2025 Shrine Bowl: South Carolina 17, North Carolina 7

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>SPARTANBURG </strong>| The defense shined and the offense found its rhythm in the second half as South Carolina defeated North Carolina, 17-7 in the 89th Shrine Bowl on Saturday afternoon.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fireworks started in the early going as Stratford QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1165148' first='Jachin' last='Davis'] </strong>connected with Dillon's <strong>Zamarious Robertson </strong>for an 80-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage to give the Sandlappers a 7-0 lead with 14:43 to play in the first quarter. Davis walked away with MVP honors for the Sandlapper offense, finishing 10-for-15, 185 yards and two touchdowns.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Davis credited his team's mental toughness as they started to find their footing in the second half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“This team is very mentally tough and we worked at it all week. We're practicing against each other and you're playing against the best players in the state. It was awesome. We knew it wasn't going to be easy because that's a good team over there but just staying the course and it's going to work out,” Davis told Prep Redzone SC after the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dorman and Clemson commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='402497' first='Kentavion' last='Anderson'] </strong>came up with an interception on the Tar Heels' first drive of the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The two teams traded turnovers a few series later, as the Tar Heels recovered a fumble before the Sandlappers fumbled on a jet sweep at the SC 23-yard line with 9:53 to play in the opening quarter.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Tar Heels took advantage of the SC fumble as Mooresville's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='612118' first='Brody' last='Norman'] </strong>punched it in on the zone read to tie the game at 7 with 6:37 to play in the first quarter.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>South Pointe and South Carolina signee <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1819627' first='J'Zavien' last='Currence'] </strong>picked up a key first down on a keeper on 4th and 2 with 3:05 to play in the opening quarter down to the 45 yard line. The Sandlappers marched down inside the 10 towards the end of the first quarter thanks to a <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1303770' first='Jamijae' last='Karim'] </strong>run, but a Currence keeper was stuffed on 4th and short by <strong>Cameron Cartlidge</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Spartanburg's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='816752' first='Will' last='Love'] </strong>got the game's only points in the second quarter, a 35-yard field goal to give South Carolina a 10-7 lead with 4:55 to play before the half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>South Carolina's defense came up with a big stop to begin the third quarter after giving up a catch and run from Leesville Road's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1743711' first='Devin' last='Goldston']</strong>, but Cross's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='473021' first='Caden' last='Ramsey'] </strong>and a host of tacklers stuffed the run on 4th and goal with 9:28 to play in the quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Love got the Sandlappers out of potential disaster in the fourth quarter as a bad snap forced a shanked punt, but he still got the ball inside the North Carolina 20 with 10:16 to play in the contest.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Robertson set up South Carolina with a big catch and run with under six minutes to play in the contest. He also climbed the ladder to make an acrobatic catch late in the third quarter. The North Carolina commit finished with four receptions for 131 yards and one touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Christ Church receiver and Arkansas commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='816751' first='Jude' last='Hall'] </strong>made an acrobatic catch with 1:29 left in the contest to close the scoring. Hall finished with three catches for 30 yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->