2024 Shrine Bowl: North Carolina 49, South Carolina 24

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>SPARTANBURG</strong> | The 88th Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas provided an opportunity for seniors from South and North Carolina to have one last opportunity to compete on the prep gridiron.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The North Carolina Tar Heels would come out on top of the South Carolina Sandlappers on Saturday afternoon, 49-24.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“A lot of these guys are going to the next level. They fight to the end. We just made too many mental mistakes early. The momentum shifted in the second quarter and I just think the speed of the game played a difference in it,” Sandlappers head coach Reggie Kennedy said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1012718' first='TyDarion' last='Grier']</strong> of Fairfield Central hit a burst on a long run down to the North Carolina 18. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1012616' first='Mikkel' last='Skinner']</strong> from Riverside made an excellent catch on third down. The Sandlappers got on the board first at 3-0 with a 28-yard field goal from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='605521' first='Gray' last='Dangerfield']</strong> of James Island with 11:03 to play in the first quarter.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='527014' first='Brady' last='Stober']</strong> of Hickory made his impact felt with a 10-yard scramble to set the Tar Heels up in scoring position thanks to a [player_tooltip player_id='865449' first='Hampton' last='Roderick'] catch earlier. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1181591' first='Jonathan' last='Williams']</strong> of Havelock scored on a 2-yard run to give the Heels the lead at 6-3 with 1:51 to play in the first quarter as the two point try was no good.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='241044' first='Finley' last='Polk']</strong> from Northwestern connected with River Bluff's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='464880' first='Stephen' last='Collier']</strong> for a 67-yard&nbsp; catch and run touchdown as the Sandlappers took two plays to score and take a 10-6 lead with 10:59 before the half.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The defenses took over for the next few series — <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1012606' first='Elgin' last='Sessions']</strong> from Dutch Fork made an immediate tackle on a quick throw while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='851805' first='Kendric' last='Davis']</strong> from Palisades snuffed out a quick throw on third down to force a South Carolina punt. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='624354' first='Cam'Rich' last='Smith'] </strong>finished with MVP honors for the South Carolina defense, with 9 total tackles (pictured far right). <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1222362' first='Mark' last='Foster'] </strong>(pictured second to the far left) finished with MVP honors for the North Carolina defense, finishing with 4 total tackles and one pass breakup and a tackle for loss.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I really didn't know I was going to get it. And it's all God. That's all I can thank is God. It's great to play with the top of the top and it felt great to compete against them to show college coaches I can play with the best and right now, I'm kind of under recruited because I'm shorter but I've put that on film and put that out there that I can compete with the best of the best,” Smith said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jason Willis</strong> from Bunker Hill of North Carolina would break the scoring drought with a long 63-yard run, where it looked like he was shot out of a cannon as the Tar Heels took a 14-10 lead with 4:58 to play before the half. Williams punched it in on the two point try.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Willis had a strong day, finishing with 126 rushing yards on 17 carries for 1 touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Speaking of Williams, he came back just before the half to score on a 2-yard run with 17 seconds left in the half as North Carolina extended the lead to 21-10 into the halftime locker room.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The third quarter was mostly all Tar Heels as Williams found the end zone for the third time, on a 1-yard run to make it 28-10 with 5:17 to play in the third quarter. He finished with MVP honors for his three touchdown performance (pictured far left). <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1158344' first='Donovan' last='Darden'] </strong>picked off Irmo's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='272713' first='AJ' last='Brand'] </strong>for a 52-yard interception return, as they took a commanding 35-10 lead to close the third quarter scoring.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>South Carolina would finish strong in the fourth quarter as Polk found <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1254122' first='Jamarcus' last='Smith'] </strong>of Gaffney for a 49-yard touchdown where Smith showed great concentration to make the grab and coast into the end zone with 13:45 to play in the contest.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Polk finished the day, going 9-of-14 for 173 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brand connected with Collier for a 12-yard scoring strike with 5:31 to play in the contest. The Virginia Tech commit (pictured second to last right) won MVP honors for his play, going 6-of-12 for 62 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Collier led South Carolina receivers with six catches for 113 yards and the two touchdowns.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I felt blessed this week. That much talent, that just goes to show how much talent we've got in the state of South Carolina. (We're) trying to get them all in. A lot of these guys are superstars on their team, like big fishes in these small pools and to get them all together, you've got a bunch of big fishes in one big pool and being a head coach, you just want to put them together and put them in situations to be successful,” Kennedy said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>North Carolina closed the scoring with two more scores as Wallace-Rose Hill's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='772790' first='Irving' last='Brown'] </strong>raced to the end zone from 44 yards out. Williams scored on a double pass thrown by a double pass from <strong>Damien Little. </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->