QB Flip-Flop Gives Bulldogs Win At Previously Unbeaten Swansea

SWANSEA | Trellis Riley tried to fake it.   He walked out onto the field at Swansea on Friday night with his right shoulder in a thick brace, and he even did some of his traditional pregame throwing routine. It wasn't a ruse so much as the Silver Bluff quarterback was simply trying to keep himself ready mentally to contribute any way he could.   Consider the job done.   Riley hauled in a 32-yard touchdown pass from backup [player_tooltip player_id='1822054' first='Jordan' last='Williams'] midway through the fourth quarter in the front corner of the end zone to put the Bulldogs up for good. Not long after, Silver Bluff was departing with a crucial 37-28 region victory against a team that was previously unbeaten on the season.    “I'm glad my coaches trust me. Wherever my name is called, wherever I have to go, I'm ready to do anything,” Riley said. “I'm not trying to miss games. My shoulder's messed up and I've got to go to receiver? I'm going to step up.”   Through last week, Riley had completed 75-of-134 pass attempts for 1,173 yards and 14 touchdowns against just five picks. He's also run for another 196 yards and five scores. What he hadn't done until the 6:25 mark of the fourth quarter, though, was catch a pass.   However, after injuring his should last week, it was clear he wasn't going to be throwing too many of them on Friday against the Tigers, either.   The staff worked with the 6-foot-4 Williams all week to get him up to snuff. And the fellow senior played more than amicably in the victory.   On the Bulldogs' opening series, he connected with [player_tooltip player_id='1820958' first='Jessie' last='Shelley'] from 46 yards out to stake Silver Bluff to an early lead. He only attempted one more pass in the first half and five more in the second, but he made enough of them count.    Williams finished four-of-eight for 96 yards and two touchdowns in addition to a few more yards on the ground.    “This team is tradition,” Williams said. “Any time [a player goes down], it's next man up. We show that in practice,” Williams said. “My mentality was stay patient in the pocket, make plays and lead.”   That last part - minus the two huge throws, mind you - was big, too.   Williams didn't take all of the snaps in the game (Riley snuck in four a couple obvious situations, including the kneel downs at the end). But with [player_tooltip player_id='1654810' first='Drelyn' last='Brown'] (19 carries, 131 yards, two touchdowns) carrying the load mostly up the gut, Williams didn't need to be Superman.   That didn't stop those two touchdowns from providing a monster boost.    Chances are, he'll go back to giving Riley a huge target again after the Bulldogs have their off week next Friday. But for one night, the two traded roles, and Silver Bluff was the beneficiary.    “It's never been about anything else other than Trellis's mindset. He has unbelievable talent,” coach Matt Hayes said. “But he came to every practice and rehabbed. We had nine guys not dressed out today, so he really had to step up.”   Said Riley: “We are mentally ready for anything. [Williams] already knew he was about to get his shot. He was ready for it.”   SILVER BLUFF NOTABLES   [player_tooltip player_id='1654810' first='Drelyn' last='Brown'] RB, 2027 - Brown's damage gave the rest of the offense time to gel around Williams. Of his 131 yards, 102 and both touchdowns came in the opening half. The offense as a whole only ran 13 total plays after the break, and Brown was still able to progress forward somewhat. Either way, he remained on pace to top 1,000 rushing yards in the team's regular-season finale against Fox Creek on Halloween.    [player_tooltip player_id='1820959' first='Gage' last='Kirkbride'] OL, 2028 - Kirkbride is the next in a long line of talented interior linemen coming out of Silver Bluff. The 6-foot-4, 305-pound right guard was bullying defenders early and often, and the path for Brown was clearly behind Kirkbride. Considering that Brown had 102 yards and pair of scores before halftime, and the blue print made sense.    Jordan Givens LB, 2026 - The Silver Bluff senior entered the game as the team's fourth-leading tackler while leading the way with 10 tackles for loss. He was again impactful on defense, but his biggest play of the night came after he picked up a squib kickoff early in the second half. After Swansea scored to tie the game at 21-21, Givens reversed field, then cut up the middle of the field and didn't stop until he was in the end zone to put Silver Bluff back up by a touchdown. For good measure, Givens had a colossal stop on a busted pass play that forced the Tigers into a fourth-down play they couldn't convert with under 4 minutes left in the game and Swansea needing points.    [player_tooltip player_id='1820958' first='Jessie' last='Shelley'] WR/DB, 2026 - Shelley helped the Bulldogs start the game off with some opening-possession fireworks when he hauled in that 46-yard touchdown pass. That was actually his second catch. He added a 19-yard reception at the end of the third quarter, as well.     SWANSEA NOTABLES   [player_tooltip player_id='1672924' first='Kendall' last='Wright'] QB, 2028 - Wright missed a large chunk of the first half after getting hit on a 4-yard run on the Tigers' opening series. Swansea leaned on its wildcat formation until he could return. He ended the game five-of-11 for 29 yards through the air and another 66 yards on the ground. His 1-yard touchdown run briefly tied the game at 21-21 before the aforementioned Givens kickoff return.    [player_tooltip player_id='1267270' first='Dante' last='Caldwell'] ATH, 2026 - The elder brother was already getting plenty of touches before Wright's injury. But he proved himself to be equally potent in wildcat sets. All told, Caldwell ran for 79 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.    [player_tooltip player_id='1819945' first='Deandre' last='Caldwell'] ATH, 2028 - The younger Caldwell was also pressed into extra duty when Dante briefly had to come out of the game with some cramping issues. He didn't leave much to be desired, either. His first carry (out of the wildcat) went for 27 yards to open the second quarter. On his very next touch, he split defenders and turned on the jets for a 35-yard touchdown run.    [player_tooltip player_id='1804680' first='Kevin' last='Sightler'] OL, 2028 - Sightler isn't going to be shooting up a bunch of recruiting boards since he's all of 5-foot-10. But the agile left/right tackle spent Friday having another solid game blocking along the edge for the Tigers. His first step gave him an advantage over bigger defenders in Swansea's misdirection rushing attack, but he also did well during the bulk of the second quarter when Wright was out of the game and the Tigers were running heavy doses of wildcat with the Caldwells.    PJ Larry RB 2026 - The Tigers senior kept up his M.O. as the tough-yardage back in this offense. He only touched the ball five times, but he put up 33 yards. But three of those five carries resulted in first downs.    Jeremiah Waymeyers DL, 2029 - The only freshman on the Tigers' varsity roster continued to prove why he's playing up by recording a sack to open the fourth quarter. It put the Bulldogs behind the sticks and ultimately helped force a much-needed punt in what at the time was a 28-28 game.

SWANSEA | Trellis Riley tried to fake it.