By Lonnie Turner
Mount Pleasant scored a late touchdown in the fourth quarter to break a 6-6 tie Saturday morning to edge the Dillon Parks and Recreation 11-12 All Stars, 14 to 6, to take the Lower State Championship at Memorial Stadium. Mount Pleasant will play Abbeville at Florence’s Freedom Park this coming Saturday at 1 PM for the State Championship.
Quarterback Hugh Meredith fired a slant pass over the middle to Leo Albano, who was stopped just short of the Dillon goal line, after a 44-yard gain and Owen Bailey ran the final 5 yards to break a 6-6 tie. A two-point conversion run by Traiquan Horry gave Mount Pleasant the 14-6 lead with only 1:12 remaining in the game. Following the ensuing kickoff, Dillon quarterback Ray-Ray McGirt threw three incomplete passes and a fumble on fourth down was recovered at the Dillon 17 where Meredith took a knee to run out the clock.
Dillon had taken an early lead when McGirt picked off a Meredith pass and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, but the try for the two-point conversion by McGirt failed.
Mount Pleasant responded with the Meredith-Albano combination which resulted in a 12-yard touchdown to tie the game at 6-6 with 0:56 seconds before the halftime break.
After throwing three interceptions in the first half, Meredith settled down to complete five out of nine attempts for 52 yards, including the pass that set up the winning score. He was also the leading rusher for Mount Pleasant with 24 net yards on 13 carries. Albano also threw a 41-yard pass to Meredith earlier in the game.
Diaz Alexander led the Dillon offense with 36 yards rushing on 12 tries and McGirt finished the afternoon with 26 yards passing.
Congratulations to the Dillon team and their coaching staff for a great playoff run. Reggie Thompson, Eugene McLellan, John Willie Brown and Terrance Dixon were the official coaches for the All Stars and assisting on the sidelines was Douglas “Humbunny” Pernell.
Also congratulations to Dillon County Recreation Director Vernon Grimsley, Jr. and assistant Larry German for a great job running the feeder program that has produced some of the great players to don the Dillon Wildcats black and gold.
