For the second week in a row, Christian Heritage School had a Tiger problem.
The Darlington Tigers (2-1) clawed their way to the top of the proverbial pack when they blanked the Christian Heritage Lions (0-3) on Friday night, ending the game at 35-0 after a pair of touchdowns in each of the first two quarters was followed by a final 7 points in the third. This comes after a 41-13 Christian Heritage loss to Temple’s squad of Tigers last week.
“We keep fighting and we’re playing hard,” said Christian Heritage head coach Frank Barden after the game. “Getting better is all we can do. We’re in a rebuilding process; the kids are going out there to battle and I can’t ask much more than that.”
The Lions offensive line was scarcely seen on the field throughout the game, with an early three-and-out at the beginning of the first quarter making room for a Darlington drive to the 4-yard-line early on.
A Tiger fumble on the next play almost went in the Lions’ favor, but a Darlington recovery en route to a 3-yard rushing TD on the next play by D’marion Floyd snuffed out their chances. After a successful PAT, the Tigers led the Lions 7-0 with 6:54 left in the first quarter.
Minutes later, an interception from Darlington’s Sam Wooten secured a 31-yard pick-six, powering the Tigers ahead 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Darlington kept the momentum going into the second quarter, with Tiger quarterback Sammy Kunczewski carrying the ball into the end zone with an 8-yard TD with 9:40 left in the quarter after a long kickoff run by D’marion Floyd put them in scoring position.
The Tigers offense continued to show their teeth with an 18-yard Talan Shirey rushing TD, ending the half with a 28-point lead over the Lions.
A Kunczewski-Shirey connection during the first play of the third quarter capped the scoring off at 35-0 after another successful PAT.
The Lions would show a few signs of life in the third when freshman Cooper Middleton caught a Tiger fumble on the Lions 13 to stop a long drive, but Christian Heritage would only be able to gain 7 yards on the next possession before being battered by a brutal Darlington defense. Kunczewski would make his exit midway through the third quarter.
The Lions were able to end the third quarter with a drive to the Darlington 8, but a sack to Lion quarterback Carter Triplett by lineman Colton Momon at the beginning of the fourth put to rest a potential 6 from the Lion offense. The Tigers were able to hold Christian Heritage down for the rest of the quarter for the 35-0 shutout.
Despite the Lions’ lashing by Darlington, Triplett still managed to rack up 113 passing yards on 13-26 passing. Five of those passes found Charlie Idom, who totaled 63 receiving yards.
The former region foes battled in a more steadily-competitive game last season, which saw Darlington defeat Christian Heritage 36-14 on Tiger turf.
Both teams are idle next Friday before Christian Heritage welcomes Pickens to the Lion’s Den on Sept. 15.
Barden said the Lions will use the off-week to work on their offensive game.
“Defense is out there the whole game,” he said. “It’s pretty simple that we got to get some first downs. We’ve got to work on offense.”
After toppling the Lions, Darlington’s Tigers next set their sights on a few bears when they travel to Tunnel Hill to face Northwest Whitfield’s Bruins on Sept. 15.