Both the Conway Tigers (1-2) and the Socastee Braves (0-4) were in need of a win coming into Friday night’s game.
And both teams fought hard to get one with the Tigers coming out on top, 41-35.
Both squads kept it neck-and-neck throughout most of the contest. The home team Braves jumped out ahead 7-0 on the second play of the game with a 77-yard touchdown pass.
The Tigers evened it up with almost six minutes left in the first quarter on a 5-yard rushing touchdown.
Conway’s Gabriel Williams walks into the end zone with his 3rd touchdown of the night with 3:48 remaining in the game, putting the Tigers up 41-28.
Conway took the lead 15-7 on the first play of the second quarter and the Braves drew within one point four minutes later.
The Tigers were forced to punt on their next possession and a bad snap to the punter was recovered by Socastee on the Tigers’ 4-yard line. With 5:06 left in the half, Socastee scored on a 4-yard pass to take the lead back, 20-15.
Conway scored on their next two possessions with passes of 70 yards and 45 yards, taking a 28-20 lead into the locker room at the half.
Both teams traded possessions for most of the third quarter until Socastee got a good mix of runs and passes going to grab a passing TD with 1:50 left in the quarter. A successful two-point conversion tied the game at 28.
With seven seconds into the fourth, Conway hit paydirt on a three-yard quarterback keeper to retake the lead 35-28. The Tigers kept it on the ground their next possession and scored with 3:48 left in the game, extending their lead to 41-28.
Many in the crowd headed for the exit when Socastee fumbled the kickoff, giving the Tigers the ball on the Socastee 22. But the Braves didn’t give up.
With 3:02 remaining, Conway took to the air and a Braves pick-six tightened the score at 41-35.
The Braves came very close to recovering an onside kick but the ball bounced out of bounds allowing the Tigers to run the clock out and take the victory.
Conway head coach Jody Jenerette, in his first year at the helm with the Tigers, said he was very glad to get the win but his team still had a long way to go to clean up a bunch of mistakes.
