Class 1A Lower State Third Round Preview

<p style="font-weight: 400;">Class A Lower State</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Here is a preview of the two Class 1A Lower State contests.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>No. 2 Whale Branch (9-1) at No. 1 C.E. Murray (5-1)</strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">C.E. Murray used big games from <strong>Tyree Prunes</strong> and <strong>Quadarous Grant</strong> in its second-round win. Prunes had 187 yards rushing and four touchdowns with Grant adding 95 yards and two scores in the 58-36 victory. Prunes also completed 6-of-9 passes for 105 yards. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="123264" first="Amond" last="Myers"]</strong> added 28 rushing yards and 79 receiving and two scores as well.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Justin Graham</strong> led the way defensively with six tackles and a sack.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Whale Branch leans on Virginia Tech commit <strong>Xavier Chaplin</strong> on both sides of the ball. He anchored the offensive line and added eight tackles, four tackles for loss and sack in the 27-12 win over Lake View. <strong>Keith Chisholm</strong> added five tackles and interceptions.  <strong>Bradford Thompson</strong> had eight tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Darrell Cummings</strong> rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown offensively. <strong>Joseph Hicks</strong> is the leading rusher on the season with 1,129 yards. The Warriors threw for 106 yards after not completing a pass in the first round.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong> </strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>No. 1 Bamberg-Ehrhardt (11-0) at No. 1 Baptist Hill (8-0)</strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">This one has the makings to be a classic.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Baptist Hill is averaging 44 points a game behind quarterback <strong>Harold Gathers</strong> and a talented offensive lineup. Gathers threw for 291 yards passing and five touchdowns last week in the 50-33 win over Green Sea Floyds. He did it despite missing time in the second and third quarter due to injury. <strong>Damon Smith</strong> added 154 receiving yards and three touchdowns to go along with 137 kick return yards and two interceptions.  <strong>Ra’Shawn Murray</strong> and <strong>Kevin Townsend</strong> are threats in both the rushing and passing attack.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Bamberg-Ehrhardt can score as well but their defense leads the way. The Red Raiders are only allowing nine points a game. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="91201" first="Quincy" last="Bias"]</strong> led the way in the second round with three sacks and an interception.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Quinton Banks</strong> had 135 yards and 4 TDs and <strong>Nick Folk</strong> added two additional touchdowns in B-E’s second round win over Carvers Bay<strong>. </strong>It’s still unlikely normal starting QB <strong>Gage Boykin </strong>will play. He’s been out with an injury since the final regular season game of the season. Freshman <strong>Chanston Crosby</strong> started the last two games, but <strong>Isaiah Johnson</strong> took snaps a week and finished with 128 yards rushing.</p>