Carter Strikes Thrice as River Bluff Takes Down Midland Valley

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>GRANITEVILLE |</strong> Lightning strikes kept delaying a game Friday night between two teams that already couldn't wait to meet one another on the field.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Midland Valley had every reason to be excited. The Mustangs came into the game with a 3-0 record, a top-10 ranking in Class 4A and an offense putting up a tick under 47 points per game. Plus, it was Homecoming.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That last part also gave River Bluff some excitement, as the Gators heard all week about where they fell on Midland Valley's schedule and what that should mean to them.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Each strike kept pushing back kickoff, and after nearly two hours of waiting there was an understandable buzz on both sidelines once they could finally take the field.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>River Bluff didn't have to wait nearly that long for [player_tooltip player_id='1078102' first='Darius' last='Carter'] to strike. The Coastal Carolina commit caught three long touchdown passes to spark the Gators to a 49-28 win that boosted them to 3-1 heading into their own Homecoming next week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"You know, it just feels good. Coming in, Coach (Perry) Parks has been talking respect all week," Carter explained. "Them putting us on their Homecoming was just a little disrespectful, but we just went to work this week. They came out here and did a lot of talking. We just stayed quiet and showed out on the field."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Three of his four catches went for touchdowns, and he finished the game with 191 receiving yards. Each score of his answered one of Midland Valley's, cancelling out the Mustangs' momentum to keep the Gators in front.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>All three touchdowns more or less looked the same; they just came from different spots on the field. Carter would line up across from a cornerback, [player_tooltip player_id='1344583' first='Brayden' last='Moore'] would drop back and launch it deep, and there would be Carter all alone behind everyone for the score. His touchdowns covered, in order, 53, 85 and 41 yards, with the latter two coming in the second half to push River Bluff's lead back to 14 points each time.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"They just kept playing man since the first snap," Carter said. "I was actually surprised they were going to man up on me the whole game. I was just letting them know that, if you play man with me it's going to be a touchdown every time."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Moore-to-Carter connection was an unstoppable one, and Moore added a fourth touchdown pass to go along with his 230 yards when he found [player_tooltip player_id='1817116' first='Hampton' last='Pitts'] for the dagger, a nine-yard score with only 5:01 remaining for a 42-21 lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sophomore running back [player_tooltip player_id='1818960' first='Ashton' last='Boyd'] led the Gators' ground forces, rushing for 101 yards on 20 carries. [player_tooltip player_id='1825516' first='Jyree' last='Grady'] utilized his speed burst for a few flashy carries, while [player_tooltip player_id='262172' first='Bubba' last='Alexander'] sledgehammered his way to some tough yardage and a 10-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter for a 20-7 lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Midland Valley offense, fresh off a 643-yard performance last week against AC Flora, took some time to get up and running on a wet night at LL Willis Stadium. [player_tooltip player_id='644030' first='Xavier' last='Geter'] completed only seven of 22 passes for 160 yards, with several of those incompletions coming in the form of drops, and the River Bluff defense did a good job of keeping him within arm's reach to hold him to 82 rushing yards on 16 carries.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1615063' first='Preston' last='Smith'] ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns, the first a four-yarder to tie the score early in the second quarter and the latter a 32-yarder to get the Mustangs back within 28-21 with 8:50 to go in the third. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1825509' first='Lyric' last='Robinson'] was Midland Valley's leading receiver, hauling in three passes for 60 yards. [player_tooltip player_id='1010338' first='Cameron' last='Gleaton'] shook off a couple of early drops to catch a 30-yard touchdown to cut River Bluff's lead to 20-14 right before halftime before spending much of the second half, like Smith, wrapped up and unable to continue playing. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Gators struck first in the game, with <strong>Chance Bryant</strong> picking off a tipped pass and returning it 61 yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter to make it 7-0.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Midland Valley didn't need much time to respond. Smith scored from four yards out to tie it, but one play later Moore hit Carter for a 53-yarder to retake the lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Alexander's touchdown run made it a 13-point lead before Geter found Gleaton on fourth down to cut it to six heading into the break.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>River Bluff added to that lead a minute into the third quarter when Carter took a Moore deep ball 85 yards to the house, but Smith's 31-yarder restored the margin to seven just over two minutes later.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Midland Valley forced a turnover on downs inside its own 5-yard line late in the third before having to punt, and on the ensuing River Bluff drive Moore found Carter for the 41-yard touchdown to make it 35-21 with 11:51 left in the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Gators' defense delivered back-to-back big plays from there, with [player_tooltip player_id='1824104' first='Reece' last='Huffstetler'] stopping a third-down run to set up a fourth down that the Mustangs attempted to convert, only for an [player_tooltip player_id='1821398' first='Anthony' last='Lavington'] sack to give the ball back to River Bluff midway through the fourth.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Moore's touchdown pass to Pitts made it 42-21 with 5:01 to go, leaving Midland Valley with little option other than to load up the deep ball. Geter found <strong>Braylon Fuller</strong> for a huge gain deep into River Bluff territory, setting up a [player_tooltip player_id='1816682' first='Dallas' last='Dundy'] touchdown run, but with only 3:16 remaining the 14-point deficit was still too much to overcome.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Gators tied a bow on the final score when [player_tooltip player_id='1600293' first='Davis' last='Taylor'] tossed a 25-yard touchdown pass to [player_tooltip player_id='1817127' first='Dario' last='Martinez'] with five seconds remaining.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Grady and [player_tooltip player_id='1823125' first='Nick' last='Washington'] had key pass break-ups for River Bluff, while Huffstetler, Alexander and [player_tooltip player_id='1818447' first='Rj' last='Jacobs'] made stops in the backfield.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tyreon Williams had three tackles for loss to lead Midland Valley. Fuller and [player_tooltip player_id='1821367' first='Triston' last='Garrett'] both made plays in both backfields, as did [player_tooltip player_id='1821371' first='Amir' last='Hicks'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1817988' first='Donovan' last='Wade'] while [player_tooltip player_id='1825510' first='Shelton' last='Robinson'] added another TFL.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>River Bluff hosts Keenan next Friday for Homecoming, while Midland Valley faces its final pre-region game when it travels to Greenwood.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1818960"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":2388971,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6aa4d9ddb61a2"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">With all of the commotion taking place before, during and after River Bluff's Homecoming-spoiling win over Midland Valley, leave it to the Gators' sophomore running back to appear completely unbothered by it all.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Boyd was the steadying influence from start to finish, patiently finding openings and picking his spots on his way to a 101-yard performance.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Just as impressive as his patience was his strength. He fought his way through his fair share of contact and seemed to always fall forward, more than once to pick up drive-extending first downs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->