PROSPERITY, SC- Chesnee fell on the road to Mid-Carolina 35-14 on Friday night in a non-region matchup but thanks to results in other game from Region II-AA play the Eagles secured the number two seed in the region and will now host a home playoff game.
The game started out as a back and forth affair as teams traded punches in the first half with the Rebels landing the first blow when Andrew Washington punched it in from one yard out to give them a 7-0 lead with 5:15 left in the first quarter. The Eagles responded quickly on the ensuing drive as Adonis Burgess had a long touchdown run for the second week in a row, this time as Burgess took it seventy yards to the endzone to tie the game at 7-7. The Rebels responded on the ensuing drive with a touchdown pass that was just over the hands of an Eagle defender as Macon Arnoult found Kyan Suber from thirty-seven yards out to make the score 13-7 with just over a minute left in the second quarter. Nick Hofer helped the Eagles respond with a four yard touchdown run to give the Eagles a 14-13 lead with eleven minutes to go in the half. The Rebels would respond with a twenty-two nothing run to end the game which started with Anthony Wicker running it in from sixty-eighy yards out with 9:51 left in the half. In the third quarter Anthony Loynes extended the lead to 28-14 as he scored on a two yard run midway through the third. The Rebels final touchdown came early in the fourth quarter as Macon Arnoult found Michael Lindler for a two yard touchdown pass to push Mid-Carolina's lead to 35-14 over the Eagles. Mid-Carolina was led on offense by Anthony Wicker who had a monster game finishing the game with 263 yards and one score. Adonis Burgess and Nick Hofer led the Eagles with a combined 130 yards as Burgess led the Eagles with 75 yards and a touchdown while Hofer added 55 yards and a touchdown. Tyquan Dawkins had a big game defensively as he finished the game with ten and a half tackles and Austin Bigford was right behind him with nine tackles. Since the Eagles finished in second place in the region they earned the right to host a playoff game and unofficially it appears the Eagles will host the Crescent Tigers next Friday at 7:30 PM in the opening round of the 2A playoffs. KERSHAW, SC - The Chesnee volleyball team saw their quest to defend their state championship end on Tuesday night as they fell to Andrew Jackson 3-1 but it wasn't for the lack of the effort as the Eagles battled throughout the match.
The Eagles fell in the first two sets 25-17 and 25-18 before battling back in the third set. In the third set the Eagles were tied 24-24 and were able to score the final two points of the set to grab a 26-24 victory in the set and cut the Tigers lead to 2-1 in the match. In the fourth set Andrew Jackson took back control of the match as they downed the Eagles 25-19 to win the set and take the match 3-1 over Chesnee. For three seniors it was their final match for the Eagles as Kaitlyn Barrett, Kyleigh Thompson, and Brie Smith all played strong matches in their final appearances for the Eagles volleyball team. Kaitlyn Barrett finished the match with 24 kills and 20 digs while Kyleigh Thompson added 16 digs as Brie Smith finished the night with 14 digs along with one and a half blocks. "I am so proud of how all the girls battled and kept playing hard tonight," said Chesnee coach Katie Jolley. "We had a tough night but never gave up. We're really going to miss Kaitlyn, Kyleigh, and Brie next year." Pearl Holloway also had a good night as she led the team in assists with 29 assists, six kills, and one and a half blocks while Kyleigh Thompson added 16 digs. CONWAY, SC - Just four years into the program the Chesnee Eagles reached their ultimate goal when they claimed the 3A/2A/1A state championship at the Hackler Golf Course on Tuesday afternoon after a competitive two days of golf.
