In a game that was a back and forth slugfest it was two big plays that decided the outcome as St Joseph’s downed Chesnee 14-7 in the Eagles Region II-AA opener.
The Knights received the opening kickoff and started the first play from scrimmage with an eighteen yard Harrison Scott run before Scott later capped off the drive with a four yard plunge to give the Knights an early 7-0 lead. Chesnee opened the third quarter on the ground with a opening drive that featured nine runs as the Eagles averaged nearly six yards a carry on the drive as all runs were by Jaylen Rudisill and Jayden Gossett. Gossett got the final carry as he scored from five yards out to tie the game at 7-7. "Our offensive line did a good job upfront on that drive,” said Chesnee head coach Clay Lewis. “We struggled with perimeter runs in the first half and decided to change it to start the second half." The Eagles next drive once again featured a run heavy offense that saw them run fourteen plays, all on the ground, but a goal line stand by the Knight's at the one yard line proved to be one of the biggest plays of the game. On the following Knights drive, thanks to a penalty, Harrison Scott gained one hundred and eight yards from scrimmage on the ground. The Eagle defense did a good job of limiting the Knight offense, who came into the game averaging nearly forty-two points a game, to just fourteen points. "Our defense after the first drive of the game played lights out,” said Lewis. “They played really, really well." Jayden Gossett led the way on the ground for the Eagles with sixty-seven yards and a score. Harrison Scott led the way for the Knights with a hundred and eighty-eight yards on the ground and a pair of scores. Dylan Bennett led the way once again defensively for the Eagles as he had seven and a half tackles while also adding his third sack in the last two weeks. Caleb Rentz had three tackles for loss and also had a big recovery on a surprise inside kick attempt by the Knight's to open the second half. The Eagles will be back at home against the Landrum Cardinals in what will be a pivotal Region II-AA matchup as the game is scheduled for a 7:30pm kickoff. After defeating the Blazers at home earlier this season, the Chesnee volleyball team saw their season series evened up against Greer Middle College on Thursday night as the Eagles fell 3-1 in the region matchup.
Chesnee dropped the first set 25-21 but were able to even up the match in the next set by capturing a 25-22 victory in set two. Greer Middle College won the next two sets 25-20 and 25-21 as the Eagles were very competitive in both but just couldn’t grab the victory in either set. ”I was proud of how we battled tonight,” said Chesnee head coach Katie Jolley. “The match didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to but we are going to keep working to improve.” Kaitlyn Barrett led the way for the Eagles finishing the match with 23 kills, 23 digs, and two ace serves while Pearl Holloway continued her excellent play with 34 assists, 14 digs and four ace serves. Brie Smith added 20 digs with five kills, and two ave serves while Kyleigh Thompson contributed 19 digs and five kills. The Eagles region record now sits at 6-3 as they head into their final regular season home match on Tuesday against Landrum in another key region matchup. In the 2021 season the only region match that the Chesnee volleyball team loss in the first half of the region season was to St. Joseph's and the Eagles were unable to get revenge for that loss on Tuesday as they fell to the Knights 3-1 but it wasn't without a fight.
The first set was a close one as the Knights came away with a 25-20 victory over the Eagles to take an early 1-0 lead in the match. With the second set tied at 24-24 the Eagles scored the final two points of the set to grab a 26-24 set victory and evened up the match at 1-1. In the third set the Knights grabbed the biggest victory of the night as they grabbed a 25-15 set victory. After being down early in the fourth set, the Eagles battled back to 24-23 before the Knights grabbed the final point of the set to grab a 25-23 set victory and claim the 3-1 match win. "We played hard against a great St. Joseph's team," said Chesnee head coach Katie Jolley. "I'm really proud of how the girls fought back after being down in the fourth set." Pearl Holloway had an impressive night for the Eagles as she had nine kills, one block, twenty-seven assists, and eleven digs against the Knights. Kaitlyn Barrett continued her strong season on Tuesday night as well finishing the match with twenty-two kills, eleven digs, and four ace serves. Kyleigh Thompson had a great night defensively for the Eagles as she recorded twenty-three digs while Haley Edmonds added eighteen digs and two aces serves. Brie Smith had another good night for the Eagles finishing the match with seventeen digs. Chesnee will return to the court on Thursday when they take their 6-2 region record on the road and travel to Greer Middle College for another region matchup before hosting Landrum on Tuesday for their last home match of the regular season. Chesnee got a big kick to end the game allowing them to pick up their first win of the season on homecoming week against the Lancers of Legion Collegiate Academy 31-28 on Friday night.
