The Dillon Christian School Warriors were eliminated from the Class A SCISA football playoffs on Friday when they fell 42-13 to the defending champions, the Dorchester Academy Raiders.
The loss came after a game full of mistakes after a long delay due to a bus breakdown en route to St. George. The kickoff of the game didn’t take place until nearly 10 p.m. as a result, with the game finishing shortly after midnight.
Despite the somewhat lopsided score, Dorchester Academy head coach Stanley Gruber expressed frustration with his team’s performance, noting a fumbled punt in Raider territory, interceptions, failures to convert fourth downs, turning the ball over four times, and an interception on the first play.
“We had to sit around (and wait on Dillon), but they were broke down on the interstate so I don’t see how it was any worse on us than it was on them,” he said. “I don’t know what the problem was, but we were pretty awful to be honest with you…If we play like we did tonight then Holly Hill will be making the trip (to the championship game).”
Despite the errors from the Raiders, the Warriors still found themselves falling quickly behind, unable to take advantage of Dorchester’s errors while making several of their own.
The first play of the game saw Dorchester give the ball away, as Dillon Christian’s Troy Davis intercepted a pass from Nick McAlhany. The Warriors weren’t able to capitalize on the interception though, and McAlhany scored on a five-yard run with 8:49 left in the first, his first of five touchdowns in the win. The run failed, but gave the Raiders a 6-0 lead.
Dorchester picked up two safeties, on in the first quarter with 17.4 seconds on the clock, and the other in the second, to give them a 10-0 lead at the half.
The Raiders returned to the field and scored on the opening kick, with McAlhany running in a 75-yard touchdown. He connected with Brandon Bair for a successful two-point conversion for an 18-0 lead with 11:38 remaining the third. McAlhany improved the lead to 24-0 when he scored again on an 18-yard run with 2:34 remaining.
The Warriors managed to get on the board in the fourth when they mounted a nine-play drive that ended with a two-yard touchdown from John Michael Price. Neil Melvin kicked in the extra point to put the score at 24-7.
Dorchester wasn’t content just yet, as they answered the Warriors with a drive of their own that featured a 67-yard pass from McAlhany to Bair, followed by a 19-yard touchdown on a pass from McAlhany to Jordan Weathers for a 30-7 lead.
The Warriors rallied for a second strong drive with a strong ground game, which ended with Luke Pittman scoring a 19-yard touchdown. The kick failed, but the score improved to 30-13.
But the Raiders had an answer for that, too, with McAlhany scoring on a 71yard run with 1:27 left in the game. The kick failed, but Dorchester wouldn’t wait long for another opportunity. Dorchester’s Vance Collier picked off a pass from Dillon’s Jonathon Justice and returned it 30 yards for the final score of the game with 1:12 left on the clock..
McAlhany finished 6 of 13 passing for 131 yards, with 164 yards rushing.
Dillon Christian School finished the season with a 3-9 record. Dorchester Academy improves to 10-1 and will move on to host Holly Hill Academy this Friday, with the winner moving on to the championship game.
