Photo above: Beaufort High School’s James Dagin gets wrapped up for a short gain against rival Hilton Head High during the third quarter of their Region 7-4A game Friday night at BHS. The Eagles defeated the Seahawks 33-18. Photo by Bob Sofaly.
Beaufort High snapped its five-game losing streak with a 33-18 win over Region 7-4A rival Hilton Head High on Friday.
Jeffrey Smyth threw two touchdown passes and rushed for another and recorded an interception on defense to help the Eagles pick up the critical region win. Reid Reichel caught three touchdown passes — two from Smyth and one from Tyler Haley — and James Dagin added a rushing score for Beaufort.
Gaston Moore and Nate Brown connected for a touchdown pass and Diante Richard threw a TD pass to Elijah Thompson for the Seahawks.
Hilton Head struck first as the defense recorded a safety less than two minutes into the game, but Smyth’s 19-yard strike to Reichel got the Eagles on the board with 5:08 left in the second quarter. Moore’s 30-yard TD pass to Brown put the Seahawks back on top less than a minute later, but Haley and Reichel connected for a 23-yard score to give Beaufort a 13-9 halftime lead.
Richard hit Thompson for the go-ahead score to make it 15-13 with 2:14 left in the third quarter, but the Eagles put together three scoring drives in the fourth quarter to pull away. Dagin broke a 23-yard TD run for the lead, and Smyth hit Reichel for a 35-yard TD and broke a 58-yard run to make it 33-15 before the Seahawks added a late field goal.
Beaufort (4-5, 1-1) hosts Colleton County next Friday with a chance to clinch the No. 2 seed in the Class 4A playoffs, while Hilton Head High (4-4, 0-2) will need to win at Bluffton and hope for an at-large bid to the postseason.
