What We Saw: Saluda 35, Strom Thurmond 25

Thomas Grant

October 26, 2024 @ 12:48 AM

SALUDA | For more than a year, <a href="https://prepredzone.com/player/brayden-williams-2/">Brayden Williams</a> had waited for this night at Bettis Herlong Stadium at Matthews Field.   Ever since he and his Saluda teammates found themselves on the losing end of a 48-3 thumping by Strom Thurmond last October, the opportunity to get revenge had burned within them.   So when faced with converting a third and Inches with less than two minutes left and the Tigers holding a 28-25 lead, Williams leaped at the chance to hand the deciding blow to their longtime rival.   “We needed a yard, but I wanted more,” he said.   When Williams got the handoff from quarterback Drew Arant, he refused to let the Rebel defense stop him. He bounced off several players at the line of scrimmage, stayed on his feet and bursted out into the open field for a 39-yard gain.   An already exhilarated Tiger fan base has even more reason to cheer seconds later. This time, backfield mate Tristan Daniels got the carry and managed to spin off a Strom Thurmond player yanking his facemask and raced into the endzone for the game-clinching touchdown in the 35-25 victory.   Williams finished with 154 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns, one out of the Wildcat for 54 yards.   Avenging a 45-point shellacking to a team it had not defeated at home since 2003 was not the only positive the undefeated Tigers (7-0, 3-0) took away from the win. Head coach Stewart Young was pleased with how his offensive line – center Sid Shaw, guards Waltavius Cannon, Bryan Gomez and Levi Boatwright and sophomore tackle Grant Gentry - imposed its will upfront in the second half   “The line was blocking yard,” he said. “We seemed to kind of wear them down and we kept feeding them and both of them had accepted the fact that ‘Hey, I'm going to take some plays off to rest up and I'm going to get back there.' So, it's kind of two starters and nobody pouts when we pull them out because they know our system and what we're trying to do. So it kept them fresh and we kept getting after it.”   Playing quarterback in place of an injured Arant has also made Williams a better leader and to step up when necessary to make plays. Meanwhile, Arant completed 9-18 passes for 136 yards and a 10-yard touchdown to Vic Gaines in his second game back since the season-opener.     On defense, the Tigers force three turnovers and held the Rebels to 92 rushing yards. Their defensive line with Touchstone Energy Cooperative Bowl selection JT Lott, Devon Wallace  and Amir Johnson also pressured and sacked Strom Thurmond quarterback Bri'Shaun Lee.   He threw for181 passing yards and threw two touchdowns caught in acrobatic fashion by Cooperative Bowl selection wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id='1254050' first='Jay' last='Sewell'].   He finished with eight receptions for 127 yards. Although [player_tooltip player_id='617663' first='Kaleb' last='Simpkins'] was the target of several Strom Thurmond plays, he managed only two receptions for 38 yards.   Along with the turnovers, Strom Thurmond (6-2, 2-1) missed two PATs and had two failed two-point conversions. Conversely, Saluda placekicker John Pinto was a perfect 5-5 on extra points.   “All those little things add up to come get you,” Rebels head coach Andrew Webb said. “We played really hard, but we didn't play well enough to beat them.”

SALUDA | For more than a year, Brayden Williams had waited for this night at Bettis Herlong Stadium at Matthews Field.