By Craig Brown
The Latta High School Vikings advance to the play-offs with a thrilling 27-22 win over the Jaguars of Kingstree High School.
It was homecoming and the final game of the regular season and that made the win all the sweeter for the Vikings fans.
The first quarter was played in the north end of the stadium with most of the quarter inside the 20 yard line with the Jaguars not able to get in and the Vikings not able to get out.
The first quarter ended with no team on the scoreboard. The Jaguars went up by 14 points early in the second quarter with Jaguar star running back Kavon McBride crossing the goal line on runs of 37 yards and 32 yards. McBride’s first TD came with 11:49 left in the second quarter. The conversion failed holding the Jaguars with a 6-0 lead. With 8:44 left in the quarter McBride got his second TD. Direlle McGee picked up the two point conversion to give the Jaguars a 14-0 lead.
With 2:55 left in the second quarter Kingstree was backed up deep and forced to punt. Jordan McRae rushed in and blocked the kick allowing teammate Brandon Hayes to recover in the end zone for a Latta touchdown.
The conversion failed with the Jaguars lead cut to 14-6. With 44 seconds left in the first half of play, Chandler Nolan ran eight yards in heavy traffic for the Vikings second touchdown. The conversion failed and the teams went into the halftime break with the Jaguars holding onto a 14-12 lead. On the Vikings first possession of the third quarter, Chandler Nolan finished the drive with a three yard touchdown run. Nolan ran in the conversion to give the Vikings a 20-14 lead with 10:04 left in the third quarter. On the Jaguars second possession of the third quarter, Direlle McGee raced 84 yards on a quarterback keeper for a touchdown. McGee added two points on the conversion run to put the Jaguars back on top 22-20 with 6:33 left in the third quarter. The quarter would end with this score.
The wet field caused problems throughout the game with snaps from center and fumbles and it did not look good for the Vikings until mid-way in the final quarter when Brandon Hayes broke free and out-ran the Jaguars defenders for a 38 yard touchdown run with 6:06 left in the game. Kavi Patel’s point after kick put the Vikings up 27-22. The Jaguars were driving late in the fourth quarter but had their hopes of a victory dashed when Deonte Stanley intercepted McGee’s pass at the Latta 35 yard line.
Latta Coach Brandon Iseman directed his quarterback to use the clock and secure the ball. The Jaguars used their final time out to stop the clock but the Vikings secured a first down and ran the clock down to zero to get the hard fought 27-22 win.
On offense for the Vikings, Chandler Nolan had 146 yards on 23 carries with two touchdowns and a two point conversion run. Brandon Hayes had 128 yards on 17 carries with a touchdown and caught a pass for 11 yards. Josh Williams had 44 yards on ten carries and completed two passes for 20 yards, and JR McLam caught a nine yard pass.
On defense for the Vikings, Jay Bailey had six tackles, four assists. Matt Clark had five tackles, two assists with two quarterback sacks and a fumble recovery. Haden Graham had four tackles, four assists. Jordan McRae had four tackles, two assists with a quarterback sack and a blocked kick resulting in a TD. Trey Anderson had three tackles, four assists and recovered a fumble and returned it 35 yards. Chandler Nolan had three tackles, three assists and a fumble recovery., Kiese Blake had three tackles, two assists. AJ Herring had two tackles six assists. Bryce McRae had two tackles, four assists with two fumble recoveries. JR McLam had two tackles, two assists. Brandon Page added a tackle with three assists. Brandon Hayes added a tackle and recovered a fumble for a TD. Jamario Taylor added a tackle. Tommy Aiken had two tackle assists and Deonte Stanley had two pass interceptions.
