ABBEVILLE — It was a walk Zay Rayford and his Abbeville teammates were not used to.
Down by 10 at halftime, the Panthers sank their cleats into a cool, soggy field at Hite Stadium at a time Abbeville is usually cruising to another blowout win.
That’s when the emotions set in.
“We were pissed off,” Rayford said. “We just kept in our minds, the game ain’t over. Like coach (Jamie Nickles) always says ‘Fight ‘til the end, stay together.’
Abbeville sophomore Altavious Patterson takes the handoff from quarterback Jay Hill.
CODY ESTREMERA | INDEX-JOURNAL
The Panthers returned to the team the Abbeville faithful had seen all season. One that punched it up the gut, made big stops on defense and plain out dominated in the second half in a 41-16 Upper State title win over Saluda Friday night.
Abbeville rattled off 35 unanswered points, limited the Tigers to just 49 yards in the second half and outgained itself compared to the first half by 289 yards.
Not a bad way to get things rolling and keep it rolling.
“We really had a heart-to-heart at halftime, came out and really took the game over midway through the third quarter and the rest is history,” Nickles said. “Just to see the emotion come out of them, that was huge.”
That emotion paid dividends early in the third. After the Panthers’ defense took down a dangerous player in Tyleke Mathis short of the line to gain on fourth down, Rayford and his team found life.
The Panthers took over and drove down into Saluda territory before Rayford zipped 30 yards down the field for a score.
And when challenged on defense again, the Abbeville defense rose to the occasion again. When the Tigers drove to the Abbeville 37, Damarcus Leach intercepted a Jonah McCary pass to set up another 27-yard score from Rayford later in the fourth quarter.
From then on, Saluda couldn’t reignite the flame that once burned in the first half.
“That’s what we said we couldn’t do is turn the ball over,” Saluda coach Stewart Young said. “Back-to-back (drives), we gave them all the momentum, and we couldn’t stop their running game in the second half, they made some really good adjustments.
“Everything we tried to do to stop it, they had an answer for, like I knew they would, but they’re just so systematic and they’re so well-coached and they’re tough and they’re big and they’re fast.”
After Rayford’s scores, a slew of other Panthers shared the spotlight in the final quarter. Altavious Patterson ran for 23 and 44-yard touchdowns on back-to-back drives and Leach snagged another interception, taking it back 10 yards to the house.
As the final three minutes ticked off the clock, the Panthers soaked it in, and will do so for the next 24 hours. Next Friday’s game in Columbia is for all the marbles — and the Panthers are rolling.
“It feels great, it ain’t it over with yet though, one more,” Rayford said. “We gotta have a great week, not good, a great week.”
GAME SUMMARY
Saluda 3 13 0 0 — 16
Abbeville 0 6 7 28 — 41
FIRST QUARTER
S — Sam Espinoza 40 FG
SECOND QUARTER
A — Antonio Harrison 5 run (kick fail)
S — Jonah McCary 3 run (kick fail)
S — Jamarcus Mobley 33 pass from McCary (Espinoza kick)
THIRD QUARTER
A — Zay Rayford 30 run (Addison Nickles kick)
FOURTH QUARTER
A — Rayford 27 run (Nickles kick)
A — Altavious Patterson 23 run (Nickles kick)
A — Patterson 44 run (Nickles kick)
A — Damarcus Leach 10 interception return
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — A: Altavious Patterson 11-144-2, Zay Rayford 12-120-2, Jamal Marshall 11-63, Antonio Harrison 7-46, Jha’Louis Hadden 2-9, Karson Norman 1-8, Ty Cade 2-2. S: Jonah McCary 18-76-1, Tyleke Mathis 5-16, Kenmane Brunson 5-14.
