By John Epps
McLendon Stadium
Winnsboro, SC
The story of the night at McLendon Stadium in Winnsboro was the speed of the Fairfield Central Griffins in their 33-16 win over the Andrew Jackson Volunteers in Week 1. The multitude of weapons the Griffins displayed is evident in the five different players that saw the endzone.
The Griffins were not only fast on the field, but they started fast by getting on the board just over 2 minutes into the action when Myles Robertson capped off the opening drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. Robertson and the Griffins would not get back in the endzone until the first play of the 2nd quarter though, when he punched it in from 2 yards out on 4th down to go up 13-0.
Andrew Jackson showed life on their ensuing drive, going 60 yards down the field culminating in a Curt Thomas Horton 25-yard field goal. The Vols did miss an opportunity on 3rd down though when Hayden Williams could not snag a Brady Williams fastball at the 2 for what would have been a walk-in score. The brightest fireworks of the game happened on the ensuing kickoff that would be fumbled by the Griffins and recovered by the AJ "man of the hour", kicker Curt Thomas Horton at the Fairfield Central 38. The Vols would drive, but a tipped pass along the sideline would be intercepted by the Griffins at the 8-yard line. Fairfield Central would then go 92 yards to stretch the lead to 20-3 when Sophomore Cam McMillon showed excellent touch connecting with KJ Golden on a 14-yard touchdown in the back corner of the endzone. In the final 4 minutes of the 1st half, AJ tried to stretch the field but the WRs and QB just could not find the correct rhythm, a theme that would continue throughout the game. The Vols would break into the second level on the last play of the half, but that Griffin speed was able to track down the ball carrier to push him out at Griffin 20 as the clock expired.
Seemingly in for a long second half, the Vols would score in just over a minute on the opening 2nd half drive when Damais Seegars streaked nearly untouched for a 30-yard run. Unfortunately for AJ, they would not be able to close the gap any further.
Fairfield Central’s TyDarion Grier would join the party with a 72-yard TD on a pop pass from McMillon, and extend the Griffins’ lead to 26-10. AJ would threaten late in the 3rd quarter, but had another redzone drive stall on a 4th & 3 at the Griffin at 13 yard line. Andrew Jackson’s heart and soul would get into the box score in the 4th quarter, when human bulldozer Trey Thompson scored on an 8-yard run. The Vols would go for 2, but the QB keeper comes up short, keeping AJ at arm's length, 26-16.
An interesting move with 6:12 left in the ball game, AJ is faced with a 4th down at their own 43, and elect to punt the ball back to the big play Griffins. They would get a stop, but some McLendon magic strikes, as the snap on the punt deep in Griffin territory bounces back to the punter. An AJ defender slams into the punter as he gets the kick off, but incredibly the ball is not touched by AJ, resulting in a 1st down for roughing the kicker. The drive would then lead to the Griffins' final touchdown of the night with 3:57 to play, when McMillon connected the low risk pop pass to Jalen Mozie for a 57-yard score.
Major takeaways tonight: Fairfield Central is certainly a contender with big play ability from QB McMillon, RB Robertson, and speed on the outside with Grier and Golden. We will find out a lot more about the Griffins next week when they travel north on Hwy. 321 for a date with 3A contender, the Chester Cyclones. The talented Thompson led Vols will get no breaks next week, as they square off against a lethal 3A opponent of their own in the Crestwood Knights over in Sumter County.
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