”It was a crazy day and our girls played their heart out today,” said Chesnee head coach Kyle Scruggs. “I can’t really put into words what it means to us as a team to get this done but it felt very good to the state championship and not coming in runner-up again. I told the girls that this is what we’ve been working towards the whole time and told my younger girls to remember this feeling because this is where we want to get to again in the future. I’m so happy for the girls and the Chesnee community and hope it sparks an interest in girls golf at Chesnee.” The Eagles had fell just short of this goal last year, which was their second straight year of being runner-up, but got out to a hot start on Monday as they shot a team score of 301 which was three shots better than their rival Gilbert to hold the tournament lead at the end of day one. Chesnee backed up their first day performance with an identical score on Tuesday as they shot another score of 301 for a two day combined total of 602 to claim the championship. Senior golfer Sydney Roberts led the Eagles as she won the individual state championship along with the team championship after shooting a two day combined total of 136. Roberts started the tournament with an impressive score of six under par 66 before firing a two under par score of 70 at the course on Tuesday. Scruggs said that Roberts being able to accomplish this feat her senior year meant a lot to him because he’s known her and her family for a long time. ”I’ve known Sydney and her family for many years and she’s just such a great kid,” said Scruggs. “I can’t think of a kid that works harder than her and to win a state championship with her meant the world to me because she has been on my team for six years (two at Boiling Springs and four at Chesnee) and been on every runner-up team I ever had and to send her out a state champion is amazing.” Roberts ended her Eagles career hitting a 25ft birdie putt to seal the state championship for the Eagles. Sydney Roberts was joined on the All-State team by fellow teammate and sister Olivia Roberts who shot a two day score of 143 while finishing third overall and Chapman’s Olivia Ireland who shot a two day score of 147. The Eagles Addy Parker just missed being named to the All-State team as she shot a combined score of 154 (76,78) which was just one shot from making the All-State team. The five members of the historic 2021 Eagles state championship team are Sydney Roberts, Olivia Roberts, Abigail Watson, Addy Parker, and Olivia Shields. Scruggs said that while the team will be losing Sydney Roberts next season he thinks his team of three ninth graders and an eighth grader (this season) will be able to compete for the championship once again next year. ”I think we’ll be a pretty solid team again next year,” said Scruggs. “I really hope that this championship just sparks a desire to compete in golf amongst the whole Chesnee community and we can keep this rolling for years to come.” -James McBee Chesnee used a sequence of big plays to start the second half to finish out region play with a 34-14 victory at Blacksburg on Friday night.
"We came in the first half strong and then we flinched a little bit," said Chesnee head coach Clay Lewis. "We were able to re-established ourselves to start the second half. The kids did a good job calming themselves down at halftime to be able to go out and execute in the third quarter." The game got off to a terrific start for the Eagles as the defense forced a three and out, then on offense Nick Hofer took the first play from scrimmage twenty-one yards. Hofer ended up with thirty-six total yards on the drive that ended when Landon Thompson found KJ Valentine for a twenty-nine yard touchdown pass to put the Eagles up 7-0 early in the first quarter. After the Eagle defense forced a Wildcat punt, Adonis Burgess had his longest play of the season on the ensuing play from scrimmage. He took the hand off and ran down the left sideline for a seventy-seven yard touchdown run to double the Eagles lead to 14-0 with 3:45 left in the first quarter. The Wildcats were able to claw back into in the second quarter as they responded to Burgess's long run with a long drive. The Wildcats took the ball eighty yards on twelve plays and ate up over six minutes off the clock. When the drive was over Blacksburg's Ja'Quavious Davis stood in the endzone after a thirteen yard run to cut the Eagle lead to 14-7 with 9:48 left in the first half. The Eagle defense forced the Wildcats to go for it on fourth down but a beautiful halfback pass off a toss sweep resulted in a touchdown. Dre Buckson took the toss and found a wide open Ja'Quavious Davis for the thirty seven yard touchdown pass to tie the game with 5:20 left in the first half. The Wildcats had another solid drive in the ensuing drive but a beautiful pass deflection by Chesnee's Tyquan Dawkins forced the Wildcats to settle for a long field goal attempt that was blocked to send the game to halftime tied at fourteen. The Eagles came out of halftime with an eleven play drive that ate up nearly half the third quarter off the clock as they got started with a big run by Dylan Bennett for a thirty-two yard gain. The final play of the drive was a a beautiful eleven yard touchdown pass by Landon Thompson over a defender that found the hands of Adonis Burgess to put the Eagles back in