Landoll, Chapin set defensive tone at Aiken County Jamboree

MONETTA | It may not count in the standings or ultimately affect the playoff picture, but three teams left Friday night's Aiken County Jamboree with wins they'll gladly take over the alternative.   For Chapin, a victory over South Aiken in the opening matchup is a feeling the Eagles hope becomes contagious after a winless 2025. For Wagener-Salley, a walk-off win over Silver Bluff was a big result against a bigger opponent like the senior War Eagles remember from their freshman season. And for Swansea, pitching a shutout in the closer against host Ridge Spring-Monetta was a step forward after finishing another season on a sour note.   All three took a different route to victory, and all three left Walter J. Davis Field just a little more eager for when everything starts counting next week.   Here's how each got there.   GAME 1: CHAPIN 17, SOUTH AIKEN 7   Chapin's defense made big play after big play, particularly in the second of the two 20-minute halves, to spring the Eagles past South Aiken.   It wasn't just that Chapin made those plays defensively - the offense did its part, too, to capitalize each time and repay the favor with points.   [player_tooltip player_id='1825273' first='Jordan' last='Landoll Bleed'] (pictured) set up the go-ahead score in the second half, as the defensive lineman got airborne in a hurry to pick off a [player_tooltip player_id='1704301' first='Tommy' last='Burns'] screen pass at the South Aiken 32-yard line. Landoll made his move toward the backfield on his pass rush, then spotted Burns taking a step backward and decided to mirror that movement in case of a pass. As the ball floated above him, Landoll told himself he just had to get up there and get it.   He did.   The T-Breds' defense forced the Eagles into a field goal attempt, which [player_tooltip player_id='1149041' first='Beckham' last='Diimmler'] drilled with plenty of room to spare from 38 yards out with 10:07 to go.   South Aiken's next drive also ended with an interception, this time with [player_tooltip player_id='1811070' first='Parker' last='Collins'] picking off Burns right in the middle of the field. That spot was friendly to the defense, so the offense gave it a shot on first down, leading to [player_tooltip player_id='1824394' first='Tyler' last='Black'] hitting [player_tooltip player_id='1825267' first='Anderson' last='Stutts'] for a 34-yard touchdown and a 10-point lead with only 3:50 to go.   The deficit, combined with the running clock and the Chapin defense, was far too much for South Aiken to overcome.   "Losing just sucks," said Landoll, a senior. "When you lose as much as we did last season, every win just feels great. So let's just keep winning."   Black passed for 120 yards and two touchdowns, the first a swing pass taken 65 yards to the house by [player_tooltip player_id='2210109' first='Charlie' last='Howell'] on the second play of the contest after [player_tooltip player_id='1615072' first='Levar' last='Gilchrist'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1172344' first='Ray' last='Harris'] teamed up for a sack on first down. Nothing truly materialized in the run game, but Chapin's defense also did its job against the run to keep that from hurting too badly.   The Eagles stuck to their assignments and kept multi-time All-State dynamo [player_tooltip player_id='1654810' first='Drelyn' last='Brown'] from finding any daylight, limiting the speedster to only 27 yards on 10 carries after piling up 24 on his first two attempts.   Burns and [player_tooltip player_id='1036785' first='Kyson' last='McLeod'] were on the verge of a couple of big-time connections on the deep ball, but neither found the mark. Jack Ziegler was the T-Breds' leading receiver, hauling in back-to-back targets for 35 yards including a 19-yard touchdown to tie things up midway through the first half.   Gilchrist led the defense, adding another sack and two tackles for loss, and [player_tooltip player_id='1822589' first='Connor' last='Hamilton'] blocked a punt for South Aiken.   GAME 2: WAGENER-SALLEY 8, SILVER BLUFF 6   [player_tooltip player_id='1822723' first='Zamien' last='Capers'] gave Wagener-Salley one final, huge spark in the final minute, scoring the game-tying touchdown and game-winning two-point conversion as time expired to beat Silver Bluff.   Capers, a do-everything veteran for the War Eagles, supplied his playmaking stylings from the quarterback position, extending drives on both designed runs and scrambles against a Silver Bluff defense that had little interest allowing anything in the passing game.   The game-winner was on the latter, with Capers breaking free for a 50-yard touchdown run to tie it at 6 with only 56 seconds to play. As the clock continued to run, Capers cut the distance to the goal line in half on the two-pointer by getting the Bulldogs to jump early, then plowed in from a yard out on the final snap of the game.   Then, he led the postgame huddle in mobbing teammate and former Silver Bluff Bulldog Aden Coates in his return home to Aiken County to face his old team for the first time.   Capers finished the game with 105 yards rushing on nine carries, converting multiple fourth downs in the process. Coates was mostly held in check by a Bulldogs defense excited to try to stop him, though his 23-yarder on fourth down kept the drive alive to set up Capers for the game-winner.   It was a tough ending for Silver Bluff, which had led since the 11:28 mark of the first half following a [player_tooltip player_id='1823576' first='Trevone' last='Parker'] touchdown catch. [player_tooltip player_id='1820957' first='Dorian' last='Jones'] did most of the work on the ground, looking just a step faster than everybody else en route to 73 yards on only eight carries.   GAME 3: SWANSEA 21, RIDGE SPRING-MONETTA 0   Swansea played with a renewed level of intensity in its last preseason tune-up, holding Ridge Spring-Monetta in check in a shutout win.   The Tigers only ran four offensive plays in the first half, but the third one was all they needed. [player_tooltip player_id='1816291' first='Trace' last='Selfridge'] wove his way through the Trojans' defense for a 49-yarder on Swansea's opening possession, and then the Tigers waited an awfully long time to touch the ball again.   Ridge Spring-Monetta's offense pieced together a drive that covered nearly 13 minutes, with the brotherly connection from Zy Denny to [player_tooltip player_id='1648648' first='Kymani' last='Denny'] resulting in five completions for 48 yards. [player_tooltip player_id='1822579' first='De'Arie' last='Kinard'] turned in a few tough runs, as did Zy Denny from his quarterback position, and the Trojans advanced all the way to the Swansea 3 late in the first half.   The Tigers held firm from there, though, to force a turnover on downs in the closing seconds, then promptly picked up where they left off once they got the ball to start the second half. The Trojans appeared to be nearing a stop when Jamarcus Boskett broke through for a sack at the 10-yard line, but [player_tooltip player_id='2070776' first='Tarez' last='James'] scored on the next snap on a QB keeper to make it 14-0.   The Ridge Spring-Monetta offense looked on the verge of breaking through, but too many dropped passes led to a stalled-out drive at the Swansea 31. Fittingly, on first down [player_tooltip player_id='1819943' first='Gavyn' last='Mack'] took a short pass from James 69 yards to the house for the night's final score.    Capers did what Capers has done pretty much since arriving on the varsity roster at Wagener-Salley, and that's use his versatile athleticism to create explosive plays. He's primarily done that at running back on offense, but now the best way to get him the ball appears to be by snapping it to him at quarterback.   His best trait is that he's comfortable being uncomfortable, which can put a defense in a bind if the strategy is to simply rush him and try to force him into a bad decision. He's dynamic in space, and he's just as good at creating his own.

MONETTA | It may not count in the standings or ultimately affect the playoff picture, but three teams left Friday night's Aiken County Jamboree with wins they'll gladly take over the alternative.