No. 1 seeded Hawks knocked out of playoffs by Brookland-Cayce

Hanahan coach Charlie Patterson warned anyone who listened that the Hanahan-Brookland-Cayce matchup in the first round of the Class AAA playoffs wasn’t your typical No. 1 seed vs. No. 4 seed first-round game.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, the affable coach was correct. No. 4 Brookland-Cayce stunned the No. 1 Hawks 34-31 Friday night at Wiley Knight Stadium to bring the curtain down on Hanahan’s 2015 season.
Brookland-Cayce picked up its first playoff win since 2004 and advanced to the second round with a road game Georgetown. Hanahan, the Region 8-AAA champ that entered the contest with a five-game winning streak, finished with an 8-3 record.
“We knew going in that they were a very good team, probably a lot better than their record indicated,” Patterson said. “They had a great gameplan. They were bigger than us and used power-running sets a little here and there. They decided to use two big running backs and just ran straight at us. We didn’t have an answer.”
The game went down to the final minute, but the Hawks couldn’t pull it out.
Brookland-Cayce’s A.J. Brown scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, and the Bearcats held off the Hawks in a game that came down to a Hanahan onside kick with 46 seconds left to go. But the Bearcats recovered to record the victory.
Hanahan led 14-7 midway through the second quarter, but the Bearcats scored two times in the final six minutes of the half to take a 20-14 lead into the lockerroom. The Hawks’ Sean Brady converted a 35-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 20-17 early in the fourth quarter.
Brookland-Cayce’s Brown scored on a 2-yard run with 7:55 to play, and the Hawks countered when Samuel Denmark returned the kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, cutting the lead to 27-24.
But a 49-yard yard pass play set up Brown’s 15-yard TD run to make it a 34-24 lead.
Hanahan scored when quarterback Victor Colbert connected with Denmark for a 5-yard TD pass with 46 seconds left in the game. But the Hawks’ rally was snuffed out then the Bearcats recovered the onside kick.
Patterson reiterated he wasn’t shocked by the outcome.
“We were the type of team that couldn’t dominate an opponent,” he said. Ëights wins and a region championship was good for the team we had this year.”
The Hawks had three of the state’s top players. Denmark, who has committed to play for Virginia Tech, was one of the Palmetto State’s top playmakers and was selected to play in the Shrine Bowl along with teammate Tre Smalls.
It marked the first time since 1970 that two Hawks were selected to play in prestigious all-star game since Tom Jones and Johnny Payne made the team that year.
Dominique Green was selected to play in the North-South game.
But games are won in the trenches, and that’s where the Hawks had trouble Friday night. The Hawks’ offensive line was gritty, hard working – and undersized.
“We worked hard and the players did what was asked of them,” Patterson said. “I’m proud of the season. We just didn’t want it to end after one playoff game.

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