PICKENS — It almost seemed like a backyard football game where – whatever team had the football at the end – they were going to win the game. Throw in a local rivalry just 10 minutes away, a couple of 30-minute delays due to lightning and two teams that would have played until 4 a.m.
The end result: Pickens 61, Easley 41
Blue Flame coach James Reynolds quickly credited the victory as a “team win” and soaked in the season-opening win with his family on the field.
“You teach perseverance to your team,” said Reynolds. “You tell them that you can’t expect smooth waters. You have to expect rough waters and chaos, and be ready for those things. Tonight was a night – for better or worse – and that came true. Easley gave us a heck of a fight. We didn’t do ourselves any favors with penalties and giving up big plays. But in the end, we percevered through all kinds of stoppages and found a way. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Reynolds went on to credit the Pickens offensive line of Noah Madden, Garrett Adcox, Ryan Moody, Jackson Elrod and Ethan Bently.
“I wanna shout out to the (Pickens) offensive line for everything that they did to pave the way,” Reynolds said. “This win is as much on the offensive line as it is on anybody who got yards or scored.”
It is tough to overlook Pickens senior quarterback Brooks Dow who ran wild for 275 yards on the ground and scored 6 touchdowns. And to keep the Green Wave defense honest, Pickens running back David Bolden used his breakaway speed at running back to rush for 259 yards and 3 touchdowns. “They just ran their guts out,” Reynolds said. “They pushed for yards and they found a way.”
The score was tied at 28 at halftime and it was tied again at 35 going into the fourth quarter.
For Easley, sophomore quarterback Whit Rodgers had an impressive first start on varsity with 302 yards passing on 21-of-45 accuracy and 2 touchdowns. Preston Bivens led the Easley ground game with 133 yards rushing (and 2 touchdowns) and Jayvion Rhodes just missed the 100-yard mark with 93 yards rushing and a touchdown. Jay Payton added the other TD for Easley.
“It was an offensive game,” said EHS coach Sam Houston. “We did what we wanted (on offense) and scored every possession but a couple. The same thing with them (Pickens). We did a poor job of tackling and that was a factor. It came down to who got the stop and they got the fumble.”
The fumble Houston was referring to was with 7:01 left in the game and Pickens had a 47-41 lead. Blue Flame sophomore Jonathan Browder recovered the fumble to help preserve the Pickens victory. “I came around the edge and the ball was right in front of me,” said Browder. “I picked it up and started running. We’ve been working for this all summer.”
Scoring Summary …
1-E Wimpey, a 9-yard pass from Rodgers (pass failed), 8:52
1-P Dow, a 15-yard run (Turner kick), 7:19
1-E Reeves, a 30-yard field goal, 1:22
1-P Bolden, a 71-yard run (Turner kick), 1:02
2-E Bivens, a 68-yard run (run failed), 7:34
2-P Bolden, a 2-yard run (Turner kick), 5:51
2-E Payton, a 5-yard run (run failed), 4:51
2-P Dow, a 7-yard run (Turner kick), 2:28
2-E Rhodes, a 27-yard run (Reeves kick), 00:13
3-P Dow, a 2-yard run (Turner kick), 7:06
3-E Wimpey, a 9-yard pass from Rodgers (Reeves kick), 1:28
4-P Dow, a 64-yard run (kick failed), 11:48
4-E Bivens, a 4-yard run (kick failed), 8:45
4-P Bolden, a 65-yard run (run failed), 8:32
4-P Dow, a 15-yard run (Turner kick), 4:53
4-P Dow, a 9-yard run (Turner kick), 1:16
RUSHING: (Easley) Bivens 14-133, Rhodes 13-93, Payton 8-26, Rodgers 1-0; (Pickens) Dow 20-275, Bolden 14-259, Johnson 11-95, Wilson 2-60.
PASSING: (Easley) Rodgers 21-45-1 302; (Pickens) Dow 4-9-1 28.
RECEIVING: (Easley) Wimpey 10-96, Scott 4-124, Raby 3-34, Rhodes 2-14; (Pickens) Clark 2-10, Wilson 1-12, Arnold 1-6.
PUNTING: (Easley) Reeves 2-71 (35.5 avg.); (Pickens) Clark 1-35.
Tackles: (Easley) Rhodes 1-8 11 total, Gonzalez 3-6 9 total, Brewer 1-5 9, Cromer 3-4 7; (Pickens) Taylor 8-6 14, Seder 3-3 8, Arnold 5-2 7, Anderson 2-3 5.