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. Comments are closed.
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