front 21-14 and spark a crazy sequence for the Eagles. On the ensuing kickoff, Ezequiel Lazarin recovered his own inside kick at the Blacksburg forty-seven yard line. The ensuing play saw Landon Thompson throw his third touchdown pass as he once again connected with KJ Valentine to put the Eagles up 28-14 in a span of thirteen seconds The ensuing play from scrimmage saw Kyle Martin record his first snap from scrimmage of his career for the Eagles and it was a moment he won't soon forget. Martin picked off a pass over the middle and returned it sixty-five yards thanks to some excellent running and good blocking by his teammates as the pick six made it 34-14 as the Eagles had scored twenty points in forty seconds of play. "They had been leaving the middle open all night on their kick return and we decided to take advantage," said Lewis. "We recovered the kick and decided to go for the big play which worked out for us." Blacksburg tried to mount a comeback on the ensuing drive but after fourteen plays they turned it over on downs thanks to a defensive stop on fourth down inside the ten yard line. The Eagles offensive line allowed the Eagles to be successful in multiple areas offensively and that is something they are proud of as a team. "We block hard for the backs because we all run those plays over and over in practice," said senior lineman Caleb Rentz. "We have gotten better and have great chemistry with those guys which makes us want to block that much harder." The Eagles finished with 342 yards of offense with 245 yards on the ground and 97 through the air. The outside backs, or A-Backs as they are referred to in the Chesnee offense, had a huge night for the Eagles as they combined for 170 yards on twelve carries and a touchdown. Adonis Burgess led the way with a career high 124 yards and a touchdown. Burgess also caught one of the three Landon Thompson touchdown passes. Thompson finished with four completions for 97 yards and a trio of scores. KJ Valentine hauled in a pair of long touchdowns for the Eagles and finished with 76 total yards along with having a fifty-six yard kickoff return for the Eagles. Dre Buckson lead the Wildcats with a 121 yards rushing and a score. Austin Bigford led the Eagles with seven tackles while Nolan Buchanan, Dylan Bennett, and Jayden Gossett each finished with six and a half tackles. Bigford and Bennett finished with a combined three tackles for loss. The win was the third in four games for the Eagles and allows them to still have a mathematical shot at a region title along with a strong chance at a home playoff game. The Eagles will be back in action next Friday when they travel down to Prosperity, SC to take on Mid-Carolina in a game added within the past few weeks as the kickoff is set for 7:30pm. The Chesnee volleyball team took a trip to the center of the state on Thursday afternoon and came back with an impressive victory as they defeated Batesburg-Leesville 3-0 to advance to the second round of the AA playoffs.
"Everyone on our team just played a great match," said Chesnee head coach Katie Jolley. "It was a great team win with everyone playing a part in the victory." The Eagles jumped out to an early lead defeating the Panthers 25-7 in the first set to take a commanding 1-0 lead in the match. They backed up that victory with another strong set in set two grabbing a 25-11 win before closing out the match with a 25-19 victory in the third set. Kaitlyn Barrett continued her strong play this season coming away 18 kills, five ace serves, and one block to go along with a .667 hitting percentage. In a true team effort the Eagles got contributions from all over the court as Pearl Holloway led the Eagles in assists with 24 assists, six kills, three ace serves, and one block while Brie Smith added six kills, two ace serves, and one block. Haley Edmonds added eight digs while Kyleigh Thompson contributed three kills and three digs on Thursday night. Chesnee will next return to the court when they travel to Andrew Jackson, a number two seed, who the Eagles played last season on their way to the state championship. On a sunny Tuesday afternoon the Chesnee golf team got one team got one step closer to their ultimate goal after winning the Upper State championship at the Boscobel Golf Course in Pendleton, SC.
Chesnee grabbed the victory after shooting a team score of 328 which was seven shots ahead of second place Seneca (335) as the Eagles won their second straight Upper State title. The Eagles were led on Tuesday by Sydney Roberts who shot a four under par score of 68 backing up an impressive performance from just last week when she won Region Player of the Year honors. Chesnee will next compete at the Hackler Course in Conway, SC for the AAA, AA, A state championship starting next Monday and going through Tuesday. They will be joined from the Upper State by Seneca, Pendleton, Blue Ridge, and Daniel. They will also encounter a familiar foe in Gilbert who won the Lower State championship and are the defending state champions. Fellow region participant Eliza Whiteside from Landrum as well as Chaoman’s Olivia Ireland will both compete as individuals at the state championships. Chesnee overcame a thirteen point deficit on senior night to come away with a 23-20 region victory over Landrum after kicker Ezequiel Lazarin hit a field goal as time expired for the Eagles.
