By Rocky Nimmons
Publisher

rnimmons@thepccourier.com

Rock Hill — The Daniel Lions ended the season far away from the comforts of home on Friday night, as the AAA playoff schedule forced Randy Robinson’s team make a two-and-a-half-hour drive to Rock Hill to face the defending state champ in round one of the playoffs.[cointent_lockedcontent]

Rocky Nimmons/Courier
Daniel freshman Kiandre Sims was a bright spot in Friday night’s season-ending loss against South Pointe, as he run for 81 yards on 17 carries in his first varsity action.

The Lions played hard against the South Pointe Stallions, but when the dust settled and the smoke cleared, Daniel’s season was over following a 55-28 loss.

The loss was just one more in a year that will be remembered for some close losses, some blowouts and not nearly enough wins as the Lions are traditionally known for. The season is the second in a row that Daniel has bowed out in the first round of the playoffs and only the second losing season recorded in decades for the Columbia blue and gold.

Robinson knew going into the contest that it would be an uphill battle for his big cats and that his team would have play flawlessly to have a chance against the 9-1 Stallions.

But flawless they weren’t, as South Pointe jumped to a 14-0 lead right off the bat and never looked back.

“We could not turn the ball over and beat South Pointe,” Robinson said following the contest. “We could not even slow them down early in the game. It was 14-0 so quick.”

Despite many changes in player positions to increase size in key places, the Lions shot themselves in the foot at crucial moments. The Daniel offense was able to move the ball on the Stallions at times, but could not maintain any consistency.

“I was proud our offense responded with a good drive and got us back in the game have we were down 14-0, and then we gave up the kickoff return for a score,” Robinson said. “Speed is going to show up. We had to play almost a perfect game to win, and we didn’t do that. It was frustrating.”

The game started with South Pointe getting the opening kickoff and marching 62 yards in eight plays. The Stallions nickel and dimed the Lion defense, capping the series with a six-yard pass from quarterback Greg Ruff to wide receiver Quay Brown for the first touchdown of the night with 9:59 to play in the first quarter. B.T. Potter tacked on the point after, giving the Stallions a quick 7-0 lead.

South Pointe stymied the Lions’ offense as soon as it took possession, as Daniel only managed six yards in three plays and Robinson called on Justin Craig to punt the ball away.

The Lions almost caught a break as the kick was fumbled when it was hauled in, but luck was on South Pointe’s side, with the ball bouncing right back to the Stallions. Starting at Daniel’s 44, South Pointe again went to work. This time, however it was a big play on their third snap that set up a score, as Ruff spied Zaylin Burris open and tossed a passed his way, with Burris scampering 49 yards to the Lions’ 2-yard line. Voshon St. Hill took the ball in on the next play. Another extra point by Potter pushed the Stallions’ lead to 14-0.

The Lions offense got on the move when it got the ball back and did manage to push the pigskin 66 yards in 10 plays to paydirt. The drive saw a future star emerge for the Lions, as freshman running back Kiandre Sims made his varsity debut. The young back ran the ball twice on the series for 12 yards, and as the night progressed he mounted 81 yards on 17 carries.

“He’s a hard runner and a hard worker,” Robinson said of Sims. “We have several kids on our JV team that will come up and help us in the future. We decided we needed to get bigger and put Stephon Kirksey out there as a lead blocker and did a good job blocking tonight.”

Ben Batson was the workhorse on the series, passing for 18 yards and running for 27, including the final 14 for the touchdown. Rivers Sherrill added the PAT, pulling the Lions to within a score with 3:13 to play in the first quarter.

The jubilation of the score didn’t last long, as the Stallions answered quick with an 81-yard kickoff return by St. Hill for a touchdown. Potter’s PAT pushed the Stallions ahead 21-7 with 2:57 to play in the first quarter.

At that point, the turnover bug started hitting the Lions. On Daniel’s next possession, the offense looked to be mounting another drive until an errant pass by Batson missed its mark, with Shavares Crockett picking it off and giving South Pointe the ball at the Lions’ 16-yard line. Three plays later the Stallions were in the end zone, as St. Hill found a seam and raced the distance with 11:52 left before intermission. Potter added the PAT for a 28-7 lead, and the rout was on.

