What We Saw: Carolina Forest 28, West Ashley 21

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MYRTLE BEACH |</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1142820' first='Ethan' last='Hamilton']</strong> long ago figured out he wasn't going to be a gun-slinging quarterback.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Carolina Forest senior is just fine with his alternative.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hamilton's 79-yard touchdown run less than 1 minute in Friday sparked a big rushing performance from him and his teammates en route to a 28-21 victory over West Ashley in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And while there were plenty of fireworks late, Hamilton's fast start ensured that West Ashley's comeback path was too much to navigate.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I knew it was a possibility,” Hamilton, pictured, said of surpassing the 1,000-yard rushing mark, something he did in the first quarter. “But I'm still shocked.” </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hamilton's fifth 100-yard rushing performance of the season was secured about 90 seconds into the second quarter Friday. By that point, he'd already hit the 1,000-yard milestone for the season, too.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The more immediate impact was what it did to a run-first, run-second offense that has has attempted fewer than nine passes per game this year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Following the quarterback's lead, Carolina Forest piled up 217 first-half rushing yards, by four different ball carriers. By that point, the Panthers had scored all of the points they would in the game, and the three-touchdown advantage proved pivotal.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That's because West Ashley wasn't done proving it belonged in the second round of the playoffs, either.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wildcats chipped away at the lead with second-half touchdowns runs by quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1254089' first='David' last='Dounian'] and lightly used tailback [player_tooltip player_id='208366' first='Terry' last='Grant'] - who is more known for his defensive prowess. However, the would-be game-tying touchdown pass that chased a successful onside kick attempt was negated by an offensive pass interference call.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After two more chances, Dounian's final pass attempt fell to the turf, prompting Carolina Forest's fourth trip to the third round of the playoffs in the last five seasons.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For Hamitlon, it means he's following in the footsteps of his two immediate predecessors, <strong>Scott Saylor</strong> and <strong>Mason Garcia</strong>. And now it means he'll be running the offense in a rematch against Summerville. The Green Wave beat the Panthers 33-26 on August 25 in what to this point of the season has been undefeated Summverille's biggest test.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We played them earlier in the year, and now we get them again,” Hamilton said. “Now, we're a lot better. I'm excited. [Carolina Forest] is a special group. I'm just having fun. … I just follow them. And it works out for us.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hamilton - who threw for 136 yards and a touchdown, as well - isn't doing the following, according to his coach.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“He's just a pure winner,” Panthers coach Marc Morris said. “He just lead our team and our kids know it. He was an easy decision. That's been a no-brainer since Scott graduated. His athletic ability, we knew it wasn't one of those deals where we could keep him off the field and have him be a back-up quarterback.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>OTHER CAROLINA FOREST NOTABLES</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aside from the flag for offensive pass interference, the biggest play of the second half came from Carolina Forest defensive back <strong>Ronnie Walker</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ashely Ridge had already cut the lead to 28-14 and had the ball early in the fourth quarter when Dounian ripped off a 40-yard run that would have give the Wildcats the ball inside the red zone. However, Walker, who was playing deep on the play and covering a receiver, stayed in front of Dounian, put a serious lick on the quarterback and jarred the ball loose. Carolina Forest took over and then drained 6 minutes and 14 second off the clock, severely limited West Ashley's opportunities to complete the comeback.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another big reason the lead was so big was because of Carolina Forest tailback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='267465' first='Kalil' last='Johnson']</strong> and his two first-half rushing touchdowns. Johnson scored from three yards out early in the second quarter to make it a 14-7 Panther lead and then added a three-yard score with just 18.5 seconds left in the second quarter.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The other points on the night from Carolina Forest came via a <strong>Finnian Mahood</strong> 79-yard touchdown reception from Hamilton. On the play, Mahood took a simple inside slant, broke a tackle and then out-ran the entire West Ashley defense to the end zone. It was Mahood's team-leading third touchdown reception of the season, exactly half of Hamilton's total.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>WEST ASHLEY NOTABLES</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dounian was by far the star of a West Ashley offense that was very much trying to keep things together despite numerous injuries on both side of the ball. The junior finished the game with 17 carries for 135 yards and two touchdowns. He did throw for 59 yards as well.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>He now becomes one of the building blocks for a 2024 season that will also see the return of four offensive linemen - tackle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='875795' first='Hampton' last='O'Donald']</strong>, guards <strong>Jimmy Jones</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1254118' first='Daniel' last='Dounian']</strong> and center <strong>Matt Atkinson</strong> - receiver <strong>Ethan Ranew</strong> and tight end <strong>Jude Claborn</strong>, among others.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->