BAMBERG - After only three quarters and five carries, Demetrius Williams was done for the night.

His three first-half touchdowns helped the Red Raiders overwhelm Branchville 37-0.

Williams, who had 108 yards rushing on five carries, wasted little time getting B-E on the board. On the first play from scrimmage, he dashed 55 yards to the end zone giving his team a 7-0 lead only 13 seconds into the quarter.

Branchville’s night got off to a bad start. On their first play from scrimmage, the Yellow Jackets lost a fumble deep in their own territory. That turnover gave Williams the opportunity to score his second touchdown from five yards out making it 14-0.

The Red Raiders (4-0) found the end zone for the third time in as many possessions. Deep in Yellow Jackets territory again, B-E utilized a 5-play series that ended with a Javonte Middleton touchdown run from the 3-yard line. Randon Sandifer followed the run by tacking on the third PAT of the night making it 21-0.

“It was nearly impossible,” Branchville head coach Dan Reynolds said when asked about stopping the Red Raiders’ offense. “Not only do they have good backs, but up front, they execute very well.”

The woes for Branchville (0-4) continued late in the opening quarter. On fourth-and-long, the Yellow Jackets snapped the ball out of the end zone resulting in a safety to give B-E a 23-0 lead.

At that point, Crosby began to switch out starters to give a few of his younger players some playing time.

“It’s so important to get these young guys in,” Crosby said. “You never know when you’ll go down to an injury and somebody’s got to come in and play and they haven’t played. You get in games like this and you try to keep starters out. You try to get stats and little things like that. Little things like can come back to bite you later on down the line. So, the more experience we can get those guys in games like this, the better off we’ll be come playoff time.”

Even with a few of the backups in, that didn’t stop Williams from finding the end zone again. His 17-yard run put the Red Raiders up 30-0 with 10:07 to go in the second quarter.

Despite being down by 30 in the second half, Branchville made strides offensively and moved the ball into B-E territory thanks to 13-yard run on a fake punt by Willie Pelzer. However, the Yellow Jackets stalled inside the Red Raiders’ 40 and turned the ball over on downs.

B-E added their final touchdown with 11:53 remaining in the game when Sandifer connected with Michael Johnson on a 32-yard pass. Brent Cook added the point after giving B-E a 37-0 cushion.

Although Branchville suffered their 31st straight loss since 1992, Reynolds believes that his team made some progress as they head into next week’s showdown at home against Estill.

“The main thing is that, at the end of our ball game, our kids still wanted to play football,” he said. “That’s where we’re at right now. We want to make sure our kids are enjoying what we’re doing. It’s going to work in Branchvile. It’s just going to take some time. We’re going to make it work.”

As for the Red Raiders, they head into next week’s Homecoming matchup against Military Magnet with a four-game winning streak. Even though they dominated the game, Crosby knows Friday’s win is no excuse to lose their intensity when they host the Eagles.

“One thing we keep reminding them is that it’s region time and it’s getting late in the season,” he said. “Every game counts. We always talk about getting to the playoffs. So, we want to make sure that we continue to play hard and come out, no matter who it is, and play up to our level and not down to anybody’s level.”

T&D Sports Writer Emery Glover can be reached by e-mail at eglover@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5532. Check out his blog, Cover 2, at www.thetandd.com.

 

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