LUGOFF – Blythewood held a 14-0 lead going toward halftime at Lugoff-Elgin, but the Demons rallied for 23-20 victory Friday night at Demons Stadium.
Blythewood (5-4, 1-2) lands in a three-way tie with Irmo and Spring Valley for third place in Region 5-4A with the loss.
After going scoreless for most off the first half, Blythewood jumped to a two-score lead with Josh Strickland’s 6-yard pass to Brandon Edwards at the 3:06 mark of the second quarter and a 40-yard Chanceler Robertson interception return for a score a minute later.
The Demons responded with Will Morris’ 20-yard TD strike to Ryan Griggs with 1:20 left in the first half.
Tyler Dixon tied things up midway through the third quarter with a 12-yard TD run, and Lugoff-Elgin took a 20-14 lead on Morris’ 9-yard run with 9:42 left in the game. The 2-point conversion attempt after that score failed, but Alex Bowers clinched the win with a 33-yard field goal to make it 23-14 Demons with 2:44 to go.
Aamir Washington’s 1-yard TD run closed the gap with 30 seconds left, but Lugoff-Elgin fell on the onside kick and ran out the clock.
Quarterback Josh Strickland was 27-for-36 in passing for 190 yards and a touchdown, but had an interception.
The Demons’ win over the Bengals salvaged their season. Needing a win to move into the 5A postseason, they put the load on Dixon. The running back had 9 carries for 105 yards—most of it coming in the second half—and a game-tying touchdown.
Blythewood’s loss puts an emphasis on the Bengals season finale Friday night, when they play host to Spring Valley. The Vikings lost 30-28 to region champion Sumter last week, but DeQuandre Smith showed out, setting a school record in passing for 476 yards and four touchdowns.
BHS – 0-14-0-6 – 20
LE – 0-7-7-9 – 23
Second Quarter
B – Brandon Edwards 6 pass from Josh Strickland (Jerry Finney kick) 3:06
B – Chanceler Robertson 40 interception return (Finney kick) 2:03
L – Ryan Griggs 20 pass from Will Morris (Alex Bowers kick) 1:20
Third Quarter
L – Tyler Dixon 12 run (Bowers kick) 6:39
Fourth Quarter
L – Morris 9 run (pass failed) 9:42
L – Bowers 33 field goal 2:44
B – Aamir Washington 2 run (kick blocked) :30
BHS LE
First Downs 20 19
Rushes-Yards 32-147 44-231
Passing Yards 190 89
Att-Com-Int 36-27-1 10-7-1
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-2
Penalties-Yards 9-82 8-31
Punts-Avg. 3-32.3 2-37.5
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Blythewood – Brandon Edwards 8-53, Desmond Boatwright 7-41, Aamir Washington 9-35, Josh Strickland 7-18, Noble Cooper 1-0. Lugoff-Elgin – Tyler Dixon 9-105, Jamari Harris 18-75, Omarion Samules 3-46, Ryan Griggs-9, Eli McGee 4-8, Scotty Dean 1-4, Will Morris 6-(-5), TEAM 2-(-11).
PASSING: Blythewood – Josh Strickland 27-36-1-190. Lugoff-Elgin – Will Morris 7-10-1-89.
RECEIVING: Blythewood – Brandon Edwards 8-47, Josh Burrell 7-37, Chase Smith 5-34, Chanceler Robertson 3-57, David Patten 3-10, Noble Cooper 1-5. Lugoff-Elgin – Ryan Griggs 2-50, Jamari Harris 2-0, Tyler Dixon 1-15, Jasper Tucker 1-13, Josh Gary 1-11.
