King's Ridge Christian Loses to Darlington, 34-17

Darlington High scored on their opening drive, and from then on they kept the King's Ridge Christian Tigers from taking a lead. The home team killed too many of its own drives with costly interceptions and even a fumble after a pass reception.

King's Ridge seemed ready to come right back on its first drive, with sophomore Penny Hart returning the kickoff 40 yards. He wasn't done, rushing for 10 yards to get a first down. The Tigers went for it on fourth down, but the attempt failed and Darlington had the ball on their own 38. The King's Ridge defense got some help when the Darlington quarterback slipped and was down.

After a dropped punt, King's Ridge had the ball on their 27. Tarez Miller took the ball for a 4-yard power run. Bailey Miller passed downfield for a 30-yard completion on third down. Tarez Miller had another key rush for 10 yards and a first down to bring the ball to the Darlington 27. But the Tigers were unable to get another first down, with a pass to Penny Hart falling a yard short, giving Darlington the ball back on the 22-yard line.

On their drive, Darlington did themselves more harm with flags for holding and false start. When they reached fourth down at the 27, the visitors followed King's Ridge Christian's lead and went for it, scoring a touchdown and bringing the score to 14-0.

A 27-yard kickoff return started the Tiger's next drive. A 7-yard pass to senior Julian Champ was followed by a long pass to Penny Hart, who makes it to Darlington's 25-yard line. But the Tigers only manage a 5-yard run before calling on Connor Burns, who kicked a 45-yard field goal to amke it 14-3.

Darlington seemingly returned the kickoff for a touchdown, but a blocking below the waist penalty brought the ball back to the 38-yard line. The Darlington drive succeeds despite a personal foul pushed them back 15 yards. After the Darlington touchdown the score was 21-3.

King's Ridge Christian made a great effort at responding, but the Tigers again fell short in their drive. And with less than a half minute left in the half, Burns' field goal attempt went wide right.

The Tigers started out the second half strongly. The Tigers started on their own 35-yard line. An 11-yard pass to Hart and a 10-yard pass to Jordan Harris moved the ball downfield. Miller and Harris moved the ball down to the Darlington 37 before Hart took over, rushing for his team's first touchdown of the night. After Burns extra point kick, King's Ridge Christian trailed 21-10.

Darlington's drive stalled, but the visitors immediately intercepted a King's Ridge pass. The Tigers again stopped Darlington, but the offense gave up another interception after driving to the 50. The defense stopped Darlington again, but the offense gave up another interception and scores, making it 28-10.

It didn't matter who was returning the kickoff for King's Ridge Christian, as every return man got a big return Harris took it 32 yards and then the offense went to work. On third and goal for the Tigers, Connor Burns replaced Bailey Miller and was intercepted in the end zone to kill the drive.

Julian Champ, playing on both sides of the line for King's Ridge Christian, got the ball back with an interception, but this time it was a fumble after a pass that lost the ball to Darlington. And the visitors took advantage of their good fortune with another scoring drive. A missed extra point brought the score to 34-10.

Bailey Miller was back at quarterback as the Tigers put together their second touchdown drive on the night. Benaiah Franklin got a first down with a pass reception, and Tarez Miller ran for another first down. After getting down to the 11-yard line, Champ continued the drive with a pass reception. And Darlington's defense helped out, too, giving up a first down on a penalty. A 9-yard loss didn't stop the drive, as Champ took another pass down to the 1. From there quarterback Bailey Miller took it into the end zone. With Burns' kick the score became 34-17. But with 3:26 left in the game, it wasn't enough.