CLINTON – Fairfield Central avenged last season’s Upper State Championship loss at Clinton with a dominating 42-7 win Friday night at Wilder Stadium.
Red Devil Football Head Coach Corey Fountain said last week that the Griffins, after their second win this season over Andrew Jackson, would come into Wilder Stadium “with a chip on their shoulder.”
He didn’t realize that “chip” would be the size of a fully grown oak tree.
Fairfield jumped on Clinton for a 28-0 halftime lead, and the Red Devils didn’t score until they were down 35-0 in the 3rd quarter when Clinton’s Chris Boyd scooped up his own team’s fumble and took it into the end zone.
On Fairfield Central’s first offensive possession, Clinton gifted the visitors 25 yards of turf on penalties, setting the stage for the Griffins’ first score on a tipped pass. The next Fairfield Central touchdown was on a 68-yard pass play from Kaden Diggs to Ty’quarius Shannon.
The Griffins’ offense was balanced – 47 runs for 205 yards and 8 completions in 11 attempts for 228 yards passing. Milking the play clock with a large lead, FC controlled the ball for 31:03, to Clinton’s 16:57.
Senior Kaden Diggs threw four touchdown passes and rushed for a fifth. Kenyan Douglas had a rushing touchdown. Shannon had three TD receptions and Dre Walker had one.
Clinton (9-4) completed one pass for 10 yards and surrendered two interceptions.
At 10-3, Fairfield Central has its state championship hopes alive, but the Griffins will travel Friday to Strom Thurmond for the Upper State Championship. The Rebels (11-2) blanked Chester for three quarters and beat the Cyclones 31-8 last week.
The winner of Friday’s game will play the winner of the Hampton County (10-3) vs. Central (11-1) lower-state championship matchup in the 2A state championship game in Orangeburg at South Carolina State’s Oliver C. Dawson Stadium on Dec. 6.
Fairfield Central last reached the 2A title game in 2013, and won back-to-back 3A state championships in 1996 and 1997.