CLASS 3A PLAYOFFS : Charleston rumbles past Magnet Cove
Posted on Saturday, November 22, 2008
CHARLESTON — Taking a week off didn’t take any of the edge off Charleston.
The Tigers rolled over Magnet Cove 42-19 Friday night in the second round of the Class 3 A playoffs at Alumni Field. Charleston (11-0 ) advances to play Mayflower in the quarterfinal.
Charleston showed just a bit of rust in the first quarter with three motion penalties on its first two drives. The miscues were quickly forgotten as the Tigers ran up a 35-0 lead in the first half.
“Charleston is a quick team, and that caught us off guard,” Magnet Cove Coach Ronnie Efird said. “By the time we figured that out, we were three touchdowns behind. Charleston is a good enough they’re not going to let you come out of it.”
Tigers Coach Doug Loughridge missed a day of practice this week because of the birth of his son Monday. The team played smoothly after the opening blips.
“Once we got into the flow of things, our kids wanted to play,” Loughridge said. “We could have had to fight for our lives and do some stupid things, but we executed pretty well.”
The Tigers seized control of the game early and in overpowering fashion. Charleston scored touchdowns on its first five possessions and held the Panthers (8-4 ) 31 yards of total offense.
“We did what we had to do to advance,” Loughridge said. “We came out and showed we could score. We came out and showed we could stop them.”
The Tigers used a balanced running attack to ring up big yards. Charleston had five runners rush for 47 or more yards, led by fullback Jordan Akers’ 13 carries for 89 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Charleston scored first on Jordan Shelby’s 9-yard run to take a 7-0 lead with 9: 02 left in the first quarter. Michael Meador returned a Magnet Cove punt 40 yards to the Panthers’ 21, setting up Shelby’s 6-yard touchdown run for a 13-0 lead with 3: 29 left in the quarter.
“Last week we won because we executed in all three phases of game: offense, defense and special teams,” Efird said. “This week, Charleston did. That’s it in a nutshell.”
The Tigers went ahead 21-0 on Shelby’s 37-yard pass to Meador with 11: 31 left in half. Ryan McDonald scored on a 37-yard run to put Charleston ahead 27-0 with 9: 35 left.
Akers capped the first-half scoring with a 7-yard run with 4: 12 left.
Magnet Cove finally awoke and had its only offensive success of the first half. A 35-yard pass from Jake Stevens to Ryan Wells set up Stevens’ 22-yard touchdown run with 2: 32 left in the half.
Stevens was 5 of 13 for 67 yards and no touchdowns in the first half. The Panthers ran 14 times for 33 yards and 1 touchdown as Magnet Cove generated 100 yards of offense in the first half.
The Tigers nearly scored again at the end of the first half, driving inside Magnet Cove’s 10-yard-line. Shelby was tackled just short of a first down on a fourth-down run to end the drive at the Panthers’ 4.
Charleston scored on its opening drive of the second half on Akers’ 2-yard run to go ahead 42-7. The score capped a 5: 32 drive and started the 35-point mercy running clock.
Stevens threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Jake Daniell late in the third quarter against Charleston’s reserve defense. After Charleston punted, the Panthers scored again on Carl Veazey’s 2-yard run with 5: 37 left in the game. LAMAR 16, HOXIE 7 HOXIE — B. J. Shaw passed for a touchdown and Lamar stopped Hoxie six times on fourth downs to advance to the quarterfinals. Shaw completed 4 of 6 passes for 89 yards, including a 41-yard touchdown pass to Matt Jones in the third quarter. Mark Pearson added a 4-yard touchdown run for Lamar in the second quarter, and Cameron Loopers kicked a 38-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. Clay Hart hit Jonathan Quesada with a 16-yard touchdown pass for Hoxie’s lone score. Hart completed 9 of 16 passes for 107 yards. MANSFIELD 42, ATKINS 32
ATKINS — Justin Castleberry ran for 180 yards on 22 carries and scored 4 consecutive touchdowns to lead Mansfield over Atkins.
Castleberry scored on runs of 10, 4, 21, and 7 yards, leading Mansfield back from a 26-14 deficit. After Castleberry’s last touchdown run with 3: 30 left in the fourth quarter, Mansfield led 42-26.
Casey Polk also had 2 touchdown runs for Mansfield.
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