WINNSBORO – The Richard Winn Academy Eagles hosted the Crusaders from Laurens Academy a day early – Thursday, Sept. 12 – in anticipation of inclement weather from Hurricane Francine. The Eagles won the coin toss and deferred possession to the second half.
Richard Winn’s opening kick was recovered by Crusader Garrett Murphy at the Crusaders 40 yard line. On 1st and 10, Crusaders quarterback Ethan Collins handed the ball to Murphy who ran 60 yards for a touchdown. Collins fumbled on the two-point attempt, but the Crusaders led 6-0.
Although the Crusaders struck first, the Eagle defense would dominate the first half with two key interceptions leading to touchdowns. After the Eagles turned the ball over on downs at the Laurens 44 yard line, a holding penalty against the Crusaders forced 2nd and long. Collins threw an interception to Jake Gailliard who returned the ball to the Laurens 18 yard line. The turnover gave the Eagles excellent field position and Charlie Bonds led a three-play, 18 yard drive that culminated with a handoff to Eli Smith into the end zone. Josh Tyndall completed the two-point conversion and the Eagles were ahead 8-6.
The Eagles would score two more unanswered touchdowns on big plays from Bonds, Gailliard, and Nicholson, setting up a two-yard run from Smith who barreled across the goal line to extend the lead 19-6.
On the next series, Collins threw another interception to Johnathan Bonds who returned the ball to the Richard Winn 26 yard line. A 53 yard touchdown run by C. Bonds was called back for holding, but two plays later, C. Bonds completed a 37-yard pass to Bennett Nicholson. A late hit on C. Bonds moved the ball inside the five yard line and gave the Eagles 1st and goal. C. Bonds scampered into the end zone from five yards out, and his own two-point conversion put the Eagles up 27-6 with 1:33 remaining in the half.
A pair of holding penalties backed the Crusaders up to their own 34 yard line. On 1st and 30, Collins pitched the ball to Murphy who evaded tackles for a 66-yard touchdown run. Laurens failed the two-point attempt and trailed the eagles by 15, 27-12.
The Eagles would score once more in the first half after a 55-yard completion from C. Bonds to Nicholson. C. Bonds’ two-point attempt put the Eagles ahead 35-12 going into halftime.
C. Bonds would lead two more scoring drives in the third quarter to give the Eagles a 37 point lead. C. Bonds’ pitch to Nicholson was good for a 55-yard score. Two series later, Smith led the ground attack with a 42 yard run to the Laurens 15 yard line. Hoffman Sharpe took two consecutive handoffs for 13 yards, and C. Bonds hopped across the goal line on a two-yard keeper to make the score 49-12 Richard Winn.
Laurens responded early in the fourth quarter as Collins connected with Murphy for a 33-yard touchdown. The Crusaders converted for two points to bring the score within 29. On the last drive of the game, Nicholson led the Eagle ground attack with handoffs to Sharpe and Dylan Albert, who ran the ball six yards for the final score. Tyndall’s kick would seal the game, Richard Winn 56, Laurens 20.
Defensively, Gailliard recorded nine tackles, three for loss, and an interception. JT Wilkes had eight tackles, one for loss. J. Bonds had one tackle and one interception. The Eagle defense had a total of seven tackles for loss.
Nicholson led the Eagles’ rushing and receiving corps with 95 yards on the ground and 97 yards in the air, scoring two touchdowns. Smith ran twelve times for 88 yards and two scores. C. Bonds was four for six passing for 154 yards, and rushed for 75 yards and two touchdowns. Albert ran the ball twice for 13 yards and a touchdown.
Eagles Head Coach Paul Brigman said, “I thought our team played well on Thursday. We were thrown out of our practice routine by having to play a day early but I thought our guys did a good job of understanding the plan and executing it. We had a little bit of adversity early in the game, and it was good to see our team respond to it and turn the momentum back in our favor. We are looking forward to getting ready for Wardlaw this week, and hopefully create some momentum heading into our region schedule.”