What we saw: Daniel Rolls to Region Title

ANDERSON | A region championship isn't required to play for a state championship, but it sure makes the road to one smoother. In a matchup for the Region I-3A title, the No. 1-ranked team in Class 3A looked every bit like it as the Lions won at Pendleton, 56-28.   Daniel's offense piled up 597 total yards and its defense collected nine sacks as the Lions (9-0, 4-0) clinched homefield advantage throughout the first four rounds of playoffs. It's the fifth straight region crown for Daniel, which has won 43 consecutive regular season games. Among the 25 region championship teams in school history were all nine teams that reached the state final.   While Friday marked the most points Daniel's allowed all season, it was also the lowest point total Pendleton (7-2, 3-1) has posted all season. The Bulldogs' previous low was 40 points.   "I'm proud of all our guys. Proud of the effort that they put into being successful. They show up day in and day out and give us their all," Daniel coach Jeff Fruster said. "We played great complementary football, giving each other chances to be successful. I can't thank my staff enough. They work extremely hard."   Entering Friday, both teams featured skill players with eye-popping statistics. Pendleton senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1142563' first='Luke' last='Gray'] had thrown for 2,403 yards with 38 touchdowns and one interception. Daniel senior running back [player_tooltip player_id='997148' first='Ja'kari' last='Bennett'] had 834 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns with an average of 12.6 yards per carry, while senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1055627' first='Kolton' last='Chapman'] had thrown for 1,203 yards with 17 touchdowns and also just one interception.   Those numbers continued to rise on Friday. After electing to receive the opening kickoff, Chapman immediately set the tone for his night. After running for 14 yards on the first snap, Chapman completed five passes over the next five plays as the Lions went from their own 20 to the Bulldogs' 28 without Bennett ever touching the ball.   Then Bennett touched it. Three Bennett carries later, Daniel had a 7-0 lead.   After the lone three-and-out of the night for either team, Bennett didn't take the field for the Lions' next possession. That didn't stop them from going 62 yards on 11 plays, capped on a touchdown run by Tory Shaw from three yards out. That score was set up when Chapman made a great throw against his body on 4th-and-5 as he hit a diving Sam Earle for a 27-yard gain to the three.   Two plays later, Gray was picked off for just the second time this season. Daniel's [player_tooltip player_id='986041' first='Tremaine' last='Davis'] made a perfect read to jump the sideline route and he returned the ball 35 yards for a score to push the lead to 21-0 with 3:47 still left in the first quarter.   "Thank you to the guys up front. That's where the credit needs to go every time," Chapman said. "Those guys and the defense getting us the ball back is how we got off to a great start."   Pendleton answered on its ensuing possession when Gray found [player_tooltip player_id='1157733' first='Abijah' last='Webb'] for a two-yard touchdown, but the Bulldogs could never get the lead to anything less than two scores the rest of the way.   Gray scored on a 25-yard run to cut the Daniel lead to 35-21 with 33 seconds left in the half. Pendleton then held on during a wild sequence on Daniel's final possession before halftime. Chapman threw deep and hit wide open freshman Christian Chancellor for a 47-yard gain to the goal line, which he was ruled inches shy of with three seconds left. After a timeout, Daniel sprinted out on offense and tried a quick snap and quarterback sneak but the ball squirted away and was fallen on for a three-yard loss as time expired.   That misfire on the last play notwithstanding, Daniel put on an offensive clinic in the opening half. Even though the Lions had that pick six in the first quarter, they still managed to run 49 offensive plays for 402 total yards by halftime.   "We had a lot of belief in the game plan. We put so much time into it, we knew what we thought could be successful with," Fruster said. "Once we saw that we could, it made it a little easy to call what we called in that first half."   Pendleton could not build off the momentum it took into the break as a sack by Daniel's [player_tooltip player_id='1592019' first='Dexter' last='Johnson'] helped shut down the Bulldogs' opening drive of the second half. Pendleton still trailed 35-21 later in the third when it advanced to Daniel's 28-yard line but over the next four plays, the Lions recorded three sacks. The last two of which were by [player_tooltip player_id='1157945' first='Spencer' last='Conn'] and Johnson. Johnson's sack came on fourth down as Daniel took over at its own 42-yard line. Bennett capped that ensuing drive with a 12-yard touchdown run to give the Lions an insurmountable 42-21 lead with 1:04 left in the third quarter.   Bennett finished with 216 yards on 23 carries. He ran for three touchdowns and caught another. Chapman completed 24-of-33 passes for 276 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also ran for 64 yards and two touchdowns. Chancellor had 86 yards receiving on five receptions, while Graydon Nix caught 10 passes for 80 yards.   Gray completed 24-of-40 passes for 306 yards with two touchdowns and one interception for the Bulldogs (7-2, 3-1). While the sacks skewed his rushing totals, Gray ran for 41 yards and Pendleton's other two scores. Kory Jones caught nine passes for 129 yards for the Bulldogs, while Webb finished with eight receptions for 114 yards.   Daniel hosts Crescent to wrap up the regular season next Friday, before hosting the loser of next week's Blue Ridge-Travelers Rest game in round one of the Class 3A playoffs. Pendleton ends the regular season at Walhalla next Friday. The winner of that game will earn the No. 2 seed out of Region I and will host the winner of Blue Ridge-Travelers Rest.

ANDERSON | A region championship isn't required to play for a state championship, but it sure makes the road to one smoother. In a matchup for the Region I-3A title, the No. 1-ranked team in Class 3A looked every bit like it as the Lions won at Pendleton, 56-28.