The Wilson Tigers have never played for a state championship in football.
But for the second straight year, they’ve earned a shot at reaching the elusive title game.
On Friday night, Wilson knocked off Strom Thurmond 21-14 for a berth in next week’s Class 3A lower state championship at Crestwood.
Should the Tigers defeat Crestwood — a 37-28 winner over Myrtle Beach last night — they will make their first ever appearance in the state championships at Williams-Brice Stadium on Dec. 1.
“God continues to bless our program with great athletes,” said Wilson coach Darryl Page. “They played well tonight and now we get another chance to do something the school has never done before.”
Immediately following the win over Strom Thurmond, Page didn’t know the outcome of the Crestwood-Myrtle Beach game.
“Whoever we play, we know we’ll have to prepare well,” said Page, whose Tigers lost 37-32 at Crestwood on Oct. 12. “We’ll do the best we can and hopefully things will go our way.”
Against Strom Thurmond, Wilson sacked Aramis Hillary — a South Carolina commitment — six times and forced five turnovers.
The Tigers also held Strom Thurmond to minus-8 yards rushing on 25 attempts.
“Our defense played outstanding, but we didn’t cash in (the turnovers) like we could have,” Page said. “The offense made the plays when we had to have them, though.”
With 8:10 to play in the first quarter, Richard Cue put Wilson on the board with a 10-yard run. Robbie Bananno kicked the first of three PATs to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead.
The Tigers (10-3) made it 14-0 when Bivins Elliott pulled in an 8-yard pass from Cue with 13 seconds to play in the first half.
Strom Thurmond (8-5) pulled within 14-7 on a 2-yard run by Hillary at the 10-minute mark of the fourth.
A 1-yard run from Maliek McCall pushed Wilson to a 21-7 lead with 3:08 to play before Strom Thurmond made it 21-14 on an 8-yard Hillary TD pass with 1:18 left.
Cue completed 5 of 11 passes for 115 yards, while McCall completed 4 of 6 attempts for 50 yards and rushed for 69 yards on eight carries.
Hillary finished with 170 yards on 21-of-32 passing.
W 7 7 0 7 — 21
ST 0 0 0 14 — 14
First quarter
W — Richard Cue 10 run (Robbie Bananno kick), 8:10.
Second quarter
W — Bivins Elliott 8 pass from Cue (Bananno kick), :13.
Fourth quarter
ST — Hillary 2 run (Navarro kick), 10:00.
W — Maliek McCall 1 run (Bananno kick), 3:08.
ST — Curry 8 pass from Hillary (Navarro kick), 1:18.
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