Beaufort High stumbles in regular-season finale

Friday's regular-season finale was supposed to be a stepping stone, a chance for Beaufort High to regain its footing after a lopsided defeat at Summerville and move forward on a positive stride into the postseason. Instead, a slew of fundamental mistakes left the Eagles looking back, hoping that the story of last year's season-ending, three-game collapse would not be rewritten.

Behind nine penalties and three turnovers, the Eagles squandered an early lead that they would never recover, resulting in a 24-14 loss to Goose Creek and forcing Beaufort to enter the playoffs on a two-game losing streak for the second straight season.

"The way I visualized us getting the victory was battling Goose Creek toe-to-toe and matching them on the scoreboard," said Eagles coach Mark Clifford, who's lost consecutive games on just two other occasions in his six years as coach. "With the way both teams play, I knew whichever team got behind would struggle and unfortunately tonight, it was us."

Both Clifford and his players had trouble explaining how they got into catch-up mode against the Gators.

The game began with the Eagle defense using physical play to force three-and-outs on Goose Creek's first two possessions. In between, Beaufort's offense quickly moved downfield, twice converting on third down during a 12-play, 77-yard drive that was capped by Josh McPherson's 4-yard touchdown run.

But a Gator offense that had yet to produce a first down got the boost it needed when linebacker Dontavia Reed intercepted Beaufort quarterback Beau Brown's pass and returned it 30 yards to the Eagle 1-yard line. From there, fullback Mike Myers pushed into the end zone to tie the game at seven.

"We were struggling early until we got an easy one there off that interception," Gators coach Chuck Reedy said. "After that, our defense played exceptionally well and we were able to start scoring and get control of the game."

The Eagles inherited Goose Creek's early offensive struggles, thereafter, producing just one first down, two turnovers and five penalties for 39 yards in the second and third quarters. A forced fumble by Beaufort's JaClay Mixon gave the Eagles a shot at taking a lead into halftime, but Alex Simmons (seven carries for 19 yards) was stuffed on a fourth-and-1 try in Goose Creek territory.

Beaufort's miss suddenly became Goose Creek's opportunity. Gators quarterback Zach Lavery stepped in for an injured Jaquan Marsh and twice connected with freshman wideout Tramel Terry for 24-yard gains to set up a 1-yard touchdown for fullback Virgil Smalls.

An Eagle three-and-out to open the second half and a 58-yard run by Ranoy Hines (20 carries for 142 yards) led to Smalls' second score of the night, pushing Goose Creek ahead 21-7.

"We had a chance to get back in it, but those three-and-outs and undisciplined play killed us," said Beaufort offensive lineman Patrick Dennis said. "It's disappointing when penalties and fundamental things hurt us at this point in the season."

With the deficit at 17 after a Goose Creek field goal and precious time ticking off the clock, Beaufort tried resorting to its air attack. But Brown was never able to find a rhythm with his receivers, completing just six of his 17 throws.

Steady rushing by McPherson, who had 79 yards in his first game back after missing four weeks with an ankle injury, set up a 3-yard touchdown pass from Brown to Simmons with 6:35 left in the contest. But it was too little and too late for the Eagles to avoid another step down the all-too-familiar path of 2008.

"The key tonight was us not capitalizing our opportunities. ... Now, there's no question we're in a tough situation, so these kids have got to be tough," Clifford said. "We have to find the fight to make this a Cinderella story, and if we do that, it'll be a great learning lesson. But they've got to be tough."