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Kenny Fey

Daniel High School's Justin Walker (5) and Matthew Craig (55) celebrate with teammates during the waning moments of the Lions' 28-7 win over Lugoff-Elgin in the third round of the Class AAA playoffs on Friday night at Singleton Field in Central. The top-ranked Lions advance to host Chester, the team that eliminated them in the third round last season, in the Upper State championship game next Friday.

CENTRAL — Like he has done so many times before in his young career, DeAndre Hopkins was there for the Daniel High School football team when it needed him the most on Friday night against Lugoff-Elgin.

In helping the Lions break out of a funk in their critical third-round playoff game, the junior was directly responsible for 14 points in the final 15 seconds of the first half and hauled in a critical fourth-quarter reception that virtually iced Daniel’s 28-7 victory over the visiting Demons.

With the win, the Lions (13-0) are now assured that their final game at Singleton Field will be for the Upper State championship next Friday night, as they will host Chester in a rematch of last year’s third-round matchup that ended the season for Daniel.

And much of the thanks for setting up that eagerly anticipated matchup can go to Hopkins, who almost single-handedly turned the tide for Daniel against an overachieving Lugoff-Elgin squad.

“DeAndre Hopkins is a gamer,” Daniel head coach Randy Robinson said. “He’s one of the best football players I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been doing this for 19 years.”

Prior to Hopkins’ explosion, the Lions had managed to get on the scoreboard on their second possession of the night when quarterback Justin Walker scored on a 1-yard keeper that was set up by a Wynton Botchway fumble recovery inside Demons’ territory.

But the offense bogged down from there, as Lugoff-Elgin (9-4) kept the Lions off balance with a heavy load of blitzes that was overwhelmingly for much of the night.

The Lions eventually got the ball back with 2:37 left in the first half and had looked content to run the clock with a few handoffs to running backs Brandon Anderson and Michael Wingard.

But facing a third-and-seven situation, Walker dropped back and found Marcus Greenlee along the Daniel sideline. Greenlee juked several defenders and burst open down the sideline before being dragged down at the Lugoff-Elgin 23-yard line.

Two plays later, Walker managed to get a pass off near the Daniel sideline with a defender wrapped around his leg after already having avoided a heavy rush from the Demons. Walker’s throw fell into the waiting arms of Hopkins, who willed his way into the end zone to give the Lions a 14-7 lead.

“I yelled run twice and pass once, and he listened to pass,” Robinson said. “When you get the ball up in the air, DeAndre is going to make a play.”

But that was just the warm-up act for Hopkins.

After the Lions squibbed the ensuing kickoff, Hopkins leaped up and plucked a desperation Lugoff-Elgin pass out of the air, eventually winding up in the end zone once again to close the half after a 77-yard sprint down the right sideline, capping off an impressive 15 seconds of football.

“I changed from corner to safety at the end of the half because I knew they were going to go deep,” Hopkins said. “I just broke on the ball very well, and I made a play happen.”

Hopkins helped wake up the anemic Daniel offense late in the fourth quarter, making a 24-yard catch on a third-and-24 heave from Walker for the Lions’ first first down of the half.

Five plays later, Wingard sealed the win with a 3-yard touchdown, leaving the Lions four quarters short of a trip to the state championship game.

Next Friday’s game will mark the first time since 1998 the Lions have appeared in the Upper State title game, which was coincidentally the last time Daniel captured the state championship.

“It’s a great feeling right now,” Walker said. “I know we haven’t played in an Upper State game in something like 10 years, so it’s a big deal around here. Hopefully next we’ll come out and win and get to Death Valley.”

Daniel 28, Lugoff-Elgin 7

L-E 0 0 7 0 — 7

DWD 7 14 0 7 — 28

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

DWD — Walker 1 yard run (Howard kick) 6:08

Second quarter

DWD — Hopkins 23 yard pass from Walker (Howard kick) 0:15

DWD — Hopkins 77 yard interception return (Howard kick) 0:00

Third quarter

L-E — Koumas 2 yard run (Quick kick) 0:11

Fourth quarter

DWD — M. Wingard 3 yard run (Howard kick) 3:24

TEAM STATISTICS

L-E DWD

First Downs 8 9

Rushes-Yards 33-165 34-141

Com-Att-Int 3-15-3 4-14-3

Passing Yards 10 99

Fumbles- Lost 2-2 1-0

Penalties-Yards 5-45 12-113

Punts-Avg. 5-30.2 4-38

INDIVDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — Lugoff-Elgin, Osborne 14-65, Koumas 10-44, Jenkins 3-35, Hudson 2-21, Boneparte 1-3, Young 1-0, Graham 1-(-)1, D. Alexander 1-(-)2. Daniel, M. Wingard 12-57, Anderson 9-55, Walker 11-36, Jacks 1-1, Greenlee 1-(-)8.

Passing — Lugoff-Elgin, Koumas 2-10-1 12, Graham 1-5-2 (-)2. Daniel, Walker 4-14-3 99.

Receiving — Lugoff-Elgin, Osborne 2-4, D. Alexander 1-6. Daniel, Hopkins 2-47, Greenlee 1-43, M. Wingard 1-9.