Chesnee used a pair of first half scores to down Newberry 14-12 in the first round of the 2A playoffs on Friday night. The win was the Eagles first home playoff win since a 55-40 win over Chesterfield in 2014.
"It feels great to get the first home playoff win in six years," said Chesnee head coach Clay Lewis. "I'm real proud of the kids and the coaches." After a back and forth affair through the first quarter the Eagles got the first big break of the game as the Bulldog's had issues with a snap on a punt attempt that gave the Eagles the ball at the Bulldogs three yard line. Quarterback Nyquille O'Fair quickly ran it in for a touchdown on the first play of the ensuing drive to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead with thirty seconds remaining in the first quarter. The Eagle defense once again came up with a big stop turning the ball back over to the Chesnee offense for a drive that ate up nearly five minutes of the clock. The drive was sparked by an impressive one handed catch near the right side boundary by Praise Edrington to give the Eagles the ball at the three yard line. Camden Burns capped the drive off on the next play with a three yard touchdown run to double the Eagles lead to 14-0 with under five minutes to go in the half. On the ensuing Bulldog drive they converted a fourth down attempt on the legs of KJ Robinson but two plays later Chesnee's Kjymie Valentine ended the Bulldogs drive with his third interception of the season. Newberry opened the second half with a strong drive that lasted ten plays but ended when Chesnee's Corey Seay recovered a Bulldog fumble to end the threat. After the Bulldogs forced a three and out for the Eagles, they hammered out a thirteen play drive that took six minutes off the clock and was capped off by a four yard touchdown run by KJ Robinson to make the score 14-6 after Chesnee's Corey Seay was able to get a paw on the point after attempt to hold the Bulldogs to just six points. "That was a big play," said Lewis about the block point after attempt by Seay. "They go down and score but that block by Corey forced them to have to come down and score again along with forcing them to go for two." After a Chesnee turnover Newberry responded with another long drive that saw Zsyheim Epps hit Zack Chalmers for a thirty-three yard gain through the air. The Bulldogs pulled within two when Craig Austin capped off the drive by rumbling in from ten yards out to put the score at 14-12 in favor of Chesnee. Newberry was forced to go for two and almost got it on a Philly special type play but a great defensive play by Chesnee's Davion Stradford kept the Eagles lead at two. After O'Fair caught the pooch kick he then led the Chesnee offense on a five minute, eleven play drive that ended the game as he accounted for sixty yards on the final drive. "I try to let my teammates know everyday in practice that they can lean on me," said O'Fair about his performance on the final drive. "I strive to show them that." Camden Burns led all rushers with one hundred and twenty-five yards on twenty-one carries while also adding a touchdown run to his stat book. O'Fair had thirteen carries for ninety-eighty yards and a score to go along with two completions for seventeen yards. Dylan Bennett and Brandon Mills led the Eagles with six tackles a piece while Corey Seay had four tackles to go a long with the blocked point after attempt and fumble recovery. KJ Robinson led Bulldogs with one hundred and twenty-four yards on the ground with a touchdown run of his own. Chesnee will travel to Abbeville next Friday night to compete in the second round of the 2A playoffs. The winner of that matchup will be competing in the Upper State championship game. Comments are closed.
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