"It took us a while but we finally figured things out offensively," said Chesnee head coach Clay Lewis. "I think conditioning played a factor as I think we started to wear them down. When it came crunch time our seniors stepped up as they weren't going to be denied." The victory was a big one for the Eagles as the win keeps them mathematically alive for the region championship and allows them to possibly secure a home playoff game with a win next week on the road against Blacksburg. The game started as a defensive slugfest with both teams featuring primarily rushing attacks. Landrum finally broke the seal on the scoring when Jesse Bowers ran it in from twelve yards out for his first of two rushing touchdowns of the night to give the Cardinals a 7-0 lead with just over seven minutes left in the first half. Chesnee responded with a touchdown of their own as a pair of Cardinal pass interference penalties along with a pair of nice runs by Jayden Gossett and Adonis Burgess set up a Landon Thompson one yard quarterback sneak to tie the game at 7-7 with 3:36 in the half. After a big seventy-six yard kick return by Colton Link on the ensuing kickoff, the Cardinals regained the lead two plays later when Grayson Foster ran it in to make the score 13-7 in favor of Landrum with 2:37 left in the first half. The Cardinals had a strong drive to open the third quarter but came up empty as they missed a field goal that later proved to be a pivotal moment in the game. Jesse Bowers on the ensuing drive ran it in from fifty-two yards out to extend the Cardinals lead to 20-7 with six seconds left in the quarter as the momentum seemed to be on the side of Landrum heading into the final quarter. Chesnee kept it on the ground on the ensuing drive as seniors Jayden Gossett and Dylan Bennett led the way with thirty-four yards rushing as the final play of the drive saw Landon Thompson find Davion Stradford in the back corner of the endzone as Stradford make a beautiful toe touch catch from ten yards out to make it 20-14 in favor of Landrum with just under ten minutes to play. The Eagle defense forced a three and out on the ensuing drive that was aided by a third down false start penalty but did allow the Cardinals to run over two minutes of time off the clock. After Thompson and Gossett combined to pick up eighteen yards on the first three plays of the ensuing drive, a reverse that saw the ball end up in the hands of Davion Stradford put the Eagles in a first and goal situation at the five yard line after a thirty-five yard run. Landon Thompson followed up the reverse with a score when he plunged it in on a quarterback sneak to tie the game with just over four and a half minutes to play at 20-20. The Cardinals had the ball at their own twenty-five with a chance to seal the win and that's when one of the most surprising heroes came up with his biggest plays of the night for the Eagles. After two strong runs by Bowers gave Landrum a first down the Cardinals decided to go back to the well one more time but this time the Eagles were able to force a fumble. The fumble was recovered by sophomore linebacker Gunter Gerstenacker as he was the only Eagle on the bottom of the pile. Dylan Bennett started the Chesnee offensive possession after the turnover with a strong three yard run that saw him power through some tough tackle attempts and kind of set the tone for the Eagles drive. "I told coach I wanted the ball and that I wanted to help lead us to victory," said Bennett. "That is where we are right now." Another senior stepped up in the drive as KJ Valentine came up with an eleven yard reception to keep the Eagles going which was followed by big runs from Adonis Burgess, Jayden Gossett, and Dylan Bennett that moved the ball down to the seven yard line of the Cardinals. With three seconds left on the clock the Eagles took a timeout to set up a potential game winning kick. For the second time in as many homes, kicker Ezequiel Lazarin, nailed a no doubter from twenty-four yards out to give the Eagles the win as him teammates erupted into utter jubilation as they ran on to the field to celebrate. "He came in there and did an awesome job," said Lewis about the field goal. "He is the iceman as nothing seems to effect him. We also did a great job on the line including our holder and our long snapper." Both teams had strong rushing totals, but got there with two different routes. Landrum had two hundred and nine yards on the ground along with three scores as one hundred and eighty-four and two scores of that came from Jesse Bowers. The Eagles combined to rush for one hundred and ninety-seven yards as Jayden Gossett led the way with sixty-two yards with Dylan Bennett and Adonis Burgess right behind him with forty-seven and forty-five yards respectively. One key to the Eagles rushing total was the offensive line, especially in the fourth quarter, when they were able to help the Eagles start to find big chunk plays on the ground. "We had the determination to do what we needed to do to win the game," said Chesnee offensive lineman Caleb Rentz. "We wanted to give our skill players the opportunity to win us the game." Landon Thompson finished the game with three total touchdowns as he ran in two and picked up a third through the air. Davion Stradford had three catches for twenty-two yards and a touchdown catch to lead the Eagles in receiving. Dylan Bennett added a strong defensive performance to his hard nosed running as he finished the game with a team high seven and a half tackles and a tackle for loss. Austin Bigford and Tyquan Dawkins finished with five tackles each while Bigford added a sack to his total. The Eagles will be back on the road next week when they travel over to Cherokee County to take on the Blacksburg Wildcats in another matchup with major playoff seeding implications as the kickoff is set for 7:30 PM. On Thursday evening the Chesnee volleyball team wrapped up their regular season with a road match at Southside Christian that saw the Eagles fall 3-0 to the Sabres.
while the Eagles fell 3-0 it was a very competitive match as the first set was tied at 24-24 before the Sabres grabbed the final two points of the set for a 26-24 victory. The second set was the most one sided as the Sabres won 25-16 but the Eagles battled back in the third set getting within one score at 24-23 but Southside Christian got the final point before the Eagles could tie the set taking a 25-23 victory in the final set. Pearl Holloway led the way for the Eagles grabbing 15 assists, 12 digs, 7 kills and 5 ace serves. Brie Smith added eight kills while Kyleigh Thompson contributed seven kills and eleven digs. Mitchell Wofford led the Eagles in digs with fourteen while Maggie Blanton added two blocks on Thursday. Chesnee finishes the regular season with a 9-9 record and a 6-4 record in region play. The Eagles next match will be in the start of the 2A playoffs, where they will look to defend their state championship. As of Thursday it looked like the Eagles will be starting the playoffs in a road matchup at Batesburg-Leesville next Thursday. CHESNEE, S.C. – Second place and a home playoff match hung in the balance as the Chesnee Eagles hosted the Landrum Cardinals in Region 2-2A volleyball action on Tuesday night.
