Eagles suffer first region loss

SUMMERVILLE -- The nightmare lasted less than six minutes, an instant that proved too quick for Beaufort High to find an answer and yet more than enough for Summerville to realize one of its season-long goals.

Three Green Wave touchdowns -- one run and two passes that spanned 20 yards or more -- in a 5:32 span erased a second-quarter Eagle advantage and surged Summerville to its fourth straight Region 8-AAAA title with a 33-3 win on Friday at John McKissick Stadium. The loss marked the first time since 2005 that Beaufort High failed to score a touchdown and was its worst defeat in six years.

"Momentum is a strong thing," Beaufort High coach Mark Clifford said. "The momentum just got on (Summerville's) side and we had to make some kind of big play to put a plug in it, and we didn't."

Instead, it was the Summerville defense that was able to plug up the typically high-powered Eagles.

Using a steady dose of blitzes, the Green Wave sacked Beaufort quarterback Beau Brown six times and held the Eagle offense to a season-low 185 yards. Still, thanks to a muffed Summerville punt at its own 32-yard-line, the Eagles (7-3 overall, 3-1 Region 8-AAAA) were able to strike first on a 37-yard Kyle Clark field goal at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter, however, seemingly brought a second wind for the Green Wave. After De'angelo Henderson escaped for a 21-yard gain and quarterback Dalton Saunders connected with Cody Reese for a 32-yard strike, Henderson ran a pitch 37 yards to the end zone to give Summerville a 7-3 lead.

After a Beaufort three-and-out, Summerville (9-1, 3-0) recommenced its onslaught, with Saunders finding Chris Williams for a 39-yard score. Two plays later, a Brown pass was intercepted at the Eagle 23-yard-line, resulting in another Saunders-to-Williams touchdown, this time on a 20-yard pass to the corner of the end zone.

Suddenly staring at a 21-3 deficit, the Eagles resorted to trickery, calling a reverse pass play for Luke Smith, who found Dymonte Gwathney down the right side for a 32-yard gain. But what proved to be Beaufort's longest drive of the night eventually lost steam when Alex Simmons (26 carries for 67 yards) was stuffed on fourth down at the Summerville 24.

On the ensuing play, Saunders read an inside blitz by Eagle linebacker Justin Parker and found Marlon Pryor on a slant route that ended 76 yards later in the end zone, giving Summerville an insurmountable 27-3 advantage. The Green Wave's lone setback during this explosion came before halftime, when Williams was carted off with a broken ankle, likely ending the season for its top receiver.

"I think we got a little too comfortable with the lead and Summerville just came even harder," Simmons said. "They didn't throw anything at us that we haven't seen. We just were never able to get the momentum back."

Granted, shades of success surfaced on defense in the third quarter. The Eagles forced two turnovers and held Henderson to 32 of his 165 rushing yards. But an offense that entered averaging 367 yards per contest continued to sputter, with two fumbles and a failed fourth-down try quashing any hopes of a late rally.

"That's the best defense we've played all season," said Clifford, whose team closes the regular season at home next week against Goose Creek. "Our boys played hard and I thought we had them ready for this game, but I guess we didn't, and that's a credit to Summerville's defense.

"It's another setback, but the season's not over and, from here, we can either go one way or the other. This has to be the last lesson of this sort, though, because we can't lose another one like this."