Pee Dee Academy takes down Byrnes

Pee Dee Academy and Byrnes have had a rivalry on the gridiron that spans three decades and offers stories that span a generation. This year’s edition of the cross-river duel offered it’s own special page in the history book as fans were treated to a contest that lit up the scoreboard like a pinball arcade and left heads spinning past dizzy.

The Byrnes coaches had already lit a fire of motivation under the Golden Eagles when, after a victory earlier in the year, they declared their team the best SCISA had to offer in the Pee Dee region. However, after the dust settled, they were settling for a distant second. Taking the ball first, the Trojans offense was quick to leave the field as the Golden Eagles forced a three and out.

And, once they got the ball, the scoring festivities began. A nine-yard run by Bradley George and a 17-yard jaunt by Brian Davis put the pigskin at midfield. On just the third play, Kevin Driggers took a pitch to the left side, hugged the sideline and 50 yards later had the first score of the game. George would add the two-pointer and just two minutes in, Pee Dee was ahead 8-0.

And, they did not stop there. Once again shutting down the Trojans offense, the Golden Eagles got the ball back. Driving down quickly, they put the ball back into the hands of George and he took it in from 32 yards away for the 14-0 lead. The fired up Golden Eagle defense continued to take it to the startled Trojans as only one minute after the touchdown, Cody Gibson came up with a sliding interception of Lee Schurlknight’s pass.

His efforts were rewarded on the ensuing drive. Down in the red zone, quarterback Charlie Fincannon of Pee Dee hit Gibson with a pass on the right side and four yards later, it was 20-0. The two-point conversion was good from Fincannon to Driggers and Byrnes was in a large hole and needed an answer quickly.

Schurlknight would go to work and the signal caller that has riddled SCISA defenses with over 1,600 yards passing finally started to do his damage. Driving down into the Golden Eagles red zone, he gave it up to Barrett Goodson, who slammed it in from six yards away. The failed PAT had the home team still down by 16 and still in need of a defensive stop.

But, it still would not come. Just two minutes after the Trojans drew closer, George continued his mastery of the Byrnes defense with an eight-yard score to make it 28-6 with 6:55 to go in the half. However, the grasp that the Golden Eagles had worked to hard to obtain on the ball game slipped through their fingers in a matter of minutes.

Before the half could come to a close, Schurlknight would hit Joseph Harvin with a 40-rd score and, after a Pee Dee turnover, would take it in himself for threeyard plunge that made it only 28-21 at the half.
   
And, matters compounded themselves as an old nemesis showed itself midway through the third. Two weeks ago, the Golden Eagles had a game turned on an inadverdent whistle. This time, on the Trojans first offensive set of the second half, an apparent interception was once again taken away amidst the controversy of an ill-timed whistle and penalty. This time, however, Pee Dee showed character by turning the situation in their favor.

A fired up defense once again pushed the Trojans back and then jarred the ball loose from the back. Jamie Estes recovered the fumble on the seven and one play later, George took it in for his third touchdown. Fincannon’s 2-pointer made it 36-21, but Byrnes refused to quit.

Schurlknight would drive them down the field into Golden Eagle territory and then would find Chad “Siete” Scott in the back corner for the score. The PAT cut it to 36-28 at the end of three and the tension rose for a fourth quarter that could make or break both team’s seasons.

Like champions, the Golden Eagles came out focused. Time and again the defense rose to the task and never allowed the Trojans to get closer than eight. Again, the battled to midway through the quarter before someone broke the big play. This time, it was Pee Dee’s Walker Moore, who broke four tackles, spun his way to a 38-yard scoring run and restored the two-touchdown lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, Byrnes mis-handled the ball and Jed Hayes was there for the recovery. The final nail in the coffin of the Trojans was hammered home by George. The junior, who finished the night with an astonishing 257 yards rushing and four scores, took in his final one with a 69-yard burst.

“The line really stepped up tonight. We had a few new guys up front and everyone worked well,“ said George of his night. “We were fired up at the beginning and when you get out there, you just get into the game. We ran a couple of different plays for me tonight and the holes just opened up.“

Fincannon’s two-point pass to Driggers finished the scoring in a huge 50-28 win that moves the Golden Eagles to 3-4 on the year.

Fincannon finished with 82 yards rushing and Pee Dee had a team total of 489 yards on the ground. He would also throw one touchdown pass and complete 4 of 6 for 50 yards. Driggers finished with 67 total yards and Moore had 47 yards and a touchdown on only two carries. Cole McClam led a defense that forced four turnovers as he had 11 tackles.

Estes and Hayes had fumble recoveries while Gibson and Fincannon picked off Schurlknight on two errant throws. The defense held the Byrnes quarterback to 155 yards on 19 of 33 passing.