Mid-Carolina dominates Eau Claire on homecoming

PROSPERITY, S.C. — Mid-Carolina(5-4, 2-1 region 3-AA) dominated Eau Claire(1-9, 0-4 region 3-AA) to pickup a huge win on homecoming and keep their hopes alive of finishing the regular season with a winning record. The Rebels defeated the Shamrocks 37-0 in Friday night to earn their fifth win in seven games.

Things started off slow for the Rebels’ offense in the first quarter with starting quarterback Ty Floyd out with an injury, but their defense picked up the slack. The defense forced a fumble early on in the first quarter and got a huge sack for a safety late in the first quarter.

Davis Ruff started at quarterback in place of the injured Floyd and he struggled as well early on with a first quarter interception that ended a promising drive for the Rebels. They still led 2-0 going into the second quarter.

Mid-Carolina special teams got in on the fun in the early parts of the second quarter with a blocked punt that they recovered in the end zone for a touchdown to take a 9-0 lead.

The run game for the Rebels got going and Montieth Brown found the end zone with a 10-yard rushing touchdown to extend their lead, 16-0.

The defense continued to play well led by Keshon Williams, Jaxson Moody and their dominate front seven. Williams got two sacks in the game and Moody got several tackles for loss and practically lived in the backfield of the Shamrocks.

Of course, AD Basnight got in the action on the offensive side of the ball. The Rebels took advantage of great field position and were able to get another rushing touchdown to add to their lead.

Basnight started and finished the drive. He had a 25 plus yard run with a unnecessary roughness penalty added on at the end of the run to set the home team up in the red zone. Then, three plays later he scored a rushing touchdown from two yards out.

The Shamrocks found themselves down 23-0 before they could blink and the Rebels were in full control at halftime.

After the homecoming festivities concluded at halftime, the Rebels quickly struck again. Ryker Woolstenhulme returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown to give his squad a 30-0 lead.

Eau Claire decided to switch things up in the second half by making a quarterback change, but that didn’t stop the bleeding. They attempted to hit the Rebels over the top with a deep pass but Jamarian Dewalt was not having any of it. He picked off the pass and returned for a touchdown to put the visitors to bed.

The Rebels cruised for the rest of the third quarter and all of the fourth quarter to enjoy a homecoming win. Some young players even got a chance to see some action on the field.

“Well we are playing some decent football. We are a little bit sloppy at times, but a win is a win. They are hard to come by so we will take it however we can get it,” said Rebels head coach Chris Arnoult.

Mid-Carolina will have a chance to finish the regular season with a winning record, create a three-way tie in the region and improve their playoff seeding if they can beat Fairfield Central on this upcoming Friday.

“They have done something that haven’t been done here in about ten years. We are playing next week to determine basically who will be first, second or third in the region. If we win, then it will be a three-way tie for first then we will have to sort that all out. Either way, we are going to playoffs but we would like to go into it with a little momentum,” said Arnoult.

The Rebels will host Fairfield Central at home in their regular season finale on Nov. 8th.