What We Saw: St. Joseph's 35, Palmetto 14

GREENVILLE | When St. Joseph's faced Southside Christian last week the Knights won, 14-7, despite [player_tooltip player_id='1574101' first='William' last='Gillespie'] being held in check. Actually, nine tackles, two tackles-for-loss, a sack and four pass breakups in a defensive slugfest isn't really being held in check, but St. Joseph's leading rusher was held to just 10 yards on 10 carries.   After being honored with his fellow seniors prior to Friday's game against Palmetto, Gillespie wasn't held to 10 yards on his first run much less the game. Gillespie rushed for 139 yards and one-third of his 12 carries went for touchdowns as the Knights stayed unbeaten in Region II-3A with a 35-14 win. In its first season after moving up from Class A to 3A, St. Joseph's (5-3, 3-0) will travel to Powdersville (5-3, 3-0) next Friday with the region title likely up for grabs. The Knights and Patriots are the only two teams without a region loss, while Christ Church is the only one with one loss. St. Joseph's hosts Christ Church in the regular season finale on Nov. 8.   "William is a special talent, who can do it all - outside linebacker, fullback, kickoff, PAT, punt. If I had to put him at offensive line, he could do that too," St. Joseph's coach Eric Nash said. "It was a great game and I'm really proud of the boys. ... It's been a big step up (to 3A). ... We've got 27 guys that are scrapping their tails off. We've got to be smart during the week to keep them healthy and the boys are playing hard on Friday nights."   The Knights' triple-option offense took the ball first Friday. After tailback Lucas Salgado rushed for eight yards on the first play, and quarterback Cade Alt kept for eight on the second play, it was time for the Gillespie show. The fullback carried for 36 yards on his first touch, 17 on the next play and went six yards to the end zone on the next.   Gillespie, who leads the team in rushing and tackles-for-loss, then had a perfect onside kick - yeah, he handles kickoff duties too. For the fifth time this season, St. Joseph's recovered Gillespie's onside kick. Four plays later, Gillespie ran for a 24-yard touchdown and the Knights took a 14-0 lead three-and-a-half minutes in with Palmetto having yet to touch the football.   "We just wanted to come out and be aggressive," Gillespie said. "With it being Senior Night, I think everybody was more fired up than usual from the start."   Palmetto's ensuing drive ended around midfield when St. Joseph's sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1809341' first='John' last='Campbell'] came up with an interception. The Knights returned the favor two plays later when the Mustangs' Alex Wilker had an interception, but Gillespie stripped the ball free and then recovered the fumble. That set up St. Joseph's at the Palmetto 37 and four plays later, Nathaniel Coffi rumbled 23 yards for a touchdown.   After the Knights forced a three-and-out, Gillespie went back to work on offense. His three-yard touchdown run on the second play of the second quarter pushed the lead to 28-0.   Midway through the second quarter, a 64-yard punt by St. Joseph's JP Rambo pinned the Mustangs (3-5, 1-2) back at their own three-yard line. Palmetto got up off the mat and on the scoreboard with an impressive 97-yard drive, highlighted by a 37-yard run by [player_tooltip player_id='1360138' first='Cooper' last='Robinson']. The lone pass of the possession came on the ninth play, when [player_tooltip player_id='1715879' first='Kaleb' last='Ricketts'] found Isaiah Hill in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown on third-and-six.   A lost fumble two plays later, gave the Mustangs the ball back near midfield, but Salgado came up with an interception to help the Knights take a 28-7 lead into halftime.   "Ironman football is what we've got to play here," Salgado said. "Everyone's got to play every side of the ball and we're just made for it."   With 1:24 left in the third quarter, Palmetto sliced the lead in half thanks to a 10-yard touchdown run by Robinson. Any hopes of a comeback were zapped fairly quickly by St. Joseph's though. Diondre Jamerson returned the ensuing kickoff 48 yards to midfield and a 15-yard facemask penalty was tacked on. Gillespie capped off his offensive night with runs of 21 and 11 yards, respectively. The second of those went for his fourth touchdown as the Knights took a 35-14 lead into the fourth quarter.   While Gillespie took the rest of the night off on offense, he stayed out there on defense. Gillespie and sophomore Josh Lyons had sacks on back-to-back plays to stop Palmetto's final possession of the game. Earlier in the fourth quarter, Mack Rambo collected the Knights' third interception on defense.   "(Gillespie) is probably one of the most underrated guys in the Upstate, maybe in the whole state," Nash said. "I don't think there's anybody around that wouldn't like to have him on their team. Even better, he's a smart kid who does the right thing off the field and on it."   Gillespie's 139-yard, four-touchdown performance gives him 847 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns this season. Salgado carried eight times for 61 yards and caught a 32-yard pass. Alt ran seven times for 68 yards and completed 3-of-7 passes for 64 yards.   Robinson led Palmetto with 136 yards on 16 attempts. Ricketts completed 12-of-24 passes for 134 yards with the one touchdown and three interceptions. He also ran for 55 yards on 15 carries. Kohen Wright was Ricketts' top target, as he caught five passes for 75 yards.

GREENVILLE | When St. Joseph's faced Southside Christian last week the Knights won, 14-7, despite William Gillespie William Gillespie 6'0" | 195 lbs | ATH St. Joseph's | 2025 State SC being held in check. Actually, nine tackles, two tackles-for-loss, a sack and four pass breakups in a defensive slugfest isn't really being held in check, but St. Joseph's leading rusher was held to just 10 yards on 10 carries.