What We Saw: Barnwell 21, Bamberg-Ehrhardt 7

Thomas Grant September 7, 2024 @ 12:56 AM

BARNWELL | Quarterbacks [player_tooltip player_id='272720' first='Cameron' last='Austin'] of Barnwell and [player_tooltip player_id='464885' first='Chanston' last='Crosby'] of Bamberg-Ehrhardt are the offensive catalysts of their respective teams.   Both will compete at the college level, but in different sports. Austin will play baseball at the University of South Carolina, while Crosby is committed to continuing his football career at North Carolina Central.   Barnwell came away with the 21-7 victory over Bamberg-Ehrhardt at a rainy Weir Stadium. Both Austin and Crosby each scored a touchdown in a game where the Warhorses (3-0) fared better amid the wet conditions.   Austin had most of his success running the football behind Barnwell's jumbo packages to overwhelm the offensive line. He put the Warhorses on the board in the second quarter with a 1-yard score.   In the second half, Austin had a 41-yard run to set up the first of two touchdown runs by Ja'Quan Peeples.   “We were going to give them some heavy sets tonight,” Barnwell head coach Brian Smith said. “I thought we threw the ball well in the first half, but it was just tough. We needed to be able to shorten the game a little bit and do the things that we do well and what we do right now is run the football.” 4   “We knew we had to come into this game very physical and, even with the rain, we knew we had to be more physical,” Austin said. “So, we got to it. We had to keep pushing them off the ball.”   Meanwhile, Bamberg-Ehrhardt's young wide receivers were challenged by the wet conditions. Red Raiders' head coach Corey Crosby lamented the missed scoring opportunities because of their inconsistency catching the football.   “I can't control the weather,” he said. “It's all about the game. We just dropped balls. We dropped balls. We had three touchdown passes. We dropped wide open balls that could have kept the drive going and that's what our game is. We're going to run the ball. We've got receivers and we just didn't catch the ball tonight.”   Rakeem Walker had the team's lone touchdown reception. He caught a wide open 46-yard pass from Crosby to tie the game at 7-7 in the second quarter.   When Bamberg-Ehrhardt looked to establish its running game, both [player_tooltip player_id='816740' first='Marcus' last='Cann'] and Demetrius Odom got the majority of the carries. Barnwell made things difficult upfront with linebackers [player_tooltip player_id='1254065' first='Lex' last='Thomas'] and Henri Creech getting sacks and linemen Jahlian Carter and Adrian Saxton stopping the run.   The Warhorses' secondary was also stingy in defending Crosby. Two-way player Logan Sturkie, who led the team in receptions, and Jaquan Peeples, both had a pair of pass breakups.   “We're putting a lot of pressure on our DBs because we feel a great job coverage wise,” Smith said. “As long as we're getting pressure upfront, it's great. We're doing that right now. We'll continue to try to do that.”   The second half saw Barnwell further assert its ground game against Bamberg-Ehrhardt. This was especially the case after Austin left the game favoring his knee following his long run.   After taking the lead, the Warhorses utilized Austin primarily as a decoy for the rest of the game. Both Ja'Quan and Jordan Peeples and Nehemiah Brown got the bulk of the carries.   Ja'Quan Peeples scored the final touchdown out of the Wildcat in the fourth quarter.   “It's still tight and it's still hurting, but I'm proud of my guys for picking me up and continuing to get through this game to get the (win),” Austin said.   Leading Barnwell's offensive line were senior 6-foot-5, 290-pound tackle Tony Cherry and Klayton Zissett, who returned from injury, and center Lamar Buxton.   “Those guys play a very physical ball and we played about seven or eight (offensive linemen) all night just because of the way we played the game. So I'm happy with the way it all went out.”