Chesnee won the battle of the Eagles on Friday night as they pulled out a 31-20 road win in West Columbia, SC against the Airport Eagles.
"I tell the kids that the best team wins 100% of the time not the best individuals,” said Chesnee head coach Clay Lewis. “When we play together as a group and we execute we do pretty good." Chesnee opened up the scoring on their second possession of the game as Nyquille O'Fair scored on a quarterback sneak to give Chesnee a 7-0 lead with just over two minutes to go in the first quarter. The drive was sparked by a big sixteen yard pass from O'Fair to Cole Hoskyns on third down where Hoskyns made a beautiful one handed snag to secure the first down. Airport responded on the ensuing drive as Tyler Dasher found Immanuel Bovain on a wheel route for a thirty yard score to tie it up at seven midway through the second quarter. On the ensuing drive Chesnee responded as Camden Burns punched it in from five yards out to give Chesnee the lead again at 14-7 midway through the second quarter. Bryson Thompson helped spark the drive with thirty-nine yards rushing. After a few exchanges of possession, Chesnee got the ball back at their own thirty-five yard line with just under ninety seconds left in the half. The Eagles needed just five plays as O'Fair found KJ Valentine in the end zone from five yards out to give Chesnee a 21-7 halftime lead. "It felt great to make the big plays with the support of my teammates,” said Valentine. “It was a great feeling to catch my first touchdown of the season." On the opening possession of the third quarter Airport's Tyler Dasher found Layne Turner for a thirteen yard gain but the Chesnee defense stiffened and forced Airport to punt four plays later. Chesnee built on their lead on the ensuing possession as O'Fair punched it in from one yard out for his second touchdown of the night. Valentine had a big nine yard reception on the drive to set Chesnee up with a first and goal situation from the Airport two yard line. Airport responded to the Eagles score with a long drive sparked by big runs from Immanuel Bovain and a couple of Chesnee penalties. Chesnee denied Airport of points on the drive through as Lorenzo Duren picked off an Airport pass in the end zone to end the scoring threat. Chesnee hit a big play immediately after the turnover as O'Fair ran for a fifty-one yard gain to set the Eagles up at the Airport twenty-nine yard line. Chesnee settled for an Ian Harris forty yard field goal to give them a 31-7 lead with under thirty seconds to go in third quarter. The Eagles defense once again forced a turnover as KJ Valentine picked off a pass that was deflected by Blake Wilson. Airport forceed a turnover of their own two plays later and immediately scored on an eighty-seven yard run by Immanuel Bovain. The Airport defense came up big again as they forced a three and out and after a couple of Chesnee penalties on the ensuing drive capped it off with a six yard touchdown pass from Tyler Dasher to Landon Smith. After Airport missed the point after attempt it put the Chesnee lead at 31-20. The Airport onside attempt went outbounds at the Chesnee forty-five and was the last time Airport touched the ball as Chesnee ate up the final five minutes and fifty seconds of playing time with a nine play drive that ended at the Airport nine yard line with Chesnee kneeling in the victory formation. Chesnee had a great night on the ground as they grinded out three hundred twenty-two yards and had four rushers over fifty yards. The A-Backs had a big night as starters Praise Edrington and Bryson Thompson combined for one hundred and twenty-six yards rushing on fourteen carries. "I had good blocking from my teammates up front and good blocking on the outside from our receivers,” said Edrington. “I came to Chesnee not too long ago and these boys have pulled me in like family." Senior signal caller Nyquille O'Fair had a well balanced night as he completed six of seven passes for sixty-three yards and a score along with running it twelve times for eighty-six yards and two scores. "He's a great quarterback,” said Valentine about O’Fair. “I really look up to him. I told him to throw it to my back should and he put it right on target and that allowed me to get the touchdown." Dylan Bennett led the Eagles defensively with five and a half tackles and two of those were tackles for loss Chesnee had a long trip down I-26 before the contest and Coach Lewis was pleased with how his team started out of the gate after the long trip. "We are trying to get better each week, and they did a good job of preparing this week,” said Lewis. “No matter where we play or when we play I expect our guys to give 110% effort." Chesnee will face Ninety-six next week at Chesnee as the school celebrates homecoming. Comments are closed.
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