After suffering a heartbreaking defeat in the 2024 GHSA 2A Football State Championships title game against Carver, Burke County spent all off-season waiting for another chance to make a run and to finish the job.
The Bears went 8-2 during the regular season, not far off from their 9-1 record the previous year. And in round one of the 2025 postseason, the No.10 seed in Class 2A proved just how locked in they are in getting back to the championship game with a 57-21 victory against 23-seed Sonoraville on Friday night.
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Burke County’s 57 points is the highest point total scored by the team in three years. The last time was in a 63-0 win over Islands in Week 9 of the 2022 season.
“Thought our guys did a phenomenal job,” Burke County head coach Franklin Stephens said after the win. “We had those two weeks off. I think those two weeks kind of helped us a little bit. Helped us kind of get our bodies back and get on track a little bit and work on some fundamental things. It kind of came together tonight.”
At one point the Bears were leading 36-0 midway through the second quarter. They’d ultimately get to 43 points by halftime, their most points scored in a half this season. Junior Landen Wright was a major part of that offensive explosion in the first half. He scored all three of his touchdowns during that time frame.
First was a 4-yard rushing touchdown, while the second score was a 46-yard touchdown run. The receiver then found a soft spot in the Sonoraville defense and caught the ball in stride for a 22-yard touchdown reception.
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Senior Rashad Carter also had a big night with three touchdowns. All of them were rushing touchdowns, the longest being a 31-yard score. But maybe what said the most about what the Bears are trying to do this season are the scores they didn’t get.
With less than five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, senior quarterback Sean Vandiver found a gap to run the ball and he saw nothing but green grass ahead of him. Instead of going all the way to the crib for a touchdown, he chose to slide down to the ground, opting to kill clock instead. On the next play, a similar hole in the defense appeared for senior running back Jamari Reeves and he could’ve made a run to the end zone. He did the exact same thing as his quarterback.
“Sean is coaching those things up in the huddle,” Stephens said. “Those things are important, and those are the little things that he’s given us that’s helping us be successful.”
That veteran leadership is what Stephens and the Bears hope to lean on as they continue onto the next round of the playoffs. Burke County will face seventh seeded Columbia in the second round.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Burke County football blows out Sonoraville, headed to second round
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