It may not have been the start North Augusta wanted Friday night in its rivalry game against Strom Thurmond, but the Yellow Jackets corrected their mistakes and moved to 5-0.
Leading the way with his typical consistency was senior running back Derius Gibson, who rushed for 225 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. His standout performance pushed him past some stout competition for Aiken Standard Player of the Week.
Gibson accounted for more than 65 percent of North Augusta's 344 yards of offense against the Rebels, and he did it in a variety of ways.
He ran for 135 yards on seven carries in the first half, breaking away for long runs against a Strom Thurmond defense focused on stopping the pass. His 62-yard sprint into the open field was an immediate field position flip – Strom Thurmond's Lawson Reel had just pinned the Jackets at their own 3-yard line with a punt.
The second half wasn't one built on lengthy runs, as can be expected after the Rebels brought more defenders into the box in an effort to stop the ground game. But the second half has been where Gibson has worn teams down throughout the season, and he added something in the second half that he didn't have in the first: touchdowns.
Gibson first found the end zone on a 41-yard breakaway with 4:07 left in the third quarter. That made it a 22-7 game, which looked to be more than enough against a Strom Thurmond offense that hadn't been producing points and was without starting quarterback Quan Harris.
His second touchdown answered a Rebels touchdown and put the game out of reach. He scored from a yard out to make it 34-14 with 6:48 left in the game.
AIKEN STANDARD PHOTO BY ARTIE WALKER
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