Aaron Judge wasn’t the only sports figure to reach the “61” milestone this week.
Gilbert’s 48-23 road win over Lower Richland gave head coach Chad Leifatt the same number of career wins at his alma mater. More importantly, it broke the longest losing streak of his tenure (2) and won to open the Division 5-3A game.
Gilbert wins what Leaphart calls a “crazy” game. After trailing 7-0 in the first quarter, Jaden Allen-Hendrix had two touchdowns to put the Indians ahead.
Before half-time, Gilbert scored again, but the field was unexpectedly dark for more than 20 minutes. A witness said it was due to strong winds that knocked down a branch and hit a power line, causing a transformer to fail and cut off power.
Once play resumed, quarterback Drake Braddock found former starter Jennings’ 24-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 21-7 with 56 seconds left. With time at the end of the first half, the Diamond Hornets still had plenty of time to go forward and get LaMarion Pearson’s 1-yard touchdown.
PAT was blocked, keeping the score at 21-13.
Gilbert opened the second half with a long run from Alan Hendricks, who finished with a 183-yard rush, followed by a 9-yard touchdown from Alias Graham-Woodbury to make it 28- 13.
The Indians looked to extend their lead, but a Graham Woodbury error was recovered by Jamel Patterson of Lower Richland and returned for 76 yards to make it 28-19 after a failed two-point conversion. 7-
Graham-Woodberry corrected with 10- and 3-yard touchdowns on the next two Gilbert offensive series to extend the lead to 42-19 with 7:21 left in the fourth quarter. He finished with 133 rushing yards.
The Diamond Hornets received a 17-yard touchdown pass from Marcus Smith to Markie Canfield with 4:20 left. Gilbert responded to Braddock’s one-yard goalie with 56 seconds left in the final score.
“The big thing tonight is going 1-0 against a team in the region, which, I think, is one of the really better teams in the region,” said Leaphart, who is now better than Marty during his school career. Woolbright is eight wins away. list. “LR is talented. Guys, Campbell kid and (Nate) Blanche kid, you know.
“Coming here in their place as well, just a crazy week and the game ended up being a little bit crazy, wild game too. But when all the crazy stuff happened, our guy kept her calm. I mean, we’re in The game shut down. I mean, it was one of those crazy nights, but our guys stayed cool, calm, composed, and finished with a 23-point win in the regional game. So I’m excited about that. “
Gilbert (3-3, 1-0) will host Swansea’s “return” next week.
Lexington 25, Chapin 7
It was another three-touchdown night for Wildcats senior running back Jonah Norris at Cecil Woolbright Field.
His 9- and 4-yard touchdowns put seventh-ranked Lexington up 13-0 in the first half. Chapin made it 13-7 at halftime after Luke Rankin blocked the punt and Jack Sumeral returned the ball for a 10-yard touchdown.
Lexington capped Norris’s third 15-yard touchdown after the PAT loss and completed eight games of a 50-yard drive to make it 19-7. He finished with 175 rushing yards, joining River Bluff’s Cooper Johns as a 1,000-yard rusher this season.
Early in the fourth quarter, quarterback Tyden Mine found Tyler Derienzo for a 22-yard touchdown to close the scoring. On a Wildcats defense led by Christian Sexton’s 15 tackles and a sack, Chapin couldn’t score again and finished with -6 yards.
Lexington (5-1, 1-0) hosts rival River Bluff, while Chapin (3-4, 0-1) will return on October 1. 14 in Dutch Fork.
Grey College 70, Columbia 0
After a 0-3 start to the regular season, the defending Class 2A champions and seventh-ranked Warhawks won their final four games in domination.
Quarterback Riley Statton threw four touchdown passes, two of which went to Devin Johnson, while Zai Orford intercepted one. On defense, Gray (4-3, 3-0) held the Capitol to 50 yards total.
During the winning streak, Gray University outscored opponents 201-36. Next up is a visit to Winsboro, where the Warhawks compete for the downstate title, facing Fairfield Central.
Richland NE 20, Elmo 14
The Cavaliers defeated the ninth-ranked Yellow Jackets 14-0 in the second half, earning the two teams a Division 4-4A opener.
Erick Tucker had two touchdowns for Irmo (4-2, 0-1). In the second half, quarterback Wilson rushed two of his three touchdowns, and Northeastern Richland recovered a turnover with less than two minutes left.
Ilmo is looking to bounce back next week at home against Ridge View.