South Florence puts the brakes on AC Flora’s perfect season in 4A playoff battle

A.C. Flora coach Ken Floyd knew that slowing down LaNorris Sellers and the South Florence offense was going to be a tough task.

The Falcons defense never found that solution Friday night as Sellers, the South Florence quarterback, ran for five touchdowns in helping the Bruins to a 43-27 win over A.C. Flora on Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

South Florence advances to its first state championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3 to face Northwestern at Benedict College in Columbia. Northwestern defeated Greenville 33-28 Friday.

“That kid is really special,” Floyd said of Sellers. “When it came down to it and they needed a yard or 10 yards or whatever it was, he made it happen. He was the difference-maker no doubt tonight.

“I think we stopped them one time the entire night. Hats off to our defense — that is just a tough out. That is a good (offensive) unit over there, and with Sellers as an X factor, it makes things really tough.”

A.C. Flora ends the season with a 13-1 record in Floyd’s first year as head coach. After the game, Floyd went from player to player to hug them and congratulate them on their season. It was the first 10-0 regular season in school history.

“It was a foundational year for me as a head coach in my first year,” Floyd said. “I just love those guys and want them to know that they are leaving this program in good hands. I’m appreciative of them and the future is bright at A.C. Flora. We are going to continue to be a dominant program.”

Friday’s game was one of most anticipated in Class 4A this year, with South Florence at No. 1 and A.C. Flora No. 2 for the past two months in the S.C. high school media rankings. It lived up to the billing as the two teams traded touchdowns on each of their first three possessions in the first half.

Flora running back Markel Townsend scored three of his four touchdowns in the first half. His third one, a 2-yard run, put the Falcons up 21-14 with 6:56 left in the second quarter.

South Florence answered with a 38-yard touchdown run from Sellers to tie the game at 21 with 2:20 left in the second quarter.

The Bruins defense got a stop on A.C. Flora’s next possession just before halftime. Sellers then scored again on the team’s first possession in the third quarter to take a 28-21 lead.

“We told our defense, if you can give us a stop, we will go out and win the game,” Sellers said. “That is what they did and we went out there and scored.”

Sellers, a Syracuse commit and Mr. Football finalist, finished with 228 yards rushing and also threw for 140 yards.

“LaNorris Sellers is the best football player in the state,” South Florence coach Drew Marlowe said. “If he doesn’t win Mr. Football, you better get rid of the award because it is garbage. He made some critical throws and runs and played great.”

A.C. Flora answered on its next drive as Townsend scored from a yard put, but the Falcons missed the extra point to trail 28-27 with 1:58 left in third quarter.

Flora got its lone stop of the night on South Florence’s next possession but then went three-and-out on offense.

The Bruins responded with a short touchdown drive, capped by Sellers’ run and two-point conversion to make it 36-27 with 8:41 left.

“Our coaches this week felt like if we could get two stops we could win the game. And that is about what happened,” Marlowe said. “Great effort by our kids. We fought our tails off and are super proud of them.”