Week 3 Area Football Review

Bradley Godwin threw 2 touchdown passes in the second half Friday to lead a North Augusta comeback win.

During the third Friday of the season, powerhouses Barnwell, Thomson, Strom Thurmond and Wagener-Salley all sprinted away from their competition. North Augusta, Evans and Glenn Hills each earned come-from-behind victories. And Lakeside, Aquinas, Laney and Ridge Spring-Monetta rolled over their opponents. Below you will find highlights, statistics and more from most of last Friday's notable games.

Comeback Kids

North Augusta 17, Grovetown 16

Quarterback Bradley Godwin and wide receiver Jordan Wilburn connected several times during the second half to spark a 17-0 run that was enough to allow the Yellow Jackets to come back from a 10-0 first half deficit and earn a road win over Grovetown.

"We went into the locker room with all of our heads down," Godwin said after the game about the halftime deficit. "Coach said 'we're a family; we'll come together as one; we're gonna go back out there and do what we do.'"

Godwin, Wilburn and receiver Grayson Bridgers took it from there, marching down the field for three scoring drives on the team's first four series of the second half. North Augusta claimed a 17-10 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the game after Godwin hit Bridgers for a 25 yard touchdown pass two plays after Wilburn returned a Grovetown punt deep into Warrior territory.

Jordan Wilburn (North Augusta)

The go ahead score came after a pair of North Augusta drives that both featured Wilburn catching a string of passes on slant routes. The first drive ended with a Yellow Jacket field goal to put North Augusta on the scoreboard for the first time. And almost immediately after regaining possession on the kickoff when Tony Caldwell forced Grovetown's Jose Taylor to fumble at the end of his long return, Wilburn caught another pass from Godwin over the middle to tie the game at 10 at the end of the third quarter.

Grovetown had a chance to tie the game with an extra point with 57 seconds remaining after quarterback Kori Bryant scored on a 16 yard run after completing several passes to put the Warriors in scoring position. But the kick was wide right, and Grovetown's onside kick attempt was fielded successfully by Caldwell.

North Augusta improved to 2-1 by winning its second straight ahead of this week's home game against Blythewood (2-1). Grovetown fell to 1-2. The Warriors will visit Richmond (0-1) Friday.

Glenn Hills 18, Cross Creek 14

The Spartans stormed back from a 14-6 halftime deficit to earn their first win of the young season behind three touchdowns by Devante Harris:



Glenn Hills improved to 1-1 ahead of this Friday's region opener at Harlem (0-2). Cross Creek (2-1) will travel to Swainsboro (1-1) Friday.

Evans 20, Richmond 10

Evans improved to 2-1 by allowing its lowest point total of the season, which is saying something because the Knights only surrendered 16 to Effingham County in week one, and 14 to North Augusta in week two.

Jalen Walton (above) leads Evans in tackles.

The Mighty Roll

Barnwell 42, Silver Bluff 7

Craig Pender (Barnwell)

Barnwell's 42-7 win almost underwhelmed after the #2 ranked (South Carolina class 2A) Warhorses scored 69 and 62 points in their first two victories. Silver Bluff forced Barnwell quarterback Craig Pender to work hard for his 4 touchdown passes, as you can see below on the team's first scoring drive, via footage from the Aiken Standard Game of the Week broadcast (click for full game).



There aren't many high school quarterbacks making reads like Pender did there, which has to at least partially explain why he has been able to post 9 touchdown passes in only 3 games so far.

The Warhorses (3-0) and Bulldogs (1-1) both play special Thursday night games this week. Barnwell will face Burke (0-2) at The Citadel, and Silver Bluff will host Denmark-Olar (0-2).

Wagener-Salley 74, Eau Claire 0

Jakobe Schofield (Wagener-Salley)

The War Eagles lived up to their #2 ranking (South Carolina class 1A) by posting an even larger number than their fellow #2 ranked peer Barnwell has been known to do.

Wagener-Salley's offensive line led the rout by paving the way for 320 rushing yards on only 19 carries for an eye popping 16.8 yards per carry. Coach Willie Fox's linemen don't resemble many class 1A teams because the War Eagles have an abundance of size in the trenches.

Take #75 Jakobe Schofield, a 6-5, 302 pound senior for an example:



And Wagener-Salley's size advantage is matched by that of its speedsters on the outside. AJ Swedenburg covered 98 yards and scored 2 touchdowns while touching the ball 3 times Friday. The junior scored on one of his two receptions. He also recovered a fumble and took it 51 yards to the house.

Another standout performer was the multi-faceted 6-4, 250 pound junior tight end and defensive end Elijah Davis, who recorded 5 tackles for losses and also scored on a 47 yard touchdown reception.

Wagener-Salley (3-0) is off this week before region play begins on the road against Hunter-Kinard-Tyler on September 20.

Thomson 35, Eagles Landing 0

The Bulldogs recorded their second shutout win in two tries to start the season, holding Eagles Landing to 66 yards of total offense. Junior linebacker Skylar Lewis returned an interception 73 yards for a touchdown to go with his 11 tackles, 2 of which were for a loss. And senior Dylan Hobbs notched another 9 tackles.

Dylan Hobbs (Thomson)

The Bulldogs (2-0) will face Clarke Central (2-1) at home this Friday.

Strom Thurmond 42, South Aiken 27

The #3 ranked (South Carolina class 3A) Rebels exceeded 40 points for the second straight week behind standout performances from three veteran producers:

Our Co-Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for the South Aiken game. pic.twitter.com/Wn7y3IpWns

— STHS Football (@GoRebsPCCW) September 9, 2019

Strom Thurmond (2-1) will go on the road for its next three contests, beginning with this Friday's game at Midland Valley (0-2).

More from Week 3

Lakeside 45, Duluth 21

The Panthers scored 36 points in the third quarter, and senior quarterback Jaden Taylor posted his second player-of-the-week worthy stat line in two games. The veteran quarterback is doing his part to make sure Barnwell's Craig Pender doesn't run away with all of the quarterback praise.



Lakeside (2-0) has this Friday off before the Panthers host Aiken (0-3) on September 20 in a game that will be featured as WJBF's game of the week.

Aquinas 47, Wilkinson County 7

AJ Williams and Joseph Welch each ran for a pair of touchdowns, and defensive end Jaden Blount recorded 5 tackles for losses in Aquinas's third victory in three tries. Welch also gained 115 yards receiving. The Fighting Irish have a bye this week before traveling to Lincoln County (1-1) for their first region contest on September 20.

Jaden Blount (Aquinas) makes a tackle in the backfield against Laney in week one.

Laney 41, McCormick 0

The Wildcats (1-1) reached the win column to warm up for this Friday's region opening road game against Westside (0-1). Dykese King turned in a strong performance:

Ridge Spring-Monetta 68, Whitmire 28

Remedee Leaphart (Ridge Spring-Monetta)

RSM (1-2) earned its first win ahead of its region opener at North (0-2) one week from this Friday.

Quarterback Remedee Leaphart turned in a stat line for the ages: 5 touchdown passes and 2 touchdowns runs while posting 242 yards through the air and 122 on the ground!

Washington-Wilkes 26, Harlem 14

Senior quarterback Donovan Anthony and sophomore receiver Dalen Cobb connected through the air 8 times for 197 passing yards and a touchdown. Anthony also ran for another two scores for the Tigers (1-1), which will face Stratford (0-2) Friday at home. Harlem (0-2) will host Glenn Hills this week in the first week of region play for the teams.