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<p><em>Above: A swarm of Whale Branch tacklers take down the East Clarendon ball carrier during the Warriors’ first-round playoff win Friday in Seabrooks. Whale Branch won 19-0 for its fourth shutout of the season. Photo by Justin Jarrett / LowcoSports.com</em><br><br><br><strong>LowcoSports.com</strong></p>
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<p>Pee Dee Academy blitzed to a big early lead Friday, and John Paul II’s injury-depleted offense couldn’t recover in a 48-16 road loss in the first round of the SCISA 2A playoffs.</p>
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<p>The Golden Warriors couldn’t slow down a powerful attack led by Coleby Sinclair, who rushed for three touchdowns, and Landyn Tyler, who added a pair of rushing scores and a touchdown catch. JPII was without quarterback Christian Tilton, who suffered a hand injury a week earlier at Beaufort Academy.</p>
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<p>The Golden Eagles came out firing on offense, as Tyler broke a long touchdown run to open the scoring before Sinclair added a pair of touchdown runs. Then Tyler found himself on the receiving end of a Hudson Spivey touchdown pass to make it 28-0.</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://staging.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/DSC_9416.jpg"><img src="https://staging.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/DSC_9416-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-53352"/></a><figcaption>Whale Branch running back Joseph Hicks stiff arms a tackler to pick up extra yardage during the Warriors’ 19-0 win over East Clarendon in the first round of the SCHSL Class 1A playoffs Friday in Seabrook. Photo by Justin Jarrett / LowcoSports.com</figcaption></figure>
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<p>The big deficit took the Golden Warriors out of their game plan, but backup quarterback Caleb Snyder got JPII on the board with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Tony Hill to cut it to 28-8 at halftime. Pee Dee kept pouring it on after the break, though, as Sinclair busted another long touchdown run, and Tyler added his third touchdown of the night to put it out of reach.</p>
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<p>Jackson Ogden added a late touchdown run for the Golden Warriors and finished with 47 yards on five carries. Snyder was 10-for-21 for 79 yards and a touchdown and made 10 tackles with a sack and a tackle for loss on defense. Mark Knight rushed three times for 77 yards and added a reception in his JPII finale, and Michael Carbone had a team-high 13 tackles.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>JPII finishes the season with a 3-6 record. Pee Dee (9-1) will travel to Hilton Head Christian Academy for a semifinal matchup Friday.</p>
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