What We Saw: Irmo 34, Lexington 8

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>LEXINGTON |</strong> The Irmo offense has received plenty of notoriety with the likes of quarterback<strong> Aaron Brand</strong> and wide receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='377560' first='Donovan' last='Murph']</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both players once again figured prominently in the Yellow Jackets' 34-8 win over Lexington in the Battle of the Dam.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brand had 200 total yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for an 11-yard touchdown and threw a 2-yard score to Brand. who had eight receptions for 61 yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>‘We have 4-5 receivers that can do stuff, just like Donovan can,” Brand said. “Having that is definitely a huge load off my shoulder, just knowing that I can trust everybody that I've got on the field at all times.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It also helps to have an offensive line with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1157979' first='Ryan' last='Love']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1267313' first='Vernen' last='Hairens']</strong>&nbsp; and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='209335' first='Kieron' last='Vauls']</strong> which did its part to keep Brand out of trouble against an aggressive Wildcat defense with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1249786' first='Artem' last='Kalinkin']</strong> and <strong>Jeffrey Weigand</strong> upfront and linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='836316' first='Matthew' last='McAulay']</strong> roaming across the field to make crushing hits.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Yellow Jackets also showed their success is not ja one-sided affair. Irmo's defense collected three interceptions, two by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1604012' first='Jamar' last='Grissett'] </strong>and one returned for a touchdown by senior defensive back <strong>Matthew Blocker</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“This defense is great,” Blocker said. “Organized chaos is what Coach (Raymond) Jennings calls it. You see so many people, big names, but you don't see the people that they don't call all the time like "Thump" (referring to <strong>Derek Harrison</strong>), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='755914' first='Jaiden' last='Bryant']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1734510' first='Major' last='Taylor'] </strong>(pictured number 30). Our D-line is great."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The sophomore Bryant is a name opponents have had to focus their gameplans. Even when&nbsp;lined up against bigger offensive linemen like 300-pound <strong>Griffin Harris</strong> and 250-pound senior <strong>Matthew Wilkie</strong> and then fighting past tight ends of similar height <strong>Wesley Gorsage </strong>and <strong>Ben Stogner</strong> to get a sack, the tenacious Bryant kept getting more disruptive as the game progressed.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“[player_tooltip player_id='755914' first='Jaiden' last='Bryant'] is just always big every week,” Brand said. “It's tough to block [player_tooltip player_id='755914' first='Jaiden' last='Bryant'] and sometimes, I feel like you might have to put two on him. But them, that leaves <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1734510' first='Major' last='Taylor']</strong> and <strong>(Devaughn) Sutter</strong> and those guys to get going.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Yellow Jackets also got a field goal from <strong>Tucker Williams</strong> and two safeties off errant Lexington snaps to quarterback <strong>Brennon Carter</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lexington avoided a shutout with a 34-yard touchdown pass by Carter to <strong>Zareth Owens</strong>. The duo also connected on a 2-point conversion.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When not expending his energy on defense, McAulay was the Wildcats' leading ball carrier. He accounted for 51 of the Wildcats' 75 rushing yards running behind Wilkie and the tight ends.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I think he's the hardest hitter on every field,” Lexington head coach Dustin Curtis said. “I love the way the kid plays. I love the way he runs the ball and we're obviously not the same without him. If I could clone him and have him at running back the whole game and linebacker the whole game, we'd probably be a lot better. You've got to spell him because he plays so dang hard and he can't play every game. But he pours his guts out every game and we love having him.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another Wildcats who earned praise was senior defensive back <strong>Lorenzo Katio</strong>. Despite a height disadvantage, he lined up against Murph the entire game and more than held his own in breaking up passes in his direction.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“The will that he had tonight to go out there and play like that, that brings a smile on my face,” Curtis said. “That kid's gone through a lot and he wanted that challenge and I feel great for him. He wants to play college football and I know he's not as tall as those kids and stuff like that. But now, he's going to have that film to show what he can do against a Division I athlete.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“It was a good battle,” Murph said. “He's a pretty good player. They had a good scheme. They had a safety over the top. There was a lot of help all night, but that's just how it goes in high school football. They scheme for you. They plan for you all week and I've just got to go out and do what I did. I think I had a solid game. There's more room for improvement as a team and we've just going to keep doing it from there.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->