Rodriguez Edmonds (33) finds the corner of the Columbia defense. (Photo/DeAnna Robinson)
WINNSBORO (Oct. 1, 2016) – For the second week in a row, the Fairfield Central Griffins football squad came from behind to roll over an opponent, although not from quite as far behind as last week’s 32-17 rally over A.C. Flora. And not quite as dramatically.
With 5:19 left in the first quarter Friday night, Columbia wide receiver Johran Broadnax worked his way behind the Griffins secondary just enough to haul in a perfectly placed 57-yard shooting star from quarterback Jordan Puch and lumber into the end zone. Fairfield Central had opened the game with a 75-yard scoring drive, capped by Stanley McManus’s 13-yard TD pass to Antonio Jackson. The Griffins’ point-after kick was no good, but on the responding end, Htoo Kler’s PAT for the Capitals gave Columbia a 7-6 edge at the end of their 71-yard drive.
After that, however, the rally – and the rout – were on, as the Griffins pummeled Columbia High School 49-15 on a cool Homecoming night at E.K. McLendon Stadium.
“They made the deep ball on us. That team is a much-improved Columbia team,” Griffins head coach Demetrius Davis said. “That’s the first time, I think, we’ve ever trailed Columbia High. I was a little worried there for a second, but offensively we were able to come back and make some plays. But they’ve got some kids who can run around out there.”
Indeed, Columbia’s Nate Miller rambled for 113 yards on 18 carries, out-rushing his entire team whose negative efforts against the Griffins defense brought the Caps’ ground total to just 95 yards on the night.
Miller’s endeavors provided the only silver lining for Columbia, whose lead vanished like an early morning fog baked off the streets by the rising sun.
Theron Byrd’s return of the ensuing kick spotted the Griffins at the Columbia 34. Four snaps later, on a second-and-7, Jerrell Suber-O’Neal sliced his way into the end zone from 20 yards out. The 2-point pass attempt fell incomplete, but the Griffins, with 3:38 to go in the first, had secured the lead for good at 13-7.
“We ran the ball good, and we blocked good,” Davis said. “We’ve got three very good backs (in Suber-O’Neal, Tony Ruff and Rodriguez Edmonds). Nobody gets tired. We get a chance to use them all.”
On a night that featured 10 different Griffin ball carriers, Ruff led the charge with 60 rushing yards and a second-quarter score. Edmonds ran up 43 yards to go along with a pair of second-quarter touchdowns, while Suber-O’Neal was one of three Griffins to contribute 30 yards. McManus and Jamon Jackson were the other members of the 30 Club.
McManus closed out the first-quarter scoring with a 41-yard strike to Jamas Goins with 1:09 on the clock. McManus also booted in the PAT to put Fairfield Central up 19-7.
“I think he (McManus) threw some good balls tonight,” Davis said. “When we needed him to make a play, he made a play.”
By the time the halftime festivities got underway, Ruff’s 34-yard scoring scamper, bookended by TD runs of 19 and 4 yards by Edmonds, had given the Griffins a comfortable 39-7 lead.
“I thought we did a good job being focused, being that it was homecoming,” Davis said. “You know, we’ve always got a lot of distractions. You’ve got kids at halftime running for King, all kind of stuff. We were able to get through that. We needed that. These past four weeks have been stressful. We’ve been banged up.”
McManus tacked 3 onto the lead when he banged in a rare Griffins’ field goal from 33 yards out at the 5:04 mark in the third.
Malik Butler wrapped up the onslaught when he scooped up a Drequan Goodwin fumble at the Columbia 17 and raced into the end zone with 1:05 to play in the third. The PAT kick by Antonio Martinez was good for the last of the 49 Fairfield Central points.
After being shut out for nearly 33 minutes of play, the Capitals got back on the board when Miller rushed into the paint from 9 yards out with 9:55 left in the game. Ali Cannon snatched the 2-point pass from Puch for the 49-15 final.
The win makes the Griffins 1-0 in 3A Region IV and 5-2 overall. Next week, Fairfield Central travels to Camden for their first road game in region play.
The Bulldogs, who were off this week, are 3-3 on the season. Remarkably, they have yet to win a game at home.
“It’s going to be a tough one,” Davis said. “It’s a road game, a T.V. game – we’re playing on WATCH-Fox. It’s going to be a good game, but we’ve got to go get it. They were off this week, so they’ll have had two weeks to prepare for us. We’ve just got to take advantage of our time. We got that first region win, now we’ve got to see if we can get three more.”
CHS: 7-0-0-8 – 15
FCHS: 19-20-10-0 – 49
Scoring
First Quarter
FC – Antonio Jackson 13 pass from Stanley McManus (kick failed). 7:59.
C – Johran Broadnax 57 pass from Jordan Puch (Htoo Kler kick). 5:19.
FC – Jerrell Suber-O’Neal 20 run (pass failed). 3:38.
FC – Jamas Goins 41 pass from S. McManus (S. McManus kick). 1:09.
Second Quarter
FC – Rodriguez Edmonds 19 run (Monterius Seabrooks kick). 7:18.
FC – Tony Ruff 34 run (Antonio Martinez kick). 4:37.
FC – R. Edmonds 4 run (kick failed). 0:27.
Third Quarter
FC – S. McManus 33 FG. 5:04.
FC – Malik Butler 17 fumble return (A. Martinez kick). 1:05.
Fourth Quarter
C – Nate Miller 9 run (Ali Cannon 3 pass from J. Puch). 9:55.
TEAM STATS
C FC
First Downs 6 11
Rushes-Yards 31-95 32-202
Passing Yards 65 130
C-A-I 2-8-0 8-13-0
Fumbles-Lost 5-2 0-0
Penalties-Yards 3-25 4-45
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING: C – Nate Miller 18-113, Drequan Goodwin 10-16, Jordan Puch 3-(-34). FC – Jerrell Suber-O’Neal 7-30, Z. Evans 3-(-6), Stanley McManus 3-30, Malik Butler 2-8, Ah’Quil Ross 1-(-2), Antonio Jackson 1-2, Tony Ruff 4-60, Jamon Jackson 5-30, Rodriguez Edmonds 5-43, Rodric Woodard 1-7.
RECEIVING: C – Johran Broadnax 1-57, Nate Miller 1-0, Thomas Green 1-8. FC – Jamas Goins 2-79, J.R. Edmonds 3-26, Antonio Jackson 2-19, Ah’Quil Ross 1-6.
PASSING: C – Jordan Puch 2-8, 65 yards, TD. FC – Stanley McManus 7-9, 124 yards, 2 TDs; Antonio Jackson 1-4, 6 yards.
