The Burke County Bears defeated the Richmond Hill Wildcats 27-26 in their season opener Friday, Sept. 3 at the Bear Den.
In the first quarter, Burke County struck first on a touchdown by running back Charlie Dorsey. Blake Burden’s kick was good for the extra point, and the score was 7-0.
The Richmond Hill Wildcats scored a touchdown before the end of the first quarter on an 18-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ty Goldrick. The kick was no good, so Richmond Hill made the score 7-6.
With less than three minutes left in the second quarter, the Bears scored on a 63-yard run by running back Eldrick Williams. Burden made the extra point, bringing the score to 14-6.
The Wildcats answered immediately. Ravon Grant ran back the kick-off return to cut into the Bears’ lead. Aiden Styan kicked for the extra point, and the score was 14-13 going into halftime.
The third quarter started slow, but the Wildcats made a move with less than three minutes left. Goldrick worked his way down the field into the red zone and with the help of running back Zion Gillard, the Wildcats forced their way into the end zone to score the go-ahead touchdown.
Again, Styan’s kick was good and the score going into the fourth quarter was 20-14.
Flowers started things off for the Bears in the fourth quarter. He ran for a 35-yard touchdown. Burden split the uprights to make the score 21-20, pushing the Bears ahead once again.
On a 73-yard pass from Goldrick, Nick Bliss scored for the Wildcats, giving them the lead once more at 26-20. The Wildcats failed the two-point conversion.
With 6:46 left in the fourth quarter, A’merre Williams scored the final touchdown of the game on a 9-yard run that won it for Burke County. The Bears failed the two-point conversion, leaving the score at 27-26.
The Wildcats tried to come back with less than a minute in the game, but Goldrick threw an interception which ended the come back attempt.
Williams ran for 122 yards on 13 carries. Goldrick completed 12 out of 18 attempts.
Both teams off next week as of now and will resume Sept. 17 unless they can schedule another game prior. Burke County will play at North Augusta. Richmond Hill will play at Northside.
Shelbie Summerlin is a Sports Contributor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at ssummerlin@augusta.edu
