game will be broadcast live by Beaufort’s Own on YouTube and Facebook.
