By Justin Jarrett
LowcoSports.com
HILTON HEAD ISLAND — The back-to-back losses to strong Class 5A opponents to start the season were no real reason for concern, but after Hilton Head Island’s Javarion Hamilton took a circuitous route to the end zone for a spectacular touchdown to put the Seahawks up 14 on Friday night, it was starting to feel like panic time for the defending Class 3A champs.
Rather than melt down, though, the Eagles showed their mettle.
Jadyn Andrews broke out in the second half with a long run to set up one score and a highlight-reel jaunt for the go-ahead score, and Beaufort’s defense buckled down and helped the Eagles escape The Nest with their first win of the season, 20-17 over a scrappy Seahawks squad that let one slip away after outplaying Beaufort for much of the night.
Hilton Head seemingly took control when Hamilton took the ball on an end-around and ran out of room on the right sideline before cutting back across the field and racing up the left sideline for a 79-yard touchdown that made it 17-3. With the Seahawks’ defense stymying the Eagles throughout the second half, Beaufort needed an answer, and it came quickly.
Andrews broke off a 42-yard run on the next play from scrimmage, setting up a 28-yard TD pass from Samari Bonds to Jaemin Odom, who took a swing pass to the left flats and evaded traffic en route to a quick score that cut the deficit in half.
The Seahawks quickly moved back into scoring range after Jackson Bibee found Jake Huggins for a long gain, but the drive bogged down and resulted in a field goal try. The Eagles blocked the kick, and Chaz Brown scooped it up and returned it to the 30, setting up a William Keyserling field goal to make it 17-13 late in the third quarter.
Hilton Head finally got its run game going on the next series, and Troy Timko took the Seahawks inside Beaufort territory before facing a fourth-and-2. Bibee locked onto Huggins over the middle and Dom Camacho jumped the route for an interception before Andrews bounced around right end and made his way to the painted turf for the go-ahead score.
Timko dragged a host of Beaufort defenders into Eagles territory before grinding down inside the 20, but Brown came up with back-to-back stops behind the line of scrimmage and Beaufort’s defense locked down in the red zone and stopped Seahawks star Shaikh Thompson on a fourth-down run to get the ball back.
But Thompson tracked down Bonds from behind on the next series, and Beaufort’s quarterback hobbled to the sidelines to have his left ankle wrapped while the offense sputtered in his absence. The defense did its job, though, halting what could have been a go-ahead drive just across midfield by containing Timko and harassing Bibee, whose fourth-down pass fell incomplete following two more big stops by Brown.
Bonds limped back onto the field and Andrews and Caleb Ulmer picked up a couple first downs to allow the Eagles to run some clock, but a false start on fourth-and-1 forced Beaufort to punt and gave the Seahawks one last chance to go 80 yards in 70 seconds.
They were not up to the task.
Isaac Smalls broke up a pass and the secondary and pass rush forced Bibee to throw it away on back-to-back downs before an errant pass on fourth down allowed the Eagles to take a knee and put one in the win column.
Andrews finished with 124 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries to help offset a tough night for Bonds, who was 7-for-22 for 123 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions and was limited to 19 yards on five carries. Brown, Camacho, and Will Codding led a strong defensive effort that limited Timko to 94 yards on 26 carries a week after he racked up 234 yards in a win against Claxton (Ga.)
It won’t get easier for the Eagles (1-2) this week, as they travel to Goose Creek on Friday.
Justin Jarrett is the sports editor of The Island News and the founder of LowcoSports.com. He was the sports editor of the Island Packet and the Beaufort Gazette for 6½ years. He has a passion for sports and community journalism and a questionable sense of humor.
