Hilton Head Christian shows ‘heart of a lion’ but falls in OT in SCISA title game
The SCISA 2A state championship evolved into a back-and-forth duel Saturday between the passing of Hayden Shinn and the running of Nick Jones.
Under a driving rain at Benedict College’s Charlie W. Johnson Stadium, Hilton Head Christian’s Shinn and Trinity-Byrnes’ Jones exchanged scores in the second half, all the way down to a 49-49 tie at the end of regulation.
As the rain tailed off, and after Tre’ McLeod picked off Shinn’s fourth-down pass in the end zone in overtime, Trinity-Byrnes went to Donovan Lambert to win the game.
Lambert rumbled into the end zone on a 5-yard rush to secure a 55-49 victory over the Eagles on Saturday. It was the Titans’ first state championship in football.
“It was just a great high-school football game,” Eagles coach Ron Peduzzi said. “Our guys fought the whole year. What a great effort. It was a privilege to be their coach. The effort they gave is incredible.”
Shinn finished the night 20-for-35 passing for 313 yards and seven touchdowns. He had five interceptions and rushed for 90 yards.
Shinn’s most reliable target in the second half was Floyd Hargrove, who was held to just one catch in the first half but finished the night with five catches for 103 yards and three touchdowns.
Jones wasn’t a factor in the overtime stanza, but he proved unstoppable in regulation with 398 all-purpose yards and five TDs. He had 289 yards on the ground and returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown.
HHCA (11-2) was in its first championship appearance since 2013 and looked to claim its fifth state championship. Even though they finish as runners up, Peduzzi said this year’s team ranks as high as the others.
“They don’t quit,” he said. “I’ve had a couple of state championship teams, and this team by far has the biggest heart of a lion. I was just so proud of their effort, every single one of them.”
HHCA showed as much by digging out of an early hole.
Trinity-Byrnes (14-2) jumped to a 14-0 lead on a pair of 1-yard Lambert touchdown runs. Just as the Titans seemed to tighten their grip on the Eagles, Shinn found Daniel Harrington on the right side for a 73-yard touchdown pass play with 4:47 left to go in the half.
Just 12 seconds later, Jones scooped up the kickoff at the 1-yard line and raced it back 99 yards to the end zone to put the Titans up 21-14 in the half.
The real scoring spree began shortly after both teams came out of the locker room.
In the third quarter Shinn threw touchdown strikes to Jace Blackshear and Hargrove. He hit Hargrove from 7 yards out and Blackshear on plays of 56 and 15 yards. For Trinity Byrnes,
Jones broke free for two scores, one on a 50-yard run and one from 14 yards out. The Eagles finished the third quarter holding a 36-35 lead, but as the downpour intensified, so did the rushes, the misdirection, the passes and completions.
Jones struck for two more scores in the fourth quarter, from 5 and 20 yards. Shinn connected with Hargrove twice, for TD pass plays of 14 and 58 yards. The 58-yarder with 3:54 left brought tied it at 49 but the Eagles missed the extra point.
With 18 seconds left in regulation, Trinity Byrnes’ Region Bennett picked off a Shinn pass that set the Titans up at the HHCA 20-yard line. But the Titans Andrew Saverence missed a 27-yard field goal attempt with three seconds left.
“I think you can see we’re not a real big team, but they’re the junkyard dogs,” Peduzzi said. “They stayed with it to the end and that was where they were.”
HOW THEY SCORED
HHC 0-14-22-13-0—49
TBC 7-14-14-14-6—55
First Quarter
T – Donovan Lambert 1 run (Andrew Saverence kick) 4:02
Second Quarter
T – Donovan Lambert 1 run (Saverence kick) 10:36
H –Daniel Harrington 73 pass from Hayden Shinn (J.P. Peduzzi kick) 4:47
T – Nick Jones 99 kickoff return (Saverence kick) 4:35
H – Cameron Strickland 11 pass from Shinn (Peduzzi kick) 2:17
Third Quarter
H – Jace Blackshear 56 pass from Shinn (Peduzzi kick) 11:41
H – Floyd Hargrove 7 pass from Shinn (Peduzzi kick) 8:36
T – Jones 50 run (Reggion Bennett run) 6:25
H – Blackshear 15 pass from Shinn (Hargrove pass from Shinn) 4:37
T – Jones 14 run (kick blocked) :26
Fourth Quarter
T – Jones 20 run (Jones run) 11:03
H – Hargrove 14 pass from Shinn (Peduzzi kick) 9:48
T – Jones 5 run (run failed) 4:59
H – Hargrove 58 pass from Shinn (kick failed) 3:54
Overtime
T – Lambert 5 run
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: HHC – Hayden Shinn 8-90, Jace Blackshear 1-9, Daniel Harrington 1-(-5). Trinity-Byrnes – Nick Jones 26-289, Donovan Lambert 13-70, Reggion Bennett 15-103, Jordan Jones 10-46, Tre’ McLeod 1-4.
Passing: HHC – Hayden Shinn 20-35-5. Trinity-Byrnes – Jordan Jones 2-7-1
Receiving: HHC – Cameron Strickland 2-10, J.P. Peduzzi 4-92, Daniel Harrington 6-22, Floyd Hargrove 3-89, Jace Blackshear 5-103. Trinity-Byrnes – Reggion Bennett 2-62
This story was originally published November 23, 2019 at 10:38 PM.