What We Saw: Irmo 56, West Florence 7

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>IRMO |</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='272713' first='AJ' last='Brand'] certainly didn't play like someone worried about hitting a pair of personal milestones Friday night.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It then didn't hurt that the senior quarterback was able to put both of them behind him all of 14 minutes, 7 seconds into the team's 56-7 dismantling of West Florence in the third round of the Class 5A, Division II playoffs.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brand finished the evening with seven touchdowns (five passing, two rushing) and 261 yards of combined offense, pushing him well past 11,000 total yards of offense and 140 touchdowns for his career.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“A milestone is just a milestone. I knew overall we had to play this game as a team to win, because that's all we're worried about right now, winning and moving on to the next round,” said Brand, pictured. “I just gave my guys a little speech on the sideline and I said 'We've got to let that go.' And that's what we did. We kept getting it back every drive.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brand spread the ball around to his top receivers, beginning with [player_tooltip player_id='377560' first='Donovan' last='Murph'] (five receptions, 62 yards, two touchdowns), and the quarterback continued to show how dangerous he could be with his legs. He scored on a 38-yard scamper in the first quarter and added a 13-yard touchdown run on Irmo's very next drive.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And outside of a teammate fumbling the ball away on the first first play from scrimmage, the rest of the offense was right there for the ride.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For Brand, it meant moving up the state record books in multiple touchdown categories. While the SCHSL's Palmetto's Finest figures aren't exact, Brand's 49 combined scores (27 passing, 22 rushing) this year place him 12th in South Carolina history, while hits 144 career touchdowns place him fifth.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thanks to Friday's win, he'll have at least one more opportunity to bump those up next week against White Knoll in the Lower State championship game. During the regular season region matchup between those two schools on October 18, Brand had 12 carries for 184 yards and two touchdowns and another 120 passing yards in a 35-21 win.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“White Knoll is a great team. We just have to play our game,” Brand said. “We've been playing lights out the last couple weeks. We feel like all of us are clicking. We've just to go out and play Irmo football.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Which this year means Brand leading the charge.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>OTHER IRMO STANDOUTS</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1422528' first='Maleek' last='Miller']</strong> | 2027 WR</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Miller hauled in a 33-yard touchdown reception just before halftime. On the play, he took a 10-yard out and raced around three Knights' defenders. He also hauled in a 10-yard reception earlier in the half and even got a pair of carries, including one out of a traditional running back set that he took 14 yards for a first down. If that wasn't enough, he added a 25-yard touchdown in the third quarter and then opened the fourth quarter by returning a punt 60 yards for his third score of the game.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='755914' first='Jaiden' last='Bryant']</strong> | 2027 DL</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bryant, who was disruptive for much of the game, did his part to effectively end it when he pounced on a bad snap that Brand and Miller turned into a four-touchdown lead on the Yellow Jackets' next offensive snap.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Matthew Blocker</strong> | 2025 DB</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While Blocker wasn't a huge presence on defense simply because of the flow of the game, his coverage on kickoffs was noticeable. He was the first player down the field and stopped West from passing the 20-yard line on three separate kickoffs.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>WEST FLORENCE STANDOUTS</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1159496' first='Terry' last='Lowery']</strong> | 2025 ATH</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lowery was clearly the bulk of the offensive game plan for the Knights. Of the team's first 10 plays from scrimmage, Lowery touched the ball nine times. He gave his team its only points of the game on a 10-yard touchdown run in the opening quarter and finished the first half with 106 yards of offense and the game with 131 (there was a running clock throughout the fourth quarter). He also returned several kickoffs for 20-plus yards.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1664594' first='Avery' last='Weaver']</strong> | 2027 QB&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After throwing for a career-high 246 yards and three touchdowns in West Florence's second-round win over North Myrtle Beach, Weaver again got plenty of chances to throw against Irmo. He finished with 73 yards. His favorite targets were Lowery (four receptions, 32 yards) and [player_tooltip player_id='1013062' first='Keshawn' last='Johnson'] (four receptions, 36 yards). Just a sophomore, Weaver will now have the offseason to establish himself as the day one starter in 2025.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->