Ray, Myers rally North Charleston

BURTON — After building a quick 14-point lead, Battery Creek spiraled into misfortune, mustering just three first downs, one turnover and zero points in the second half as North Charleston rallied for a 24-20 victory Friday at Dolphin Field.

'We gave that game away,' Battery Creek coach Carlos Cave said. 'Dropped balls, miscommunication, poor reads, breakdowns defensively. We just gave it away.'

All the elements appeared in place for Battery Creek (2-5, 1-1 in region) to upset the region-leading Cougars (6-1, 2-0) on homecoming night.

But anchored by the emerging play of power running back Jerial Ray (16 carries for 123 yards) and the typical outburst by quarterback Denzel Myers (152 total yards, four touchdowns), the Cougars were able to outgain the Dolphins, 178-57, in the decisive second half despite losing talented quarterback/ receiver Corey Washington in the second quarter to injury.

'Sometimes on the road, you're just happy to get a win,' Cougars coach Jimmy Brown said. 'Really, Corey Washington getting hurt might have been a blessing in disguise because we were forced to play more disciplined and do what we're supposed to do.'

Battery Creek went up quickly as Joshua Fields turned one of his three touches into a 26-yard score to put the Dolphins up

14-0 with more than two minutes left in the opening quarter and 20-12 by halftime.

North Charleston cut the lead to 20-18 after a 36-yard strike from Myers to Denzel White. Two series later, Myers darted 13 yards down the middle of the field to give North Charleston its first lead of the contest.

North Charleston 0 12 6 6—24

Battery Creek 14 6 0 0—20

BC—Stedman James 14 pass to Leander Mobley (Jon Mostowy kick)

BC—Joshua Fields 26 run (Mostowy kick)

NC—Denzel Myers 21 pass to Thomas Smalls (run failed)

NC—Myers 1 run (pass failed)

BC—James 5 pass to Mobley (kick blocked)

NC—Myers 36 pass to Denzel White (kick failed)

NC—Myers 13 run (pass failed)