Second half onslaught dooms Raiders, lifts Rams

Lauens RB Denari Lee-Jackson (21) looks for yardage Friday night at Hillcrest.

The football season couldn’t have started much better for Laurens – and the season opener couldn’t have ended much worse Friday night.

LDHS scored on its first two possessions and twice had leads in the first half, but host Hillcrest dominated the second half in a 56-17 victory.

The Rams (1-0) outscored LDHS 28-0 over the final two quarters and scored the game’s final 42 points after the Raiders took a 17-14 lead on an 18-yard touchdown run by senior Denari Lee-Jackson.

Jackson and Nehemiah “Nemo” Fernandez anchored a running game that shined in a long season- and game-opening drive that culminated in a 1-yard Fernandez touchdown run in the opening minutes of the game.

But Hillcrest junior quarterback Jackson Free answered that score with an 80-yard bomb, needing only one play to tie the score at 7-7.

Brock Franklin added a 32-yard field goal with 5:02 remaining in the first quarter to cut an early Rams lead to 14-10.

Lee-Jackson’s touchdown scamper around right end handed LDHS a 17-14 lead with 10:54 left in the second quarter, but that lead didn’t last very long as Hillcrest added two more touchdowns by halftime for a 28-17 lead at the break.

LDHS will play its home opener next week against old rival and Class 2A defending state champion Clinton at K.C. Hanna Stadium.