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Sports
Round 3 Playoffs: Pageland Central (12-0) at Strom Thurmond (10-2) By Tim Crane web posted November 18, 2010 SPORTS – The undefeated Central Eagles (12-0) will put their perfect season on the line when they take on Thurmond (10-2) Friday night in the semifinals of the AA playoffs. Central has defeated Thurmond the past two seasons by five points then went on to destroy their fourth round opponent by an average margin of 31 points, on the way to the state championship game. But Dillon has been their nemesis as the Wildcats defeated the Eagles in 2008 and 2009, by 1 point each game, to claim the AA crown. Central is the #1 seed from Region IV and Thurmond is the #1 seed from Region III. Pageland is 38-4 in the last three seasons with two of those losses coming in the State Title games. The Eagle’s defense has pitched 6 shutouts this season and their closest game was an 8 point win over Chester, who was ranked #1 in 3A at the time of their matchup. Take away the Chester game and only one team (Anson County NC) has played Central within two touchdowns this season while losing 20-7 in week one. “We are throwing about 10 times a game which is a lot more than we used to. Jowan Henderson (QB) is a very good passer; has 1000 passing yards and 21 throwing touchdowns on the season. His favorite target is Jowan Funderburk (WR). We’ll line up in the spread 50% of the time and the wishbone the other 50% to keep defenses from stacking the box on us. We have a good defense (6 shutouts) and have played around some injuries but are still a little banged up right now. Not to take away from some of our opponents, but a few of them were down this season. Our offense is better than it was in 2008 but overall we are not quite as physical. I think Thurmond is better now than they were in 2008. This is not the same team that lost to Silver Bluff and Columbia. They are worlds better now. We have taken a lot of pride in beating such a great program as Strom Thurmond the past two seasons. My coaching staff, team and myself has a lot respect for most teams we play, but I doubt we hold any higher than Strom Thurmond. They do things the right way from the coaching staff, to the players and even the fans. Everything about Strom Thurmond’s program is first class and built on respect. Their players play hard and are physical but they do so with class. At the beginning of the season, I took a look at the brackets and was pretty sure we’d be playing in Johnston in the 3rd round. That’s a testament to the great programs we both have. If you know anything about Thurmond, you know defense is always their strength. This season is not any different. Octavius Brown (NG) is nearly unstoppable and will be double and tripled teamed Friday night as he has been all season. The problem is, if you put two or three people on him, you cannot account for the other 10, of which all can run fast and will hit you hard. Raleigh Yeldell is a dangerous quarterback. He can beat you running or throwing. The Hammond kid (RB/KR) is a special football player too. We’d much appreciate some of the turnovers they gave us last season come this Friday. That was the determining factor in the game last year. I don’t know who is going to win Friday night, but if they beat us I’ll be right there with them the rest of the way, pulling for the Rebels to win it all.” Central head coach Joey Mangum. Thurmond’s last home defeat came at the hands of Central in 2008 (12-7) and the Rebels are currently riding a 14 home game win streak. Strom’s Blue Steel defense has three shutouts this season, the most noticeable coming week 0 when they blanketed high scoring Williston Elko 7-0. “This will be another tough 3rd round game for us as it has been the previous two years. You can put in film of Central from 20 years ago and they will be the same as they are this season; always physical, line up and come right at you, and they play hard. They don’t change much because they are so good at what they do and it works really well. Henderson (QB) has the ability to hurt opponents with his feet or his arm. They have a great mix on offense and are hard to stop whether they are in the spread or wishbone. This team is 12-0 because they are good at what they do. We cannot give up the big plays and must force them to punt earlier in their possessions. In 2008 they beat us with field position (all those coffin corner punts) plus the big touchdown pass to Justice Cunningham for their sole touchdown of the night. In 2009 I think we had 4 turnovers, which killed us in the field position battle. We were in both games until the end but it’s hard to beat great teams when you lose the field position battle and have turnovers. I’ve been telling my kids that our situation with Central (being 0-2) reminds me of our rivalry with Myrtle Beach in the 80’s. Myrtle Beach beat us in 1980’s AAA State Title game then again in 1983 and both times we were unbeaten when we played them. But we finally broke thru with a 14-0 victory in 1986 against the Seahawks and now have an even series with them (4-4). If we are going to have success against Central we cannot turn the ball over, must win the field position battle and not get manhandled up-front. Pageland is always a physical team and has the ability to wear their opponents down. Our offensive line must block well and Raleigh will have to be a warrior when he is in the pocket, because they don’t mind blitzing. Our guys are going to be in for a fight the entire game and will have to battle for 48 complete minutes if we are to have a chance at winning Friday night.” Rebel Head Coach Lee Sawyer. Winner of this game will meet the winner of Woodruff vs Columbia, for the Upperstate Title and the right to play for a state championship. Woodruff has home field throughout but Columbia would have to travel to either Thurmond or Central in round four. By the Numbers: Offensively: ST 33 ppg PC 40 ppg Defensively: ST 9 ppg PC 9 ppg Last Game: Thurmond 38 Mid Carolina 14 Central 40 Chesnee 21 Previous Meeting: PC 18 ST 13 (2009) All Time Series: Central leads series 2-0, outscoring Thurmond 26-16. 2008—PC 12 ST 7 2009—PC 14 ST 9 Like Opponents: Lee Central; ST won 55-14, PC won 47-0 Gilbert; ST won 35-0, PC won 47-0 3rd Round Playoff Record: ST: 8-7; Thurmond advanced to 4th round in 2005. PC: 11-8; Pageland advanced to 4th round in 2009. © Copyright 2010 EdgefieldDaily.com All original
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