Turnover bug costs Gators a shot at Lower State finals

Tyrone Walker
The Post and Courier

Goose Creek’s Tony Bryan (9) pulls down Lancaster’s Zed Truesdale (11) during a Class AAAA Division II playoff matchup Friday in Goose Creek. Lancaster won, 28-20.

Goose Creek — Mistakes are magnified in big games and the miscues made by Goose Creek in its second-round Division II AAAA football wplayoff game against Lancaster stick out like a sore thumb.

The Gators committed five turnovers and were stopped on downs twice inside the 10-yard line in Friday night's 28-20 loss to the visiting Bruins, ending their season at 9-4.

Lancaster (10-3) turned three turnovers into touchdowns and held on for its second consecutive road playoff win. Lancaster managed just 209 total yards in offense, but it was enough to advance to the state semifinals to face Northwestern next week.

"You can't turn the ball over five times and beat a good football team," said Goose Creek head coach Chuck Reedy. "You can't get down there close and not score. We had opportunities

early on to get up and take control and we didn't do what we had to do.

"For the last five or six weeks we had not been turning the ball over and we had been winning by scoring touchdowns. Tonight was a different story. We won nine out of 10 games by playing a certain way but tonight it bit us."

Goose Creek was stopped on fourth-and-goal from the Lancaster 2-yard line midway through the first quarter, failing to take advantage of great field position after a 27-yard punt return by Kevin Glears.

Midway through the second, Glears fumbled on a reverse near midfield and Lancaster recovered. Seven plays later, Bruins quarterback Matt Reese scored on a 4-yard run with 1:25 left for a 7-0 lead.

Goose Creek fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Lancaster recovered the loose ball at the 26-yard line. A minute later, with 9 seconds left in the half, Reese connected with Kendrick Thompson on a 7-yard pass for a 14-0 lead.

Glears made up for his earlier mistake on the ensuing kickoff, racing 91 yards as time expired for a toucdown. The point after was blocked, leaving the Gators down, 14-6, but with momentum.

"At halftime we talked about taking the football down the field and scoring some points," said Reedy.

"Lancaster is good defensively but we moved the football. We just had to punch it in. We felt like we could win the game."

Goose Creek reached the 9-yard line midway through the third quarter but Lancaster's defense tackled Glears on a reverse for a five-yard loss on fourth-and-two.

After the Bruins failed to move, Goose Creek again went downfield. Brown hit Glears with a 15-yard pass on fourth-and-12 to reach the Lancaster 15. Two plays later, Brown's pass was intercepted at the 12 and returned 88 yards by Brion Strothers for a 21-6 lead.

Goose Creek responded with a 62-yard drive as Virgil Smalls scored on a three-yard run with 8:59 left in the game. A two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the Gators down, 21-12.

Needing a defensive stop, Goose Creek let Jamias Clark loose for a 48-yard run to the Goose Creek 13. Reese scored on a one-yard run with six minutes left for a 28-12 lead.

Goose Creek answered with a 14-play, 76-yard drive with Smalls scoring on a one-yard run with 2:13 left in the game. A two-point conversion pass from Brown to William Alston cut the lead to eight at 28-20.

Goose Creek then recovered an onside kick but three incomplete passes were followed by an interception with 1:40 remaining, ending the comeback attempt.

"When we look back at this game later we'll see just how many chances we had that we didn't take advantage of and how Lancaster did take advantage of the things we gave them," said Reedy. "Lancaster played very well and we're disappointed that we didn't play at the level we had been playing over the last two months of the season."

Goose Creek finished the game with 288 total yards. Brown rushed for 95 yards and completed nine-of-22 passes for 108 yards. The backfield tandem of William Alston and Ranoy Hines were limited to 79 yards on 24 carries.

"We have a really good nucleus returning," said Reedy of the future. "We've got eight starters coming back on defense. We've got some good players on both sides of the ball coming back. We certainly feel our program is to the point where we can compete for a championship every season. We took some big steps this year but we came up short in the end."

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