BULLDOZED: McIntosh County Academy prevails to a key region win over Screven County

Oct. 23—After two tough losses to the two best teams in Region 3-A, McIntosh County Academy came out the gates ready to play en route to a 32-8 win.

On senior night, the Buccaneers won the toss and wanted to dictate the game quickly.

Senior running back Will Jones received a bulk of the carriers on the first drive of the game, eventually making his way into the end zone for an 18-yard score. The Buccaneers would miss the extra point try and lead 6-0. He was the first of three seniors to score in front of the home crowd.

Defensively, McIntosh came out to stop Screven County's Isaiah Chappel on the ground after his five-touchdown performance against Portal. They help Chappel to 15 yards on the opening drive and forced quarterback Chase Hart to throw the ball downfield to keep the drive alive. On third-and-nine, Hart was intercepted by Nehemiah West, who run it back 29-yards to the 20-yard line of the Gamecocks.

Flags would hurt the Buccaneers after the turnover, being penalized on four plays on the drive. Thus, forcing the team to punt from midfield and away from scoring off the turnover.

Screven's offense yet again struggled and on a third-down play, Hart was sacked by Deondray Bacon and Jones. After a botched snap to the punter, Danny Thompson was forced to kick it on the ground and out of bounds, giving the Buccaneers goal to go downs.

Jones would punch in his second score of the game from seven yards out. A failed 2-pt conversion left the Buccaneers leading 12-0 at the beginning of the second quarter.

Screven's Timothy Frank and Chappel traded carries to find some sort of momentum for their team, but the Buccaneers' defense stood strong forcing another punt.

With the ball on their own 10-yard line and trying to not allow the Gamecocks to have a spark, the ball was handed off to senior Austin Crosby, the team's leading rusher. Crosby split the hole and raced his way down the field and all the way in for the 90-yard score. His second-longest touchdown rush of his Buccaneers career. With the fans on their feet cheering on the team, placekicker Madi McMahan made her first extra point of her career. Her teammates and coaches celebrated and jumped for joy as McMahan put the team up 19-0 midway through the second.

"She's tenacious," McIntosh County Academy head coach Bradley Warren said of McMahan. "She never gave up and we finally started making some extra points."

The Gamecocks would finally find the end zone after a grueling nine-play drive that saw the Buccaneers defense reward the Gamecocks with over 20-yards in penalties. Frank bulldozed his way into the end zone, stretching for the end zone to keep his team from being shut out on the night. A missed extra point would leave the game at 19-6.

With just under two minutes to go before the half, quarterback Will Philmore threw two consecutive passes, leaving the Gamecocks confused as to why the ball was being thrown. Philmore connected with running back Quan Proctor for a screen pass, leaving the senior to do the rest. Catching it from the left side of the field and turning upfield to the right pylon, the senior scored from 41-yards out. McIntosh would lead 25-6 heading into the half.

In the second half, the two team's played sloppier football with six turnovers, three punts, and a blocked punt for a safety showing forth.

The lone scoring drive came towards the end of the third and Crosby rushed for 40 yards before Proctor score on a 12-yard carry to push the lead to 32-6. McMahan would make her second extra point of the night.

"We played three and a half quarters now and we got a big lead," Warren said. We came out a little bit sloppy (in the second half). We were playing hard still but we weren't making substitutions correctly, we got to improve and learn how to finish."

McIntosh finished the game with 382 yards of offense and pushed themselves closer to a berth into the Region3-A playoffs.

"We more than likely locked up a playoff position tonight," Warren said after the win. "The seniors gave everything they had. They played really hard and I'm proud of them. We are going to be something to reckon with in the playoffs."