'Something clicked': How Byrnes football found its focus and turned it into a rout of Greenville
DUNCAN — Heading into the second quarter of Byrnes football's Week 2 matchup against Greenville, the Rebels' high-powered offense had been held scoreless for four straight quarters, going back to last week's 17-14 loss to Chapman.
But just when the Rebels faithful at Nixon Field began to worry, senior quarterback Andrew Stevens and the Byrnes playmakers opened the floodgates and scored three touchdowns in the second quarter to head into the half with a 21-0 lead.
Byrnes (2-1) added two more touchdowns in the second half and beat Greenville, 37-14.
"It was the total package tonight," Byrnes coach Reggie Shaw said. "It wasn't just Andrew, it was the offensive line, the receivers, it was everybody, so it's great to see those guys respond. We've seen glimpses of that and we knew it was really close. We just said, 'You have to keep swinging and you'll crack that rock,' and tonight we cracked the rock."
After its loss to Chapman, the Byrnes players and coaches knew it was time to lock in and focus on getting the little things right. That's exactly what they did.
"I don't know exactly what it was, but something just clicked for us at practice this week. I just think that the Chapman game was an eye-opener for us," Stevens said.
"We went in last week not focused and just kind of walked in there and thought we were going to win and we got a wake-up call," Shaw said. "I didn't care who we were playing this week, the focus was on us making sure we did little things right, and on being a more disciplined team ... I couldn't be more proud of them in how they responded, and how they came back out here and played a good football team and played well in all phases of the game."
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With the Byrnes offense scoring five touchdowns this week against Greenville (1-2) — including four TD passes by Stevens — and the defense holding opponents to 13.3 points a game, Shaw might be right about his team on both sides of the ball.
"We just have a bunch of athletes on that side of the ball who fly around and make plays," Shaw said. "They're not always in perfect position, but they chase the ball and that's the first sign of a great defense."
Byrnes will have the chance to keep this momentum up next week as it travels to Greer (1-2).
This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: SC high school football: Byrnes finds its focus, rolls past Greenville
