Friday Rewind: Lexington rolls over Gilbert. Hammond, Irmo knock off state champions

Lexington High got a big effort from its veteran defense Friday night and shut down Gilbert in their season opener.

The Wildcats kept the Indians’ high-scoring offense in check in the 24-0 win in front of a packed crowd at Wildcat Hollow.

“We have 10 starters that are seniors on defense,” Lexington coach Dustin Curtis said. “Even though they aren’t returning starters, but that kind of maturity and physical strength is that intangible you can’t put a price tag on. Our secondary came up with pass break-up after pass break-up. I’m so proud of our defense.”

It was the Wildcats’ first shutout in the seven meetings with their Lexington County rival. It was the program’s first shutout overall since defeating Wando 45-0 in the first round of the 2022 Class 5A playoffs.

It was the first time Gilbert has been shut out since a 35-0 loss to Airport on Oct. 16, 2015.

The Indians averaged 483 yards of offense and 42 points per game last season. But Gilbert was debuting a new coach in Ozzie Exume and a new quarterback in Connor James.

Lexington’s defense held the Indians to 88 yards of offense.

Lexington scored on the first drive of the game on a Matt McAulay TD run and Brennan Carter conversion made it 8-0.

Curtis went into his bag of tricks later in the first half as Deacon Dimarco hit Cam Capel on a reverse pass to make it 14-0 with 11:18 in the second.

“I feel like last year I wasn’t aggressive enough,” Curtis said. “... Deacon has been working on that pass and Cam ran a heck of a route. Coach Cagle (offensive coordinator) loved that kind of change of momentum. That’s big time to put that in the end zone.”

Gavin Kovac hit a 34-yard field goal to make it 17-0 at halftime.Carter added a 4-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to make it 24-0.

Hammond 56, Christ Church 28

The Skyhawks scored 49 points in the first half on their way to a win over the Cavaliers in a matchup of state champions in the first classifications.

Quarterback Andrew Turner threw for 139 yards, rushed for 117 and had two total TDs for the Skyhawks. Running back Manny Johnson added 121 yards of offense and three touchdowns.

Brewer LaMotte picked off two passes, returning one for a touchdown. Jack Croft had a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and also caught a TD.

Irmo 35, Oceanside Collegiate 7

Virginia Tech commit AJ Brand threw three touchdown passes and ran for one as the Yellow Jackets defeated the defending Class 2A champions.

Lugoff-Elgin 35, Lower Richland 34

EJ Richardson scored three touchdowns, including the game-winning 41-yard pass to Shamil Saddiq on fourth-and-35 with 16.5 seconds left to give coach Leon Boulware a win in his L-E debut.

Richland Northeast 45, Spring Valley 13: NC State commit Will Wilson threw three touchdowns and ran for two as the Cavs defeated the Vikings for the second straight year.

Before last season, RNE had lost 12 straight to its Richland 2 rivals.

St. Joseph’s 40, Cardinal Newman 30

Running back Caleb Ford scored three touchdowns in the loss for the Cardinals.

Keenan 40, Dreher 37

The Raiders built a 16-point lead and held on to defeat the Blue Devils. Dreher missed a game-tying field goal with 18 seconds left.

Keenan led 40-24 in the third before the Blue Devils rallied for the win.

Gray Collegiate 17, James Island 14

The War Eagles defeated the Islanders to give new coach D’Angelo Bryant a win in his debut.

River Bluff 41, Rock Hill 34

Hayden Myers scored the go-ahead touchdown, a 20-yarder with 5:51 left to give the Gators the win.

River Bluff led 34-27 before Kason Canupp hit Kaiden Watkins on a 36-yard touchdown pass with 7:58 left.

Running back Trace Nettles led River Bluff with 136 yards and two touchdowns. Myers had 93. Quarterback Parker Murray threw for 235 yards and a TD for RB. Lathan Smalls had four catches for 111 yards and Aaron Griffin had seven catches for 87.

Chapin 47, Catawba Ridge 37

Brady Albro threw four touchdown passes in the Eagles’ win over the Copperheads.

Stone Furrey and Kalen Bostick each caught two TD passes. Cole Martin threw a TD pass and also ran for one.

AC Flora 42, Westwood 6

Roper Wentzky threw four touchdown passes and the Falcons’ defense scored twice in the win over the Redhawks.

Azel Banag and Jeremiah Mack each had interception returns for Flora.

Ridge View 42, Fairfield Central 18

Jordon Gidron returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown as the Blazers broke open the game in the second half against the Griffins.

Blythewood 44, Nation Ford 6

Johnny Collins threw four touchdown passes as the Bengals used a big second-half to blow out Nation Ford.

Darryl Robinson returned an interception for a touchdown for the Bengals and Carter Coleman had a kickoff return for a TD. Coleman also caught two TD passes and Ben Hendrix had two TD catches.

Swansea 27, Mid-Carolina 20

The Tigers snapped a 16-game losing streak and won the debut with new coach Willie Fox against the Rebels.

Dante Caldwell rushed for 87 yards and three TDs. As a team, Swansea rushed for 301.

Northside Christian 33, Calhoun Academy 26

The Crusaders improved to 2-0 with a win at Calhoun. Sam Burks had two TD runs in the first half.

Saluda 20, Crescent 6

Brayden Williams ran for a touchdown and caught a TD pass in the Tigers’ victory.

North Central 56, Great Falls 14

Defensive back Jordan Joe picked off three passes and scored a TD on offense in North Central’s win.

Aiden Wilkes and Joe Clarkson also had two TDs each for NC.