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Kenny Fey | For The Journal

Seneca High School’s Demarkus Taylor (5) is brought down by a host of J.L. Mann tacklers during the Bobcats’ 35-17 loss to the Patriots in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs on Friday in Greenville.

GREENVILLE — After opening the third quarter on perhaps its most impressive drive of the season, the Seneca High School football team appeared to be in prime position to upset J.L. Mann in the first round of the 3A playoffs Friday night.

But as has often been the case this season, inconsistency began to set in and the Patriots didn’t take long to right their own ship. Big runs and even bigger defensive stops set the stage for 35-17 defeat and the end of the road for what has been a tumultuous season for the Bobcats.

Seneca head coach Ron Duncan declined to comment to The Journal after the game.

The Bobcats (3-8, 3-2 Western 3A) started that third quarter drive down 14-10, but already having scored 10 unanswered points.

At that point, Seneca went on a 15-play march, capped by a Demarkus Taylor 5-yard touchdown run, giving the Bobcats a 17-14 lead and real hope of moving on to round two.

As soon as it was in their grasp though, it began to evaporate.

Mann moved the ball at will on its next drive, finally regaining the lead when Eric Beeks took off for a 34-yard touchdown.

Seneca, no longer with the momentum, went three-and-out before punting the ball away.

And to make sure that the momentum stayed on the Patriots’ side, JaMarcus Aiken carried the ball 82 yards on Mann’s first play of the drive, going untouched into the end zone and taking all the wind out of Seneca’s victory plans.

Aiken led the way for Mann’s running attack with 126 yards, while Beeks contributed 75 and Cameron Blassingame ran for 56.

The Bobcats had been relying heavily on the rushing presence of Taylor, who finished with 27 carries 111 yards, but had to take to the air in an attempt to get back in the game.

Seneca threw interceptions on three straight drives, however, before fumbling on a fourth, effectively ending its season.

Quarterback Kyle Edwards finished the day 6 of 19 for 109 yards and a touchdown, though he was picked off four times on the night.

“When you have to do something that you don’t normally do, like passing, sometimes it throws you for a little loop,” J.L. Mann head coach Mickey Crocker said. “They’re a well-coached team and tested, and we were in a dogfight.”

The game could have gotten out of hand early, as Mann took a 14-0 lead on a 1-yard Austin Huguley touchdown pass from Cody Younce and an Aiken 16-yard run.

Younce threw for 120 yards on 7 of 18 passing.

As Mann drove for points to make it a three-score game, Aiken fumbled and Stephen Mihaly recovered for Seneca.

Three plays later found Kenny Watt for a 41-yard touchdown pass.

“We thought the first momentum swing was we had the ball going in and what we thought was going to be 21-0, all of a sudden we have a holding call,” Crocker said. “They get the ball back, score on us, and it’s 14-7.”

Then, Seth Rothell’s 42-yard field goal near the end of the first half brought it to 14-10.

Aiken added a 6-yard touchdown late in the game to end the scoring.

J.L. Mann 35, Seneca 17

SHS 0 10 7 0 — 17

JLM 7 7 14 7 — 35

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

M — Huguley 7 pass from Younce (Lea kick), 00:24

Second quarter

M — Aiken 16 run (Lea kick), 8:30

S — Watt 41 pass from Edwards (Rothell kick), 3:25

S — Rothell 42 field goal, 19.7

Third quarter

S — Taylor 4 run (Rothell kick), 5:58

M — Beeks 34 run (Lea kick), 4:31

M — Aiken 82 run (Lea kick), 1:58

Fourth quarter

M — Aiken 6 run (Lea kick), 3:10

TEAM STATISTICS

SHS JLM

First downs 15 10

Rushes-yards 36-119 35 – 277

Com-Att-Int 6-19-4 7-18-0

Passing yards 109 120

Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1

Penalties-yards 5-50 8-80

Punts-Avg. 3-33.3 3-37

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — Seneca, Taylor 27-11, Beitz 4-10, Blassingame 2-3, Edwards 3- (-)5, Team 1- (-)15. J.L. Mann, Aiken 6-126, Beeks 13-75, Blassingame 8-56, Baldwin 1-37, Wright 2-3, Ruocco 1- (-)1, Younce 4- (-)19

Passing — Seneca, Edwards 6-19-4 109. J.L. Mann, 7-18-0 120.

Receiving — Seneca, Mayes 2-41, Watt 1-41, Land 2-25, Beitz 1-2. J.L. Mann, Hopkins 2-57, Huguley 4-53, Williams 1-10.