The Chesnee Eagles fell 35-7 to the Chapman Panthers on senior night as both teams concluded their regular seasons on Friday night. Despite the loss Chesnee head coach Clay Lewis was pleased with his team's performance.
"I thought our kids played hard but we came up short," said Lewis. " I thought we got better as the game went along and that is a very good football team." After Chesnee had a long opening drive that chewed up a over four minutes off the clock Chapman quickly put points on the board when Mikele Colasurdo found Dante Smith on a short screen route and then raced down the sideline for a fifty yard score to put the Panthers up 7-0. Chapman scored again on their next possession as Brandon Jones ran it in from twenty-nine yards out to put the Panthers lead at 14-0 with just over a minute left in the first quarter and it was the next to last offensive snap for the Panthers in the half. After the score the Chesnee offense went on a long offensive drive led by the offense line that ate up over eight minutes of the game clock. Chapman forced the Eagles into a fourth down situation near the Panthers thirty-five yard line that resulted in a seventy yard pick six for Chapman. To make matters worse for the Eagles quarterback Jacob Kimbrell was injured on the play and missed the remainder of the first half. After halftime Chapman was set to receive the opening kickoff of the second half but an onside kick by Chesnee's Ian Harris was recovered by Harris at the Panther's forty-nine yard line and gave the Eagles the ball with great field position. The Eagles fans after the kickoff let out a loud cheer as senior quarterback Jacob Kimbrell reentered the game to start the second half. "Jacob Kimbrell is maybe one of the toughest kids I've ever coached," said Lewis. "He is a winner and he is going to go out there and give you everything he's got. He has been a leader for us all year long, and I didn't expect anything less out of him." The Eagles scored on the ensuing possession as Jacob Aparis scored on a one yard run that made the score 21-7 in favor of Chapman as Chesnee used up over four and a half minutes off the clock on the drive. After the Eagles had the Panthers backed up into a third and long, a roughing the passer penalty gave Chapman a first down at their own twenty-five yard line. On the following play, Colasurdo found DaShun Mitchell for a seventy-five yard touchdown pass that put the Panther's lead at 28-7. On the Panthers next possession Colasurdo found Mitchell again this time from fifty yards out. as Mitchell finished the game with two catches for 125 yards and a pair of scores. The Chesnee defense held the Panthers to their lowest scoring output of the season by thirteen points. "The defense played well especially in the second half," said Lewis. "We gave up a couple of things in the first half but the defense played well and they are getting better. I thought we had a good game plan." Jacob Aparis lead the Eagles offensively with eighty-five yards rushing and a touchdown. Chesnee will travel to Seneca in the opening round of the AAA playoffs next Friday. Comments are closed.
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