The Lions defeated Easley 55-7 last Friday.
Courtesy photo
PICKENS COUNTY — High school football is officially up and running and the Daniel Lions, back-to-back AAA State Champs, are riding high after crushing Easley 55-7 on Friday.
The Lions were coming off a big 51-21 win over Greer on Week 0 before heading into Easley for the Green Wave’s home opener.
Senior Blaine Simmons led Daniel in passing by completing 19 of 21 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns.
Ja’kari Bennett, a junior, also had a stand-out game for the Lions by rushing for 132 yards over seven carries. Bennett saw the end zone twice.
For Easley, sophomore Kaleb Sutton went 8 of 13 passes for just over 100 yards. He carried the ball 11 times for 62 yards and a TD in the second — the Green Wave’s only score of the night.
Easley ran 48 total plays to Daniel’s 53, had 10 first downs and 73 yards in penalties.
The Lions offense was on fire, with 28 first downs during game play.
On the other side of the ball, Daniel had four sacks and an interception, snatched up by sophomore Spencer Conn.
Daniel returns home to take on Hart County this Friday while the Green Wave will have to shake off the loss before taking on Wade Hampton (1-1) on the road.
Up the road in Pickens, things are going well for the Blue Flame.
The boys in blue are sitting 2-0 after a 31-28 win against Crescent on Aug. 19 and a 42-17 victory over Franklin County last Friday.
Pickens (2-0) returns home to host Southside (0-1) this week.
Liberty (1-1) started off their season with a 17-6 win over Carolina Academy but dropped their home opener to Blue Ridge 20-7. The Red Devils will head to Eastside to take on the 0-2 Eagles.
Over in Anderson District II, Powdersville is sitting on a 2-0 record after a 47-23 win over Broome to start the season and a tight 51-44 victory over Abbeville. The Patriots have an away game this Friday at Mauldin (1-0).
Last, but certainly not least, is Wren who lost their season opener 56-28 at Jefferson.
The Hurricanes (0-1) will head to Seneca (2-0) this Friday.
Kickoff for all games is 7:30 p.m.
Reach Kasie Strickland at 864-855-0355.