The Dillon Christian School Warriors defeated Florence Christian on Friday, August 28, in their season opener. Here is a photo gallery by Johnnie Daniels/The Dillon Herald and Craig Brown, sponsored in part by Tracy Pelt For Dillon County Sheriff.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Johnnie Daniels/The Dillon Herald
Click once on a photo to bring it into a single screen, and then again to enlarge.
By Craig Brown
The Dillon Christian School Warriors hosted the Eagles of Florence Christian Friday night opening the 2020 football season with the Warriors coming away with a 47-27 win in non-region play.
In what started off as a low scoring battle with 19 points scored in the first half ended with the second half of play producing 55.
COVID-19 has hampered training for most players and both teams seemed worn down in the fourth quarte, but the Warriors looked to be in the better shape of the two teams.
The Warriors have an excellent coaching staff this year, and the team will only improve as the full schedule season progresses.
Football fans in Dillon County were hungry for football, and on Friday night, Warrior Field was filled to capacity with fans from around Dillon County and from Robeson County, North Carolina.
The Warriors got on the scoreboard first with quarterback, Cameron Sweat, hitting wide-receiver Adam Norman with a 45-yard touchdown pass. The extra point failed due to a kicking block and with 6:30 left in the first quarter the Warriors were up 6-0. The first quarter would end with this score.
The Warrior defensive secondary may be the best in the region and will play a key part in the Warrior’s season. This fact was proven early in the second quarter when Josh Brown intercepted an Eagle’s pass and returned it 63 yards for a touchdown. The point after kick was off holding the Warrior lead to 12-0 with 9:53 left in the second quarter.
The Eagles got on the board with 1:34 left in the second quarter with running back Jules Huntley crossing the goal line from four yards out. Luke Windham added the point after kick to cut the Warrior lead to 12-7 with the first half of play ending with this score.
Midway in the third quarter the Eagles made things interesting with quarterback Robbie Jordan hitting wide receiver Harrison Forehand with a 38-yard touchdown pass. The point after failed but the Eagles were up 13-12 with 7:04 left in the third quarter.
The Warriors finished a long drive that ended with Cameron Sweat finishing the drive on a five-yard quarterback keeper run. The two-point conversion failed, but the Warriors had regained the lead. With 3:55 left in the third quarter, the Warriors were out front 18-13.
On the Eagles next drive Warrior defensive back Logan Jones intercepted a Robbie Jordan pass and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown. Hayden Hickman added the two-point conversion to up the Warrior lead to 26-13 with 2:42 left in the third quarter. The third quarter would end with this score. On the Warriors’ first possession of the fourth quarter running back Derrick Baker finished the drive with an eight-yard touchdown run. Sweat found Norman open for the two-point conversion to give the Warriors a 34:13 lead with 11:47 left in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles had a short field on their next offensive possession and pounded away with their 250-pound fullback, DJ Huntley. The Warriors made the yardage hard for Huntley but the big man found the end zone on a seven-yard run. Windham added the point after kick cutting the Warrior lead to 34-20 with 7:47 left in the fourth quarter.
On first down following the kick, Sweat found Norman open and hit him with a pass that went 63 yards for the touchdown. Josh Brown added the point-after kick giving the Warriors a 41-20 lead with 7:17 left in the fourth quarter.
Following a good kickoff return, the Eagles had a short field to work with. Jules Huntley finished the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run. Windham added the point-after kick. The Warriors were ahead 41-27 with 6:19 left in the fourth quarter. Hickman finished the Warriors next drive crossing the goal line from ten yards out to give the Warriors a 47-27 lead. As the point-after kick was off, the Warriors would end the game with the 47-27 win.
On offense for the Warriors, Cameron Sweat was 10 of 13 passing for 240 yards and three touchdowns and 66 yards rushing on 11 carries with a touchdown. Adam Norman caught four passes for 157 yards with two touchdowns adding 15 yards rushing. Derrick Baker had 80 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown. Hayden Hickman caught 5 passes for 76 yards and a touchdown, and Logan Jones caught a pass for 7 yards and added 8 yards rushing.
The Warrior defense was led by Caleb Boykin and Cooper Lane with an outstanding 11 tackles each with Lane getting a quarterback sack. Kaleb Pulley had seven tackles; Derrick Baker had five tackles; and Josh Brown, Gabe Bissell, Jacob English, Adam Norman, and Hayden Hickman getting four tackles each with Brown adding an interception returned 63 yards for a touchdown. Norman got an interception in the end zone, and English got a fumble recovery. Logan Jones and Anthony Carter had three tackles each with Jones returning an interception for 46 yards and a touchdown and intercepted a two-point conversion. Cade Williams, Weston Glasgow and Ron Bracey got two tackles each. Mason Miller and Joey Grossetti added a tackle each.
Coach Christian Wolfe stated that he was proud of the effort his players and praised his coaching staff. Wolfe added that the defensive secondary was a major factor in the team’s win with four interceptions with two going for touchdowns.
The Warriors travel south Friday to Moncks Corner for a match with St. John’s Christian. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.
