Bears grab top spot in Lower State
By Chris Sokoloski
csokoloski@gtowntimes.com
A once-in-a-lifetime play last week gave Carvers Bay a victory over Timmonsville, a region title and the No. 1 seed in the Class A Lower State tournament.
With the score tied 20-20 and about 10 seconds left in the game, Carvers Bay quarterback Da'Shaun Aiken threw a hail Mary pass about 50 yards down field, which was intercepted by a Timmonsville player.
Shayton Durrand then stripped the ball from the Timmonsville player, and his brother Shaquan Durrand, picked it up and raced 10 yards for the game-winning touchdown as time expired.
"That was the craziest game of my whole high career playing football," Shaquan Durrand said.
"It's like a drowning man and at the last minute somebody sticks a pole down and he grabs it and he realizes he's living again," Bears coach James "Nate" Thompson said. "We were lucky. We were in the right place at the right time."
Carvers Bay got on the board first 8:51 into the game on a Devin Cuttino 34-yard touchdown run.
Timmonsville had a golden opportunity to tie the score five minutes later after recovering a fumble on the Carvers Bay 7-yard-line, but the Bears' defense held.
Aiken punted from the end zone and gave the Whirlwinds the ball inside the 35-yard-line. After converting a fourth down, Timmonsville tied the game at 8-8.
Cuttino had a long touchdown run negated by a holding call on Carvers Bay's first possession of the second half, and the Bears eventually turned the ball over on downs.
Carvers Bay took advantage of a short field to take the lead half way through the third quarter. Stefan Hannah sacked the Timmonsville quarterback and forced a fumble, giving the Bears the ball on the 23-yard-line. Aiken hit Desmond Sumpter with a touchdown pass and was successful on the two-point conversion for the 14-8 lead.
Timmonsville started its next possession on its own 9-yard-line, but drove down the field to tie the score at 14-14. The Whirlwinds were helped by a roughing the passer penalty on Carvers Bay. Bears coaches were furious because a Timmonsville running back threw the pass, not the quarterback. The referee said it didn't matter because he was still the passer.
Carvers Bay regained the lead after Daquan Wilson recovered a Timmonsville fumble with 3:07 left in the third quarter. Shayton Durrand caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Aiken to put the Bears ahead 20-14. The two-point conversion failed.
Timmonsville started its last possession of the game with less than a minute left, and quickly drove 70 yards for the game-tying score with 14.5 second left. Shaquan Durrand made a game-saving tackle on the two-point conversion to set up his game-winning heroics.
"When I saw him recover that ball it was a miracle and I'm glad that he did," Naquez Pringle said.
Israel Davis led the Bears rushing attack with 67 yards. Cuttino had 64 yard and Aiken added 35.
Aiken was 5-for-15 passing for 113 yards. Shayton Durrand had 65 yards, Shaquan Durrand had 25, and Sumpter had 23.
"They are big, they are fast, they are strong," Thompson said of Timmomnsville. "They took it to us. They took our offense and shut them down."
Shaquan Durrand led the Bears' defense with 15 tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery; Davin Young had 12 tackles; Shawn Lawrence and Oneil Johnson had had 11 tackles each; Hannah had 10 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery; Wilson had 10 tackles and a fumble recovery; Pringle had 10 tackles; Dylan Moore had eight tackles; and Sumpter had six tackles.
Carvers Bay (9-1) hosts region rival Hemingway (5-5) on Friday night. As the No. 1 seed in the Lower State, the Bears would not have to travel for a game unless they reach the Class A Division I state championship.
"We're a young team and we're still making mental mistakes," Thompson said. "But, as long as we keep plugging we should be doing pretty good."