State bound: Beaufort football punches ticket to first title game since 2007

Bryce Lybrand tried to avoid it, but there was no way around it.

The Beaufort High School football coach got a pair of Gatorade showers, one from each side, as time ticked down Friday in the Class 4A Lower State championship game as the Eagles punched their ticket to the state title game with a 42-10 win over West Florence.

“It was crazy. One of our offensive lineman John Asher Howell threw it on me from the back and when I turned around Eamon (Smalls) had it in the front,” Lybrand said. “It was cold. I can confirm that.

“It was special. This is such a good group. We kind of circled it three years ago saying this is a group that could win a state championship. But just because a team is good enough doesn’t always mean they will. It is a really neat thing that we actually made it to the state championship.”

The atmosphere around the stadium was electric from the team’s pre-game Eagle Walk to when fans came on the field after the game was over, Lybrand said.

Beaufort will face South Pointe, 24-14 winners over Greenville, at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Benedict’s Charlie W. Johnson Stadium in Columbia. It is Beaufort’s second state title appearance in school history. The Eagles lost to Clover in 2007. South Pointe is going for its sixth state championship since the school opened in 2005.

Former Beaufort coach DeVonte Holloman is the head coach at South Pointe and hired Lybrand on his staff before leaving to take a job at his alma mater in February of 2019. Lybrand expected to hear from his former colleague sometime this weekend.

“I’m happy for him. I think a lot of DeVonte,” Lybrand said. “Obviously, there is familiarity there. We are excited with the opportunity and we will see what happens.”

After winning in the final minute last week against Myrtle Beach, Beaufort dominated West Florence, which was making its first state semifinal berth since 2003 and got out to a 7-0 lead Friday. Beaufort running back Amariee Morris ran for 71 yards and four touchdowns, including a pair in the first quarter, as the Eagles led 14-7.

Sam Spence’s field goal cut Beaufort’s lead to 14-10 in the second quarter, and West Florence recovered an onside kick. But the Eagles’ John Asher Howell picked off to Deuce Hudson and returned it to West Florence 30.

The turnover set up a Tyler Haley 10-yard TD pass to McLeod Reichel to make it 21-10 with 3:51 left in the second quarter.

In the third, Haley set up Beaufort’s next score with a 35-yard run and Morris capped it off with a short run to make it 28-10. Morris’ final touchdown of the game came a minute into the fourth quarter to make it 35-10.

“When he gets down near the end zone, it is hard to keep him out,” Lybrand said of Morris. “He has such great balance and vision and is a tough one to deal with.”

Jack Sumner returned a block punt for a touchdown for the Eagles’ final score of the night.

Haley was 9-of-12 passing for 123 yards and a TD. He also rushed for 54 yards. Reichel had three catches for 54 yards and Kacy Fields had four catches for 44 yards.

Now, Beaufort will have a short time to prepare for the title game. This year is the first year the S.C. High School League is playing the championships over a three-day span with Class 4A the lone game being played on Thursday.

Lybrand plans to bring the team in for a practice on Sunday, and everything in a normal week will be moved up a day. He said the team will leave Thursday morning and do a walk-through somewhere in Columbia before the game.

“We will do everything we can to be as prepared as we can for Thursday night,” Lybrand said.