Defense keys Rebels' win

JOHNSTON, S.C. --- With the mass of excited red, white and blue swirling noisily around him long after time had expired, Strom Thurmond football coach Lee Sawyer had to marvel quietly at the difference a year had made for his football team.

For once, he didn't have to think about what happened last year, when his Rebels met North Augusta and lost 27-17 after leading 17-0 at halftime.

Those memories were finally gone.

He didn't have to think about it anymore because Strom Thurmond defeated the Yellow Jackets 21-7 Friday night to improve to 3-0 on the season.

"Several of the players that played in the game last year, their pride had been hurt for the last year, just like mine had with the way our defense had collapsed last year," Sawyer said. "They prepared hard all week long, and all the coaches did a great job of preparing them."

The defense that surrendered those 27 second-half points vowed not to do it again. It was a success.

The Rebels contained North Augusta standout tailback Tidy Johnson, who had romped for 160 yards in the 2007 meeting. They held him to 61 yards and one touchdown that came in the first quarter. The long pass plays that spurred the Yellow Jackets' comeback a year ago were a thing of the past, as the Rebels' secondary snuffed out the North Augusta passing game to the tune of 31 passing yards allowed.

This time, the Rebels bent -- allowing 121 rushing yards to North Augusta quarterback Travis Murphy and letting the Yellow Jackets inside their 10 on three occasions -- but did not break.

North Augusta would only score on one of those drives.

"That was huge right there," Sawyer said of his team's stands on fourth down.

The teams played to a stalemate in the first half. North Augusta scored on its second possession after a 47-yard run by Murphy got the ball inside the 5. The Rebels answered with a long drive to start the second quarter.

But a turnover deep in their own territory would spell doom for the Yellow Jackets. Murphy missed Johnson on a handoff midway through the third quarter, and the Rebels recovered the fumble.

Three plays later, Tra'ves Bush pounded his way into the end zone for a 14-7 lead after Ren Fell's extra point.

Another turnover -- a forward pass that Yellow Jackets receiver Matt Hazel gave up on as incomplete -- was ruled a live ball and recovered by Strom Thurmond.

But Rebels quarterback Javon Brown had the ball snapped over his head.

North Augusta's Charles Coleman recovered the ball, and the Yellow Jackets promptly drove back down the field, inside the Rebels' 10.

But for the second time, they were turned away.

Yellow Jackets coach Dan Pippin said he wants his players to tune out all the negative talk he knows will come with such a tough loss.

"We need to circle the wagons, because I know what is going to happen. People are going to start telling them how we should have won and all that, and we just have to work to make sure that doesn't happen," Pippin said.

Offensively, the Rebels were led in the game by senior tailback Maurice Brown, who carried the ball 15 times for 100 yards and two scores while catching two passes for 24 yards. He also contributed several tackles at linebacker. On the final drive of the game, after the Rebels' defense had stopped North Augusta on fourth down near midfield, Maurice Brown delivered a crushing block, springing quarterback Javon Brown to the 5-yard line.

Then, on the next play, Maurice Brown carried several Yellow Jackets on his back and into the end zone for the game's final margin.