Richard Winn’s John COleman makes the defensive stop.
It was a battle of the birds as the two Eagle teams, Richard Winn Academy and Pee Dee Academy, clashed on the gridiron once again, this time on the home turf of the Golden Eagles of Mullins. Richard Winn, the visiting Eagle team, ultimately soared home as the winged victor in the 69-44 high scoring contest.
At halftime the RWA Eagles held a comfortable 28-12 lead behind two touchdowns scored by Austin Knox, one by Logan Gibbons and one by Reid Johnson. This, however, was just a taste of what was to come as the Richard Winn offense exploded for five more touchdowns in the third quarter alone and then tacked on one more in the final period to capture the road victory.
RWA set up inside the red zone following a 30-yard break away run by Sidney Edenfield with four minutes to go in the opening quarter. On the ensuing play, Knox picked up his first of four touchdowns on the night when he crossed over the end line from 3 yards out to post the first points for either team. Edenfield then hauled in the conversion pass to add on 2 points to RWA’s initial score.
The early kickoff duties were assigned to freshman Coker Gilbert, who executed an onside kick that was recovered by a teammate, giving the visiting Eagles another chance to keep the offense moving. After a 30-yard carry by Johnson just as the second quarter began, it was Logan Gibbons who took it the final 3 yards across the goal line for the next RWA touchdown. The PAT pass fell incomplete and RWA led 14-0 with 9:43 left in the first half.
Pee Dee answered back with their first touchdown score with 8:03 left in the second quarter. Chandler Tisdale broke away for a 65-yard run that led to Caleb Hill’s score on the ensuring play. The PAT was no good.
Both teams took their next possessions and converted them into two more touchdown scores. Knox bolted for a 56-yard TD run for RWA while Hill scored again for Pee Dee. Neither team converted on the PAT attempts and with 3:50 left in the first half, RWA led 20-12.
With 51 seconds remaining in the second quarter, RWA senior quarterback Corey Davis connected with Johnson for another TD and then found Mason Gibbons for the 2-point pass conversion. The first half ended with RWA on top 28-12.
Following halftime, the Eagle offense ignited for five touchdowns in the next 12-minute period. On the first play from scrimmage, Knox blasted downfield on a 65-yard romp into the end zone. The PAT was no good.
Another onside kick by Gilbert landed the ball back in the Eagles’ possession, and seven plays later senior Zelick Levy rushed across the goal line for another RWA score. Mason Gibbons’ PAT kick was good, boosting the RWA total to 41.
After Pee Dee was forced to turn the ball over on downs, Knox had another long 45-yard TD run with 7:49 to go in the third quarter. The PAT kick by Mason Gibbons was good upping the score to RWA 48-Pee Dee 14. The Eagles then recovered their third onside kick, but this time the RWA offense wasn’t able to convert a first down and turned the ball over to Pee Dee on downs.
With two minutes left in the third quarter Pee Dee scored a touchdown and a 2-point PAT to boost their total to 20.
RWA’s Logan Gibbons answered back with a 60-yard TD kickoff return, breaking through three tackles en route to the goal line. Davis completed the PAT pass to Johnson to raise the RWA total to 56.
Following the kickoff, Pee Dee mounted a scoring drive taking them down to the RWA 23-yard line. Tisdale scored again for the Golden Eagles and the 2-point conversion was good as well with 1:02 remaining in the third period.
On the second play of the RWA Eagles’ next possession, Knox rushed up the middle and scored his fourth TD of the night. The PAT kick missed, but RWA still commanded the scoreboard, 62-28.
Hunter Gibbons scored the eighth and final RWA touchdown following a 25-yard run by Matt Taylor. Mason Gibbons’ PAT kick was good, and RWA’s scoring tally topped at 69.
In the meantime Pee Dee scored twice more in the final period to narrow the gap from 69-28 to 69-44. Just before the final buzzer sounded, it looked as though RWA would score once more when freshman John Coleman took a kickoff all the way to the house, but unfortunately the TD run was called back for a block in the back penalty. Time expired before the RWA team could score again.
Knox had a record-breaking night of four touchdowns while racking up 344 yards on 22 carries. Edenfield had 11 carries for 74 yards and one TD. Logan Gibbons had a good night playing both sides of the ball. He carried the ball two times for 22 yards, had one rushing TD and one 60-yard kickoff return TD while defensively he had six solo tackles, two assists and a fumble recovery. Levy carried the ball three times for 10 yards and one touchdown, and Hunter Gibbons had two carries for 11 yards and one TD. Offensively Davis was five-for-five in the air with a TD pass and three 2-point conversion passes. Additionally, on defense Davis made six solo tackles and three assists. Johnson pulled down five passes for 96 yards, a TD pass and two PAT conversion passes as well as made seven tackles and four assists. Mason Gibbons threw one pass for a 45 yard gain, kicked three PATs and had one 2-point PAT reception. Coleman led the defense with eight solo tackles and six assists. Nic Stillwell made six tackles and three assists, and Zack Bowens had five tackles, two assists and two fumble recoveries.
The Eagles will look to build on their road victory momentum as they close out the regular season traveling to Jefferson Davis Academy in Blackville this Friday at 7:30 p.m.
