PHOTO GALLERY: Dillon v. Timberland

Photos from Dillon v. Timberland by Johnnie Daniels/The Dillon Herald:

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By Lonnie Turner
The Dillon Wildcats scored quickly and often to dismantle the Timberland Timber Wolves, 49-21,  Friday night at Memorial Stadium in the second round of the 2A playoffs to inch closer to another shot at a state title. The Wildcats elected to take the opening kickoff and scored easily on the highly touted defense of the Wolves on just six plays and following a fumble, came right back and led 14-0 with a 5-play, 49-yard drive with less than five minutes off the scoreboard clock.
“I can’t say enough about our offensive line play,” said Head Coach Jackie Hayes. “They did an outstanding job getting runners loose early.”  
The Wolves came into the game with a six-game winning streak and a healthy team that excelled with an option format with Quarterback Daniel Robinson as the leader. The 5’8, 160 pounder, going both ways, did his share to get things going with 19 carries for a net gain of 88 yards, but the Wildcat defense was up to the task of slowing him down and strong runner Brandon Simmons, who rushed for only 59 yards on fifteen carries.
“The defense played considerably well, too,” explained Coach Hayes, who won his 276th game against 50 defeats in his 24th season at the helm of the Wildcats. “They (Timberland) scored only 6 points on our defense,” he continued. “We can‘t ask for much more than that.  Leading the tackle sheet for the Cats was Zareon Hayes with 14 tackles, 10 of which were solo take downs and Jermaine McDaniel totaled 11 tackles and a quarterback sack. “Now Lake Marion will bring in some pretty good athletes on Friday, too, so we’re going to have to continue to work hard to get ready for them,” Coach Hayes said.
The Cats have met the Gators on two occasions, both times in the third round of the playoffs, and have won handily twice, scoring one-sided wins.
In Friday’s game with the Wolves, the Cats built a 21-0 lead before a tipped pass resulted in a touchdown halfway through the second quarter. It was the first interception thrown by senior Avery McCall dating back to the Loris playoff game last season. In forty-five games over a period of four years, he has thrown 511 passes and had only six intercepted, while completing 352  for 7,092 yards and 81 touchdowns.
Jamison Chapman continues to put up big numbers running out of his tailback position and the Wildcats have been very successful with the “Wildcat” formation with Daeshawn Davis rushing for 438 yards and 16 touchdowns this season. Friday night he rushed for 63 yard, scoring two times out of the formation, and on defense had nine tackles and returned an intercepted pass 57 yards for a third touchdown. Chapman had a team high of 92 yards on twelve carries, including touchdown runs of 5 and 12 yards to give him 47 rushing scores for the season.
Zareon Hayes has also had some success running behind the premier blocking skills of the Dillon offensive line. The sophomore scored on a one yard run and added 26 more yards o four other carries taking direct snaps from the center.
Leading 35-6 at the break, the Wildcats kicked to the Wolves and after holding the potent running attack for a mere seven yards, the defense forced a punt, giving the Wildcats the ball at their own 12 yard line. Dillon drove 88 yards on 10 plays to increase the lead to 42-6 on a trick play. Facing a 3rd and long at the door of the Wolves end zone, McCall faked a handoff to Chapman, but instead pitched back to Diaz Alexander and ran off to his right. Alexander turned and lofted the ball to a wide open McCall, who literally walked 16 yards into the end zone for a 42-6 lead.
The Wolves finally put it all together to score on the Nasty Cat defense, marching 74 yards on a sustained 15-play drive, all on the ground. Simmons bolted over the goal line for the final yard and Amonte Prioleau’s two point run cut the lead to 42-14 at the end of three quarters.
One play into the fourth quarter, Chapman scored his second touchdown of the game capping a four play 74 yard drive with a twelve yard run and Drew Covington’s seventh consecutive PAT gave the Cats a 49-14 lead.
With the Cats staying on the ground as the game wore down to an end, the Wolves defense scored again when Josh Alston scooped up a fumble and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown.
The Dillon running backs totaled 272 yards on  the ground and McCall and Alexander accounted for 106 more with 6 of 9 pass completions to give the Cats 378 yards in total offense, while Timberland netted only 185 on the ground and 10 through the air.
The Lake Marion Gators fans only have to jump on I-95 to make the trip up from the Santee area, but thanks to the outstanding play of the Cats throughout the year, we’ll be here at home in our quest for another trip to the Columbia area.

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