Trojans pounce on Pride; Advance to Regional Finals

WEB CAST.

In a battle of two heavyweight programs on Friday night, Garner was the last man standing as they pulled out a 42-21 over visiting Leesville Road at Trojan Stadium.

Leesville (12-1) scored on the opening possession of the game on a third down and long when Braxton Berrios hit Darajai Robinson for a 73-yard touchdown pass and a early 7-0 lead.

After a three and out by the Trojans, Leesville looked to go up by a pair of scores, but that's when the defense came up big and forced the first Pride turnover of the night which led to the first score of the game for the Trojans as Demetrius Fairley scored from four yards out to knot the game at seven.

On their next possession, Garner (14-0) scored to take the lead as Vince Jefferies hit Juwan Moye in stride for a 34-yard connection and after a Tyler White extra point, it was 14-7 Trojans.

Late in the second quarter, that lead grew to 21-7 as the Trojans put together a 10 play scoring drive that covered 75 yards and ended with another connection from Jefferies to Moye and heading to the locker room it was a 14 point lead for Garner.

The Trojans got the ball to start the second half and wasted little time pouring it on as Moye score again, this time on the ground and from 34-yards out and a 28-7 lead.

However, the Pride wouldn't quit as they answered right back with a touchdown run from Berrios and it was 28-14 midway through the third quarter. Both teams then played field position for the next couple of drives and eventually ended the third quarter with Garner up 28-14.

Up by 14 points, Garner got the ball to start the fourth quarter and again put together a long scoring drive which covered 12 plays and was all on the ground and ended with a four yard run from Fairley.

Again, Leesville responded with a 33 yard scamper from Berrios to make it 35-21. On the ensuing kick-off, Garner got the ball at the Pride 49 yard line thanks to an onside kick which didn't travel the required 10 yards and Garner was able to take about four minutes off the clock before Fairley scored again to make it 42-21.

On the ensuing drive, Berrios was picked off by Raevon Smith to seal the 42-21 victory for the Trojans.

Garner will return to Trojan Stadium next week when they welcome Fayetteville Jack Britt to Trojan Stadium for the Eastern Regional Championship. Kick-off is slated for 7:30.