'It's always a big game': Bulldogs, Warhorses meet again in state semis

Nov. 24—The stakes are always high in high school football rivalries.

Bragging rights last a lifetime, whether the opposing programs are powerhouses, cellar dwellers or anywhere in between. Those memories still last whether those players and coaches stay in town or end up on the other side of the world.

It's a shot at making an early mark for the younger players, and for the seniors it's the pressure of not wanting a career to end with a loss to that school.

So, sure, the stakes are high.

Now add in a shot at a state championship, and that's where Silver Bluff and Barnwell are this week.

The rivalry is rich in tradition and prestige despite being relatively young — the teams first met in 1982, and since then Shrine Bowl selections, future NFL players and legendary coaches have squared off in one of the state's marquee rivalries.

Friday's Class AA Lower State championship will be the seventh time the schools have met in a state semifinal, with each having three wins over the other on this stage. Barnwell took the first three in 1985, '87 and '88, while Silver Bluff moved on to state title games in 1990, '91 and 2000.

It goes without saying that a standing-room-only rivalry grows even bigger with a championship at stake.

"It gets pretty big. Their community has a lot of pride. Our community has a lot of pride," said Silver Bluff head coach De'Angelo Bryant, who played for the Bulldogs when they beat Barnwell in 2000. "When you're talking about a place like Savannah River Site that probably blends the two communities together, it just means a lot to everybody. It's going to be important for the players, obviously, because of what's at stake and being able to go to the state championship game and move on. But at the same time, it's going to be big for this community, as well, just because it gives the winner bragging rights over the next year."

Five of the previous six meetings produced a state champion. The only time the winner didn't bring home a state title was the first meeting in 1985. Barnwell lost the regular season meeting 7-0 and trailed by that same score at halftime before shutting out Silver Bluff in the second half for a 15-7 win. Richard Sherman, who entered the game with more than 1,800 rushing yards for the season, went for 122 and a touchdown, and the Warhorses forced three fourth-quarter turnovers for the sweetest form of revenge — and on their rival's home field, no less.

They fell the following week to Mid-Carolina in the state title game, but they'd be back — and they'd have to go through Silver Bluff again to get there.

They met again two seasons later, with Silver Bluff looking to defend its state championship and Barnwell sporting an undefeated record. The Warhorses forced five turnovers and Bru Pender threw a touchdown pass to Brad Byrum, who also had two interceptions to help Barnwell get another crack at a state title.

"That is two times in one year," said then-Silver Bluff head coach Clayton Chriswell in the Nov. 29, 1987 edition of the Aiken Standard. "There isn't much you can say. Now, I hope Barnwell goes all the way. I want him (then-Barnwell head coach Mac Wier) to win his first state championship."

The Warhorses did just that the next week with a win over Central, then ran into a familiar opponent the next year in their title defense.

An estimated crowd of 7,000 packed the stands in Petticoat Junction as undefeated Silver Bluff hosted the defending champs, who scored nearly as many points that night as the Bulldogs had allowed all season. Shrine Bowl selection Shelly Hammonds, a future Penn State Nittany Lion and Minnesota Viking, rushed for 69 yards and a score, Pender threw two touchdown passes and ran for another, and the Barnwell defense forced six turnovers in a 32-14 win to send the Warhorses back to the title game. They met Central again and repeated as champions, but then Silver Bluff gained the upper hand.

Silver Bluff was again the host — Friday will be the sixth time out of seven that the Bulldogs have hosted, with the 1987 game the only one played at Barnwell — in 1990 and put together a legendary drive to win the game. The Bulldogs were trailing 6-3 in the final minutes of the third quarter and were in danger of facing a two-score deficit, but they were able to stop Barnwell on fourth-and-goal at the Silver Bluff 4-yard line. Fourteen plays later, Tremayne Washington scored from 7 yards out for a 9-6 lead, and then Bulldogs coach Butch Jacobs made a shrewd call once they got the ball back with a few minutes left in the game.

They had lost the Lower State title game to Bamberg-Ehrhardt the year before on a blocked punt, and Jacobs wasn't going to take any chances on fourth down at the Bulldogs' 19 with 1:32 to play. He ordered an intentional safety, and the Bulldogs' defense held to book their ticket to the Class AA, Division I title game. This time it was Silver Bluff's turn to beat Central for the Bulldogs' second championship in five years.

The rivals squared off again at Lower State the next year, making it five times in seven years. Fred Trottie's 30-yard field goal with 9:12 left gave Silver Bluff a 10-8 lead, but Barnwell drove all the way down to the 4-yard line in the closing minutes after Greg Rhodes intercepted a D'Wayne Bates pass. Al Young, Jr. deflected a pass on third down to force the Warhorses to attempt a field goal, which went wide right. Young also had two interceptions in the game, and Bates, who played collegiately at Northwestern before being drafted by the Chicago Bears, and Barnwell Shrine Bowler Carl Polite each scored touchdowns. Silver Bluff made it back-to-back titles the next week with a win over Woodruff.

The sixth meeting also went down to the wire. The 2000 Bulldogs came into the game with a 14-0 record, but 12-2 Barnwell was in it right until the end. Joe Wilson, who had already rushed for touchdowns of 54 and 2 yards, caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Jamie Williamson with just 41 seconds left, and Trey Pope picked off a desperation pass to end the game and send Silver Bluff back to the state title game. Al Lown's Bulldogs got their first of two in a row — they won 30 games in a row during that stretch — the next week when they beat Abbeville.

Now, more than 20 years later, they meet again.

"It's always a big game. It's always huge crowds. Both towns turn out real well," said Barnwell head coach Dwayne Garrick, who was the Warhorses' coach in the 2000 game. "I expect the same thing to happen again Friday. I talk to our players and I'm happy for them, and I tell them when they walk in the stadium and get warmed up to take it all in and enjoy the crowd and that kind of stuff. When we get ready to get going, we've got to focus on that 100-yard field."

It's the latest chapter in a storied rivalry that routinely lives up to the hype. It wouldn't feel the same if last week's games had turned out differently and Silver Bluff were playing Philip Simmons, or if Barnwell were playing Cheraw. The winner would've gotten a banner and a shot at the title either way, but it means so much more that it's two rivals taking aim at history.

"It's going to be a big game. People are talking about it. It's the holidays, so people are home and the excitement is building around," Bryant said. "It's still kind of that same atmosphere that's looming around right now is the same as what it was in 2000."