On a cold and chilly Friday evening, Camden arrived at Fort Knox to face Brookland-Cayce in the third round of the SC High School League Class 3A Lower State playoffs.

The defending Lower State champion Bulldogs handed the hometeam Bearcats a 27-24 loss.  

On the second series of the game, Brooklyn-Cayce moved the ball deep into Camden territory and settled for a field goal to take the early 3-0 lead.

Camden answered with a touchdown on the next series, but failed on the PAT. 

Brookland-Cayce reclaimed the lead on a 69-yard touchdown pass by Tanner Staton to West Virginia baseball signee Skylar King. 

With a successful PAT, the Bearcats led 10-6.

A blocked punt put Camden in position to start a drive at the Brookland-Cayce 18. The Bulldogs needed five plays to score and went into the lockerroom leading 13-10.

Early in the fourth quarter, Staton found Jamari Kennerly for a 43-yard touchdown to put the Bearcats up 17-13. 

Camden, however, scored on a two-yard run at the 10:15 mark of the fourth quarter to retake the lead 20-17. The Bulldogs added another touchdown with 3:35 left on a 51-yard touchdown pass by Grayson White to Anthony Lyles Jr. to extend their lead to 27-17. 

Brooklyn-Cayce wasn't done yet. On their next possession, Staton scored a minute later and the defense forced a punt with less than a minute left.  

A facemask penalty moved the football to the Camden 30 with six seconds left. Instead of going for a field goal to force overtime, the Bearcats went for a Hail Mary pass which fell incomplete in the endzone as time expired. 

Camden (10-2) will play host to the Lower State final for the second straight year. The Bulldogs will face Dillon at Zemp Stadium Nov. 26 for a berth in the state final.

Brookland-Cayce ended the season with a 9-3 record. 

Staff Reports

Fort Dorchester 30, Lexington 8 

The Wildcats’ 2021 season came to an end at the Patriots. 

Lexington (9-3) trailed 16-0 at halftime before Tyler Walker scored on a 3-yard run with 25 seconds left in the third quarter. A 2-point conversion pass from Taiden Mines to Tyler Derienzo cut the deficit to 16-8 entering the fourth quarter.

Mines led the Lexington offense with 165 passing yards and Rhett Peeples had a team-high 9 tackles.

After forcing Fort Dorchester to punt, Mines’ pass to Jackson Whittle was fumbled and Ma’lek Horlbeck returned the football 53 yards for a touchdown. 

Fort Dorchester (12-0) added a final score on an 18-yard touchdown pass by Zolton Osborne to Demetrius McKelvey with 5:33 left in the game. 

Osborne threw for 293 yards and 2 touchdowns, Davion Joyner had 9 receptions for 171 yards and a score and Michael Smalls rushed for 99 yards to lead the Patriots. 

Fort Dorchester will play host to Dutch Fork in the Class 5A Lower State final. The Patriots handed the Silver Foxes their last loss on Sept. 1, 2017, which is their lone win in the series. 

Greenville 42, Irmo 23

After trailing 23-21 at halftime, the Red Raiders shut out the Yellow Jackets 21-0 in the second half to advance to the Class 4A Upper State final.

The loss ended the most successful season in 11 years for Irmo (7-4). 

Dutch Fork 49, Sumter 21 

A streak came to an end for Dutch Fork football Friday night.

For the first time in the post-season, the five-time defending Class 5A champions allowed points by an opponent. 

Otherwise, it was business as usual for Dutch Fork which rolled past the host team Gamecocks to advance to the Lower State finals for the sixth consecutive year. 

The win extended other streaks for the Silver Foxes (11-0):

- 61st straight games without a loss

- 60th straight win over South Carolina-based teams

- 33 straight road wins

- 27 straight playoff wins (a state record)

The two teams matched scores in the first quarter. Dutch Fork opened a 21-7 lead following a touchdown run by Jarvis Green and a 30-yard touchdown pass by Davin Patterson to Josh Smith.

The Gamecocks’ Zyeir Gamble returned the kicofff 86 yards six seconds later for a touchdown to bring them within 21-14. 

A touchdown run by Patterson made it 28-14 at halftime. Sumter got within a touchdown again on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Ryan McCants to Alkemi McCants, only for Dutch Fork to score the game’s final 21 points. 

Green scored two more touchdowns to finish with 145 yards and Marcus Taylor added a 6-yard scoring run. Patterson finished with 233 passing yards as Dutch Fork finished with 533 total yards.