Justin Baustert Photo
Dre Williams had a monster game with 278 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
Justin Baustert Photo
Daniel's Boston Miller is stopped in his tracks.
Justin Baustert Photo
Najawuan Smith has enough jersey to pull down a Daniel runner.
Justin Baustert Photo
Dre Williams all but possessed Greer's gold chain during the Upper State Championship Game victory.
GreerToday.com
Greer's 15-year wait is over.
The Yellow Jackets earned a trip to a state championship football game for the first time since 2003 with a 32-23 victory over Daniel Friday night in the Class 4A Upper State finals at Dooley Memorial Stadium.
Greer (14-1) advances to face Myrtle Beach (13-1), a 52-31 winner over Hartsville in the Lower State final, for the 4A state championship at noon Saturday (Dec. 8) at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. Greer's last state championship came in 2003 with a win over West Florence in the Class 3A title game.
“We're excited. The kids deserve it,” said Greer Head Coach Will Young. “They've worked really hard for this. We got to this point last year, but this year we got over the hump.”
While senior running back Dre Williams ignited the Yellow Jackets’ offense with 278 rushing yards - 235 coming in the first half – and three touchdowns, Greer's defense made a 29-16 halftime lead stand up over the final two quarters.
Daniel out-gained Greer by more than 100 yards – 423-320 – in total offense, but the Yellow Jackets shut out the Lions over the final 15 minutes.
In the fourth quarter, the Greer defense forced three turnovers on downs, including stopping Daniel quarterback Tyler Venables on an all-or-nothing fourth-down run from the Lions 15-yard line with 7 minutes, 41 seconds to play.
At that point, Daniel trailed 32-23, but the Yellow Jackets quickly converted the turnover on downs into Edwin Sales' second field goal of the half and a 35-23 lead with 6:12 left in the game.
Daniel would fail twice more on fourth-down tries before the final buzzer as Greer moved on in search of its fourth state championship since 1989.
Williams, who was named to the Shrine Bowl in November, added touchdowns runs of 1, 65 and 11 yards to go with 299 yards from scrimmage.
Venables, the son of Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables, threw for two scores and added a 1-yard touchdown run with 3:02 left in the third quarter that pulled Daniel to within 29-23, but the Lions got no closer, despite Venables connecting on 22 of 38 passes for 382 yards and the two scores.
The Yellow Jackets will face another dual-threat quarterback in the Class 4A state championship game. Behind Luke Doty, a South Carolina commit, Myrtle Beach avenged its only loss of the season against Hartsville, which had embarrassed the Seahawks 70-34 on Nov. 1, to win the Lower State title.
“A lot of things are going to be going on, but it’s a business trip,” said Greer assistant coach Travis Perry. “We've got a championship to win.”
|
SCORE BY QUARTERS |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
OT |
TOTAL |
|
(V) Daniel |
7 |
9 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
23 |
|
(H) Greer |
7 |
22 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
35 |
|
Team |
Time |
|
Scoring Play |
Conversion |
Plays/Yds |
Score |
|
|
DHS |
1 |
09:45 |
|
Tyler Venables Passes to Hack Hamilton COMPLETE TOUCHDOWN, clock 09:45 90 yds |
PAT Kick by Clay Mohr GOOD. |
2 / 93 |
7 - 0 |
|
GHS |
1 |
00:12 |
|
Dre WILLIAMS Carries(Hand Off) TOUCHDOWN, clock 00:12 1 yds |
PAT Kick by Edwin SALES GOOD. |
3 / 13 |
7 - 7 |
|
DHS |
2 |
08:33 |
|
Clay Mohr 30 yard Field Goal attempt GOOD, clock 08:33 |
|
10 / 80 |
10 - 7 |
|
GHS |
2 |
08:12 |
|
Dre WILLIAMS Carries(Hand Off) TOUCHDOWN, clock 08:12 65 yds |
PAT Kick by Edwin SALES GOOD. |
1 / 65 |
10 - 14 |
|
DHS |
2 |
04:59 |
|
Tyler Venables Passes to Javares Hamilton COMPLETE TOUCHDOWN, clock 04:59 20 yds |
PAT Kick by Clay Mohr NO Good |
6 / 78 |
16 - 14 |
|
GHS |
2 |
01:42 |
|
Matthew HUFF Carries(QB Keeper) TOUCHDOWN, clock 01:42 7 yds |
PAT Kick by Edwin SALES GOOD. |
7 / 63 |
16 - 21 |
|
GHS |
2 |
00:27 |
|
Dre WILLIAMS Carries(Hand Off) TOUCHDOWN, clock 00:27 11 yds |
PAT Run by Matthew HUFF GOOD. |
3 / 31 |
16 - 29 |
|
DHS |
3 |
03:02 |
|
Tyler Venables Carries(QB Keeper) TOUCHDOWN, clock 03:02 1 yds |
PAT Kick by Clay Mohr GOOD. |
11 / 80 |
23 - 29 |
|
GHS |
3 |
01:03 |
|
Edwin SALES 28 yard Field Goal attempt GOOD, clock 01:03 |
|
7 / 50 |
23 - 32 |
|
GHS |
4 |
06:17 |
|
Edwin SALES 31 yard Field Goal attempt GOOD, clock 06:17 |
|
4 / 2 |
23 - 35 |
|
Time of Game: Kickoff: 07:30 PM |
End of Game: 10:00 PM |
Total Elapsed Time. 2:30 |
|
TEAM |
DHS |
GHS |
|
|
(VISITOR) |
(HOME) |
|
Score |
23 |
35 |
|
First Downs |
20 |
14 |
|
Rushes / Yards (Net) |
30 / 41 |
44 / 276 |
|
Passing Yards (Net) |
382 |
44 |
|
Passes -- Att / Comp / Int |
38/22/0 |
14/6/0 |
|
Total Offensive Plays / Yards |
68 / 423 |
58 / 320 |
|
Fumble Returns / Yards |
0 / 0 |
0 / 0 |
|
Punt Returns / Yards |
3 / 1 |
0 / 0 |
|
Kickoff Returns / Yards |
7 / 82 |
4 / 67 |
|
Interception Returns / Yards |
0 / 0 |
0 / 0 |
|
Punts (Number/Average) |
4 / 37.8 |
6 / 39.5 |
|
Fumbles / Lost |
3 / 2 |
0 / 0 |
|
Penalties / Yards |
8 / 66 |
9 / 81 |
|
Possession Time |
23:39 |
24:21 |
|
DHS |
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS |
GHS |
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Statistics by Red Watson