What I Did Last Night

Football history was made Friday night when the Hardeeville Hurricanes defeated the division rivals Whale Branch Warriors, 32-12, in the first round of the South Carolina Class 1-A, Division II, playoffs. It was the first playoff victory by the Hurricanes in the short history of the school.



Hardeeville had beaten Whale Branch earlier this year. 33-8, in a conference game on Sept. 17.


The game featured a balanced rushing attack in which four different Hurricanes runners scored touchdowns. Halfback Michael Kinlaw led the way with 98 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns. Jarrell Knighton added 97 yards on 12 carries, quarterback Donald Scott had 69 yards on nine carries, and Phillip Harris added 23 yards on two carries.


The offensive play of the game came in the fourth quarter when J. Knighton, who had rushed for 1,006 regular season yards, powered his way up the middle for 40 yards.


“When I cut back,” said Knighton, “I saw there was some open field. In my freshman year I would have gone around them but this time I decided to go over them.”


The Hurricanes’ defense, which was on the field for the majority of the game, was led by Dominique Riley with 15 tackles. Terrell Knighton added eight tackles, Aaron Grant added six tackles, and Harris, Brandon Blackshear, and J. Knighton each had five. The tenacious defense forced five fumbles and intercepted the ball three times, twice by Blackshear and once, the game clincher, by Gabriel Washington.


Whale Branch scored twice, first on a 22 yard run by quarterback Stedmon James and lastly by a halfback option pass from Josh Fields to wide receiver Dee Delaney.


Defensive coach Chris Staton was relieved. “The defense bended, but didn’t break. The only two scores by Whale Branch came from trick plays, but our guys make plays when it was needed.” Staton added: “We wound up using everyone we had on the field and everyone stood up to the challenge.”


Head coach Blake Staley was philosophical: “We played a great game, made the plays when needed and now it’s time to get ready for next week.” Raley added praise for his running back tandem of J. Knighton and Kinlaw: “You’re not going to find a better one-two punch then those two.”


The Hurricanes move on to the second round Nov.12, where they will take on the winner of the Denmark-Olar game against Blackville-Hilda, which was also played on Friday night.