Riley, Abbeville run past Sabres

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>SIMPSONVILLE</strong> | After opening last season with a 41-7 win over Southside Christian, Abbeville rolled on to a 13-1 record, the program's 13th state championship and a school-record total of 710 points scored.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Don't look now, but one game into this season, the Panthers are slightly ahead of last year's opening pace. Abbeville rushed for more than 400 yards to cruise to a 42-0 win Friday night in the season-opening rematch at Sabre Stadium. The Panthers limited Southside Christian to 104 yards of total offense on 46 plays, and also forced three turnovers while having none of their own.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I was really surprised. With the weather the way it's been, the lack of practice time and all, but we needed this tonight," Abbeville coach Jamie Nickles said. "They (Southside Christian) are a physical, hard-nosed football team and they're going to make a little noise, so I was really pleased with the way our kids played tonight."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The tone was set on both sides of the ball just four plays in. After the Panthers forced a three-and-out, sophomore running back <strong>Jamearion Williams</strong> (pictured) took a jet sweep handoff on Abbeville's first snap ran for 29 yards down the right side to the Southside Christian 35. Six plays later on a third-and-one play, senior quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1816951' first='Jaden' last='Baylor']</strong> kept for a two-yard touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Late in the first quarter, a downed Sabres' punt had the Panthers starting from their own 13. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Williams got them out of that hole with a 35-yard scamper. Five plays later, Williams scored from 18 yards out and Abbeville took a 14-0 lead into halftime.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"We just prepared really well all week. Coach told us it wasn't going to be easy, so we got ready and did what we had to do," Williams said. "The way our line played tonight, that goes back to preparation in the weight room."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1700046' first='Darius' last='Riley'] was the Panthers' top returning rusher this season as he put up more than 800 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2024. On Friday, he had "only" 30 yards in the first half. He quickly got back to his loftier standards after halftime. On the first play of of the second half, Riley ran for nine yards. On the second, he went 71 yards to the end zone to help push the lead to 21-0.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Later in the third quarter, Abbeville sophomore defensive lineman <strong>Jay Ford</strong> recovered a fumble. On the next play, Riley dodged and bumped his way off four defenders down the left sideline for a 67-yard score.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"The last three drives of the first half, we didn't finish. We had to go down and execute (in the second half)," Riley said. "Coach reminded me that I'm one of the seniors and this is my last ride, so I tried to put the team on my back. I couldn't do it without my offensive line though."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1816946' first='Collins' last='Brown']</strong> and Baylor had touchdown runs of 11 and 18 yards, respectively, to close out the scoring.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Of the 104 yards of total offense for Southside Christian, 76 came on two passes - a 44-yard bomb from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822145' first='Jack' last='Criswell']</strong> to <strong>DJ Lee</strong> and a 32-yard throw from Criswell to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822140' first='Keldin' last='Wrona']</strong>. The Sabres were held to 12 yards rushing on 32 attempts. Two of those attempts resulted in sacks - one by <strong>Braylon Calhoun</strong> and another that Calhoun and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1825143' first='Jayden' last='Tinch']</strong> combined for. In addition to Ford's fumble recovery, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822461' first='Jaylen' last='Baylor']</strong> also had one for Abbeville while Brown added a 33-yard interception return.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"We'll have to watch film and evaluate because I promise you we're not doing everything right, but I think it started up front on both sides of the ball tonight," Nickles said. "And we really challenged our backs to block better since our last competition and again - without seeing film, they had to have done better than they did last time out tonight."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Riley had 177 yards on 11 carries to lead the Panthers. Williams ran eight times for 100 yards, while <strong>Mi'Darius Burton</strong> had 58 yards on 10 carries. [player_tooltip player_id='1816951' first='Jaden' last='Baylor'] had 40 yards on nine attempts, while Brown also finished with 40 yards on two carries. Baylor made his lone completion out of three attempts count when he hit tight end <strong>Quintavius Silas</strong> for 16 yards on a 4th-and-15 play that led to a score three plays later.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Abbeville hosts Powdersville next Friday, while Southside Christian hosts Mountain View.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->