<strong>LowcoSports.com</strong>

If the first meeting on the gridiron between Thomas Heyward Academy and Beaufort Academy was any indication, a new rivalry is brewing.

Thomas Heyward’s JR Patterson scored his second rushing touchdown of the night with just more than a minute left, and Bruzza Pusha added the two-point conversion to allow the visiting Rebels to escape with a hard-fought 16-14 victory over the upstart Eagles on Friday.

The Rebels struck first on Patterson’s first touchdown of the night and a two-point conversion, but BA’s Ja’Sean Lawson answered with a TD run, and Braydon Dineen hooked up with Kevin Rogers to tie it at 8, which is where it stood at halftime.

Carlos Jones gave the Eagles a 14-8 lead in the third quarter, and BA’s stingy defense was able to hold the lead until the final minutes, when the Rebels shifted Pusha to a wildcat role and put together the winning drive.

THA (4-1) travels to John Paul II next Friday, while BA (3-2) returns to region play at Hilton Head Prep.