It proved to be a tooth and nail battle between the two longtime rivals, but Landrum rallied to edge Chesnee by a 3-2 margin in five sets (CHE 25-21, LAN 25-20, CHE 25-14, LAN 25-19, LAN 15-12). Chesnee’s Pearl Holloway helped key a 7-0 service run in the opening set, putting the Eagles ahead 12-5. Late in the frame, Landrum cut it to a three point deficit, but a kill by Holloway closed it out and put the Eagles up 1-0. In the third set, it was all Eagles as senior Brie Smith played a big role. During a 7-0 service run by Kaitlyn Barrett, Smith tallied four points of her own with three blocks and a kill. A 6-0 service run by Smith helped Chesnee pick up the win in the third set. “Brie did a great job blocking tonight,” said Chesnee head coach Katie Jolley. “She really got the outside hitter out of sorts. That’s why I have kept her on the right side during the season. I knew she had the ability to make that block and she has done a great job this year.” Chesnee jumped out to a two point advantage in the fourth set, only to see Landrum pull ahead by one. The Eagles tied the set up on three occasions before the Cardinals reclaimed the lead and used a 10-4 burst to tie the match at two sets apiece. The final stanza saw the score tied in nine different instances, but Landrum capitalized on a late service break to win the set and match. “To me, it was really about serve and serve-receive,” Jolley stated. “When we were serving tough, we got the win. When they were serving tough, they got the win. Both teams had a hitter that put down balls, but it was the serve and serve-receive game that made a difference tonight.” Landrum (11-8, 6-3 Region 2-2A) takes over second place in the region, while Chesnee (9-7, 6-4) falls into third place. The next match for Chesnee (9-7, 6-4 Region 2-2A) is the regular season finale at Southside Christian on Thursday, October 14th. The start time is scheduled for approximately 7 PM. After Thursday’s match, the Eagles will prepare for a road contest to open the 2A volleyball playoffs. -Justin Mathis The Chesnee golf team played as close to a perfect team match as you can play as they captured the 2021 Region II-2A championship at the Links O'Tryon on Monday afternoon.
"Our girls done a great job today," said Chesnee head coach Kyle Scruggs. "Some of the girls played their best golf this year today and hopefully we'll continue to improve as we move forward towards Upper State and State championships." Chesnee golfer Sydney Roberts won the Region Player of the Year honors, for the second straight year, by shooting a tournament low score of 68. "That now gives Sydney two in a row and she almost had another one her first year here," said Scruggs. "Sydney, in my opinion, is one of the best if not the best player in the state." While Roberts had a strong outing on Monday, she wasn't the only Eagles player to have an impressive tournament as Chesnee players made up four of the five All-Region spots as they had four of the top five lowest scores. Olivia Roberts, the only other player to shoot under par on Monday, joined her older sister on the All-Region with a score of 70 while Olivia Shields (81) and Addy Parker (83) both joined the sisters on the All-Region team. "The performance by our whole team is big especially as we move into the future as Sydney is our only senior," said Scruggs. "While losing a player of Sydney's caliber will hurt next year the rest of our team is a very young group as the rest of our team is ninth graders along with an eighth grader. Eliza Whiteside (74) from Landrum was the only non-Chesnee player to earn a spot on the All-Region team. The Eagles captured the region championship by shooting a team score of 302 as they finished well ahead of the other two teams: Landrum and St. Joseph's. Scruggs said that he likes the way his team is playing as they head for the Upper State championship team next week. "I think the girls seeing the scores they shot today just boosts their confidence going forward," said Scruggs. "It shows them that if they just stay focused and play golf that they have the skill level to compete with anyone in the state at our level." Scruggs said that heading towards the Upper State championship tournament he doesn't want to mess with too much on the team but he wants to make sure they clean up the small things. "We don't want to mess with swings or anything like that but tightening up some things with our short game," said Scruggs. "We just want them to focus on playing golf." Chesnee will next compete on Monday when they travel to the Upper State championship tournament at the Boscobel Golf and Country Club in Pendleton, SC. |
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