Hartsville sprints past Conway, 48-21

The Hartsville Red Foxes (7-1) bolted out to a 34-7 halftime lead, and absorbed a brief second half surge from Conway, to emerge victorious 48-21 at home Friday night to win their second region contest.

The win featured the return of quarterback Shawn Smith (7 of 9 passes, 110 yards and 1 TD), who perhaps allowed his running backs to handle most of the duties, but proved effective when needed.  He was without prime target Brandon Beans (1 catch for eight yards) much of the night, who was injured on an early catch but apparently not seriously.

Like last week against Carolina Forest, Hartsville jumped out to an early lead.

“Tonight the important thing for us was it came in three different phases,” Head Coach Jeff Calabrese said. “We got the offensive touchdown, we got a pick for a touchdown, and we then we got the blocked kick, which put us down at the 1-yard line.  When you play a tough team like Conway, it’s good having a little lead [early].”
The lead would come in handy in the beginning of the second half.

It was all Hartsville early, beginning with a methodical drive deep into Conway territory, featuring Hartsville runners working the middle of the field for consistent yardage. Smith would connect with Beans up to the Conway 14 yard line on the play that would end Beans’ night.

Smith would then prove he was mobile enough to make plays, scampering to his right to make it first and goal for Hartsville. Running back Dre Scott (18 carries for 148 yards, 2 TDs) would punch it in to make it 7-0 (after the extra point) with 8:12 to go in the first quarter.

The following series, Hartsville’s defense would step up on fourth down to stuff Conway to force a change of possession on the Hartsville 47-yard line. Ronnie Jackson would then snag a 22-yard pass from Smith to take it to the Conway 14-yard line. With 3:21 left in the first, Eric Williams (who added 6 carries for 27 yards and two TDS) hauled in a Smith pass for the Red Foxes to take a two touchdown lead.

“There were some things we tried to limit a little bit [with Smith off the injury], but I thought he played well,” Calabrese said.

The onslaught would continue, at the 2:25 mark of the quarter, as defender Jacob Cole stole a pass and hustled about 45 yards down the sideline to make it 20-0 Hartsville, just like that.

Misery loved company for Conway, as the Tigers on the next series tried a quick punt which was quickly blocked by Victor Venson and recovered at the one-yard line, which was followed by an easy touchdown by Smith to make it 27-0 with 28 ticks left in the first.

With 8:42 to go in the second quarter, Conway would finally dent the scoreboard on a long pass play to make it 27-7.

But Hartsville would answer with a Smith lob to Nyquan Pearson to the goal line, which set up a short touchdown to make it 34-7, which would stand until the third quarter.

Conway would get riled up at halftime though and would come out swinging, as the Tigers quarterback surged up the middle and broke free to sprint downfield to make it 34-14. Soon after on a fourth down, Conway would strike with a 45-yard touchdown pass, and suddenly it was 34-21 with plenty of time left.

“We knew Conway had big play potential, their quarterback, only a freshman, is going to be a tremendous football player,” Calabrese said.

With tension growing among the suddenly quieter Hartsville faithful, following a sack the Hartsville offense faced a 3rd-and-15 from deep in their own territory. In a pivotal play, running back Ronnie Jackson (11 carries, 67 yards) would shake off a tackler and rumble for a Red Fox first down to the 37-yard line.

“Our offensive line did a great job, and Ronnie Jackson had a tough, physical run, breaking a tackle,” Calabrese said. “That was huge.”

Dre Scott would go to work, punishing Conway defenders with stiff arms, and finishing off the drive with a scamper up the right side to make it 41-21 with 4:53 to go in the third quarter. With 2:23 to go in the third, Hartsville defender Bruce Funderburke (7 tackles, two sacks) would wrestle down the Conway quarterback on third down to effectively seal the win. On offense, Will Lucas also caught two balls for 49 yards and 1 TD.
Other defensive standouts included Adam Peterson (7 tackles, 1 INT), DeShane Foxx (7 tackles), Stephen Segars (6 tackles) and Keiwan McDonald (1 INT).

Next up is West Florence, at Kelleytown Stadium this Friday night at 7:30. West Florence is coming off being on the run end of a 56-7 score against Sumter.

“Each and every conference game is critically important,” Calabrese said. “West Florence is getting better every week, and quite frankly we haven’t had a lot of success against them lately, so it’s a big game.”