What We Saw: Lower Richland Beats Westwood In Final Seconds

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HOPKINS |</strong> "Just sloppy. Just a sloppy football game for us."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That was Lower Richland head coach Marlin Taylor's honest assessment of his team's improbable 24-21 win over Westwood Thursday night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This was a game which easily could have gone in the Redhawks' favor. Westwood seemingly had control of the outcome as it held Lower Richland scoreless for most of the second half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Until Lower Richland 's final drive, the lone second-half points were a five-yard touchdown run by <strong>K'Shon Harrison</strong> in the third quarter to give Westwood a 21-18 lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1734561' first='Carrington' last='Carter']</strong> had the Lower Richland defense baffled in the first half. His first pass was a 10-yard touchdown to <strong>Chase Simmons</strong> and his cadence call drew four offside penalties. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Redhawks also capitalized off Lower Richland's struggles on special teams. The Diamond-Hornets were 0-4 on PATs, had a botched snap on a punt set up Westwood's first touchdown and a muffed punt in the second half which could have spelled trouble.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Late in the fourth quarter, Westwood appeared poised to run out the clock. <strong>Antwan Nelson</strong>, who had a rushing touchdown, had three straight runs for first downs before the Redhawks were forced to punt.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The ball was downed by Westwood at the 2-yard line with less than two minutes left. Despite Lower Richland's offensive struggles outside of the ground game, quarterback <strong>MJ Smith</strong> was still confident of victory.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I got real comfortable towards the end of last season and going into the playoffs," Smith said. "All the games were real close."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>He completed the comeback with two long passes. With 50 seconds left, Smith launched a desperation pass down field that wide receiver <strong>Jamarious Smith</strong> managed to snag down while defended by two Westwood players for 45 yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Smith's next pass was something Taylor had stashed away in his playbook. From the Westwood 47, Smith threw cross field to an open <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='771221' first='Lamarion' last='Pearson']</strong> who snuck out of the backfield, made the catch and scampered down the sidelines for the game-winning score with 27.4 seconds left.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Wednesday was one of the only days we could come out," said Taylor, citing the hot temperatures which limited practices to indoors. "That was one of the first things we practiced, coming out in two-minute situations with the ball on the two. So it goes to show you that when the kids trust what you practice and what you're doing, good results happen."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"It's just one of those things," Westwood head coach Robert O'Connell said. "We're playing some you g guys at DB and the game can be a little fast for them sometimes. A great job by them to open that play. A heck of a play by them."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both Pearson and Smith rushed for touchdowns in the first half. <strong>Tra'von Boston</strong> accounted for the Diamond-Hornets' third rushing touchdown of the first half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Most of Lower Richland 's rushing success came from running off the blocking of six-foot-eight, 340-pound tackle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='771036' first='Dakarai' last='Sumter']</strong> and teammate <strong>Braxton Richardson</strong> upfront. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Diamond-Hornets also displayed another potential offensive weapon. Tight end <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1255330' first='Noah' last='Lucas']</strong>, a six-foot-five, 225-pound junior managed to get behind the Westwood defense for three receptions, one of which was a touchdown called back for an illegal block.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Defensively, linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1267324' first='Ophir' last='Hill']</strong> had a team-high 12 tackles before leaving the game with an injury. He was followed by defensive lineman <strong>Zaquan Brown</strong> with six.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"It feels good knowing we can win under pressure and it makes me feel better that if we can fix our mistakes, we can be a better team," Smith said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Having avoided an 0-2 start, Taylor hopes for a cleaner performance next week at Ridge View.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> "This wasn't our best football by far," Taylor said. "So I think our best football is ahead of us. We come off last week, we had 12 penalties and lose by a field goal (23-20 to West Ashley). Come back this week, we're in a field goal situation again. But this time, it's on our end and we get a chance to get a touchdown."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Meanwhile, Westwood has a "backyard brawl" next week with archival Blythewood. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>O'Connell was encouraged by his team's overall defensive effort. He cited linebacker <strong>Jalen Burns</strong>, lineman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='346188' first='Dekontee' last='Mack']</strong> and defensive back<strong> Justin Washington</strong> among the top performers. Linebacker <strong>Jayce Rios</strong> also recovered a muffed punt.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->