“We knew we could not turn it over,” Robinson said. “We worked for two weeks telling them we could not turn the ball over, and we did. You are not going to beat a team that is this talented turning it over.”

The Lions’ offense sputtered and had a three-and-out punting the ball away the next time it had the ball. Daniel’s defense tried to slow the Stallions, but they just had too much horsepower and put together a 47-yard, 11-play series that was capped with a 30-yard field goal by Potter with 6:27 left in the half, making the score 31-7.

After the ensuing kickoff, Daniel produced a hard-nosed 53-yard scoring drive. The drive lasted all of six plays and was helped along by a personal foul penalty on the Stallions on the first snap. The big play of series was a 21-yard pass from Batson to Carter Groomes that got the ball to the South Pointe 1-yard line. Sims went in for the score to give the Lions their second touchdown of the night with 4:11 to play in the half. Sherrill added the PAT, and the Lions trailed by 17 at 31-14.

South Pointe did get into position to try a 36-yard field goal before halftime, but the kick missed its mark.

The second half started with the Lion defense again taking a beating. South Pointe took the opening kickoff and pushed the ball to midfield. On the second play from scrimmage, Ruff decided to scramble, and the signal caller got around the left end and raced 50 yards for a score. Potter tacked on the PAT. With only 30 seconds played in the second half, the Stallions were up 38-14.

The Lions picked up a first down when they got the pigskin back, but that was it, and Craig came on for another punt. The kick was shanked and netted only six yards, giving South Pointe a short field with the ball at the Lions’ 39. Ruff had seen a weakness in the Daniel defense on his last run and decided to go back to it again. On the Stallions’ second play, the quick quarterback took off and went 33 yards for a South Pointe score. Potter added the extra point with 8:04 to play in the third, pushing his team’s lead to 45-14.

The Stallions continued to push the Lion defense and added a 27-yard field goal by Potter on their next possession. The kick pushed South Pointe’s tally to 48 with 2:08 left in the third quarter.

Daniel continued to fight and added one final touchdown on a 17-play, 80-yard drive late in the fourth quarter. The drive would have never happened if not for a fake punt on the series’ fourth play. Jacob Mahoney took a direct snap, facing fourth and three from the Lions’ 27, picking up five yards to keep the drive going. The series was highlighted by a 17-yard pass to C.J. Scott and big runs by both Batson and Sims. The touchdown came as Groomes got the call from a yard out with 6:07 left. Sherrill added the extra point, making the score South Pointe 48, Daniel 21.

The Lions kept fighting and scored again with only 2:08 to play on a 67-yard drive. Batson again went up top and hit Scott for a 61-yard touchdown. Sherrill’s kick made the score 48-28.

The final points of the evening came when the Stallions answered back with a 56-yard, five-play drive that was ended with a 24-yard touchdown run by Steven Gilmore Jr. with only 13 seconds to play. Potter’s kick was true, making the final score 55-28.

“That is a talented group over there, and we established the run at times,” Robinson said. “We had some good throws and completed some passes on the short stuff tonight. Offensively, it was just the turnovers that bothered me.”

The sad truth though was that this was the final appearance of the season and a tough way to go out for the 2015 senior class.

“Any time you lose a group of seniors, it is a sad time no matter what the record is,” Robinson said. “We are going to miss those guys. They worked hard. At the same time, we played a ton of young kids with them, and I hope these young kids take this time and it motivates them in the offseason and they have a better commitment in the off season.”

Even though the year was not up to standards for the Lions, the future looks bright for Robinson’s troops.

“We have to have everybody together,” he said. “It starts in the offseason with weight training. We can’t have them running off here and there and everywhere. These are going to have to make better commitment. I hope the sting of what we did the last couple of games (in lopsided losses to Seneca and South Pointe) will motivate them.

“The JVs had a great year this year, and the middle school went undefeated, so the future is bright. We have some kids working hard in the system and some great coaches in the middle school that have turned that program around. Hopefully that will help us in the future. The small group of seniors we had certainly worked hard to lead us, and we hope next year’s group will do the same. We are going to miss the seniors no matter what the record is. Those guys have been around here for four years. That is always the tough part.”

[/cointent_lockedcontent]