Chesterfield wins third straight state title

ORANGEBURG — A familiar sight of Chesterfield blue and yellow dotted the home stands at Oliver Dawson Stadium on Friday at the Class A Division I state championship.

But the familiar sounds of cowbells and air horns among the crowd soon gave way to a word very few have been able to chant: “Three-peat.”

Bolstered by another near-perfect defensive performance and a 174-yard rushing performance from Derrick McQueen, the Rams captured their third straight championship with a 36-6 win over Lamar.

The win marks the third title in four straight trips to Orangeburg for the Rams (14-0).

“It never gets old,” Rams coach Steve Taneyhill said. “We knew at the beginning of the year that we had a special group. They’ve been here every year of their high school careers, and they were determined to go out on top.”

Taneyhill praised his seniors and his defense, a unit that posted eight shutouts this season and was the backbone of the Rams’ perfect season, he said.

“We just get 11 hats to the ball,” senior defensive lineman Moon Edwards said. “We pressure and we get to the ball. That’s our game plan.”

That plan worked to perfection against Silver Foxes. Chesterfield sacked Lamar quarterback Trevor Norris three times and forced three interceptions, one for a touchdown, and a fumble.

“It’s a great defense,” Lamar coach J.R. Boyd said. “They did to us what they’ve pretty much done to everyone else. They pressure and swarm the ball.

“We had a tough time against that, and we also made a couple of mistakes on some drives that cost us.”

Two big ones came in the second quarter. Already trailing 14-0, a holding call negated a 15-yard touchdown pass from Norris to Eric Daney on the Silver Foxes’ first real drive of the game. Lamar was forced to try to convert a fourth down and didn’t make it.

“Anytime you have something like that happen, it’s tough,” Norris said. “You think you have the momentum, then it’s gone.”

Another came in the form of Norris’ first interception during Lamar’s next possession. Chesterfield took over at the Silver Foxes’ 47-yard line and needed just five plays to punch it in for another score just before the half.

McQueen scored on a 3-yard run as the Rams took a 20-0 lead into the half.

“I thought we were going to come out throwing, but coach Taneyhill said we could run the ball,” McQueen said. “I just took the ball and followed by blocks. I can’t say enough about the way the offensive line played.”

Jonathan Murvin returned Norris’ second interception midway through the third quarter for a score as the Rams bolstered their lead to 27-0.

Lamar was finally able to get on the board after a Rams’ fumble at the start of the fourth quarter.

Norris found Tarik Jones streaking down the sidelines and connected with the senior wideout on a 72-yard quick strike. Norris finished with 194 yards passing.

But that was as close as the Silver Foxes got, finishing with 217 yards of total offense.

“I’m proud of how hard our kids fought to get here,” Boyd said. “We’re young, only using a couple seniors, so hopefully, now that they’ve gotten a taste of this, they’ll want to work just as hard to get back here.”

After all, Boyd added, the Lamar team that won three straight titles during his first tenure lost their first state title game appearance, too.

For the Rams, junior quarterback Seth Truesdale added to his already impressive resume by passing for 156 yards and two touchdowns, both for 25-plus yards in the first half.

Chesterfield finished with 352 yards of offense, 196 on the ground.

“We felt like with their two-deep safeties that we could have a lot of success running the ball,” Taneyhill said. “I love to throw ball, and that’s what I love to coach.

“But I love to win more.”