Byrnes falls to Chapman for first time in 57 years

Byrnes head coach Reggie Shaw gave credit to Chapman while admitting his team showed signs of a “hangover effect” from last week’s win over Hough.

After Byrnes quarterback Andrew Stevens’ final pass of the game sailed into the waiting arms of a Chapman defensive back, the home stands at Chapman went into a frenzy. The Chapman sidelines went even crazier.

The interception sealed a 17-14 win for Chapman over Byrnes, the first victory for the Panthers against the Rebels since 1966.

Along the Byrnes sidelines, players removed their helmets and stood frozen. A hushed shock came over a team that, as they’d openly admit, overlooked this game on the schedule. Chapman — of 3-A classification — executed their game plan to near perfection. The Rebels — of perennial 5-A prominence — struggled to do much right at all.

“It’s a hard pill to swallow,” said Byrnes head coach Reggie Shaw. “It felt like we had so many opportunities to win it. We just didn’t execute and didn’t get the job done. Hats off to Chapman, they played hard and found a way.”

The first quarter of Friday’s tilt indicated no potential problems for Byrnes. The Rebels left the frame with a 14-0 lead. 

Stevens connected with Armoni Weaver on a laser down the middle of the field for a 34-yard touchdown pass to give the Rebels their first score of the game. Just before the end of the quarter, freshman running back Tre’ Segarra took a 42-yard rush to the house. All was going according to plan for Byrnes.

They wouldn’t score another point the rest of the game.

“They sold out to stop the run and forced us to pass to sustain drives, and we made several mistakes in the passing game,” said Shaw. “We tipped some balls that resulted in picks, ran some wrong routes, and then we dropped two, maybe three touchdowns.”

The Rebels’ failure to execute offensively allowed Chapman to crawl back into the game. Trailing 14-3 after the third, the Panthers concocted a fourth-quarter performance that will be talked about in Inman for years to come.

Panthers quarterback Coleman Gray led two straight touchdown drives in the final quarter. Gray’s 11-yard touchdown run brought the Panthers to within 14-10 with just under eight minutes remaining. After a Byrnes fumble, Chapman got the ball right back and Gray marched them down the field yet again.

Running back Mathai Scott’s two-yard touchdown plunge gave Chapman its first lead with three minutes remaining.

A questionable holding call negated an opportunity for Byrnes to tie the game late, and the Panthers held on for the win.

PREPARATION FOR PERFORMANCE

Shaw gave credit to a well-coached Chapman team, but chalked the team’s performance up to what he called a “hangover effect.”

“I think our guys weren’t as focused as they needed to be. Coming off a big win like last week at Hough, sometimes that will happen. But I promise you, they’re awake and locked in now.”

“We just didn’t have proper preparation,” said Byrnes defensive back David Wilson, Jr. “Proper preparation beats poor performance. When you don’t prepare right, you can’t win those types of ballgames. We’ll make sure that never happens again.”

That would be ideal for the Rebels, as the road gets no less challenging from here on out. Next up, Byrnes opens its home schedule against a supremely talented Greenville Red Raiders squad. The Raiders — the No. 5 ranked 4-A team in the state — are coming off a 34-21 week 0 win over Byrnes’ rival Dorman and a tight loss last week to T.L. Hanna. 

The Rebel secondary will have its hands full containing Mazeo Bennett, four-star wide receiver and University of South Carolina commit.

“We’ve been studying, watching film daily,” said Wilson. “[Bennett] is a playmaker, so he’s going to make plays. We’ve just got to limit those plays. We feel like we’ve got a good group of guys on this side of the ball.”

“Our guys usually rise up to the challenge of playing guys with some notoriety like that,” said Shaw. “It kind of adds a little flair to the game, a little extra motivation. But Greenville’s a great team. They’ve got a bunch of great athletes all over the place. It’s going to be a great challenge for us.”