"These kids played hard tonight and they are hungry," said Chesnee head coach Clay Lewis. "We have played some close games against good competition so far and tonight they made their minds up they were gonna do whatever it took to win this game." "This win means a lot," said senior Jayden Gossett. "Our team gave one-hundred percent effort all night and it feels great to see this outcome." The momentum swung in the Eagles favor on the second play of the third Lancer drive of the game when Chesnee's Dylan Bennett was able to jar the ball free on a strip sack which was recovered by Austin Bigford in the endzone for his first varsity touchdown to put the Eagles up 7-0 with just over a minute left in the first quarter. Legion answered back on the ensuing drive as they scored on the opening play of the second quarter when Andrew Turner found Charles Green on a screen pass and then took it eight-one yards for the score to tie the game at seven all. Jaylen Rudisill and Jayden Gossett powered the Eagle's response as they combined for fifty-seven yards rushing on the ensuing drive with Gossett collecting the final sixteen on the ground to put the Eagles back in front 14-7 with just over eight minutes left in the half. After the Eagle defense forced a three and out, the Eagles this time used the air attack to reach the endzone. The first big completion by Rudisill was caught by Davis Rising who made a terrific twisting catch in traffic for a twenty-four yard gain and the second one was a twelve yard touchdown reception by Adonis Burgess in the back of the endzone to double the Eagles lead to 21-7 with just over four and a half minutes left in the first half. The Lancers cut the Eagles lead in half on their second drive of the third quarter as Grant Powell found Ian Kramer on a screen pass into an eighty-seven yard score to make the score 21-14 just past the midway point of the quarter. Chesnee responded with a persistent and efficient march down the field as they used a fifteen play drive that took off nearly seven minutes of time off the clock before Jayden Gossett punched it in on his sixth carry of the drive from two yards out to make it 28-14 with just under eleven minutes to play. After the team's traded punts the Lancers once again cashed in on a screen pass as Charles Green took Grant Powell's pass forty-six yards to the endzone to bring the Lancers to within one score with just over five minutes to play. On the next Lancer possession the Eagle defense forced fourth down with a yard to go but the Lancer's power formation allowed Judge Collier to take the direct snap and run it forty-five yards to tie the game at 28-28 with two minutes and fifteen seconds left but the score left more than enough time for the Chesnee offense to respond. Rudisill had a pair of big plays on the drive as he opened with an eighteen yard run and later completed a ten yard pass to Adonis Burgess. Three straight three yard runs set up a fourth and one on the Lancer nineteen yard line. On the fourth down Ezequiel Lazarin, who came into the game with one career field goal, stepped up to attempt the kick and nailed a kick that was straight through the uprights from thirty six yards out with fifteen seconds left in the game. "We went out there and we executed on that play," said Lewis. "We had great blocking up front and Ezequiel went in there ice cold and kicked it straight through the uprights. The whole group executed that well." "I barely saw the kick go through and didn't know it had until I saw my teammates celebrating," said Lazarin. "It feels amazing to help us get a win on homecoming." The kick proved to be the game winner as two Lancer passes fell harmlessly to the ground on the ensuing possession as time expired. At halftime, Chesnee High School crowned softball and volleyball standout Kyleigh Thompson as the 2021 Homecoming Queen. The Eagles will look to carry the momentum into next week as they open region play at St Joseph in a matchup that could go a long way in deciding the region championship. |
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