Garnet Edges Black, 10-7, in Annual Spring Game

Luke Doty’s touchdown pass to Malik Clark as the first half expired highlighted Garnet’s 10-7 win over Black in South Carolina’s annual Garnet & Black Spring Game presented by Palmetto Shirt Company. The game was played in front of 36,358 fans at Williams-Brice Stadium on Friday night.

The defenses dominated most of the game as the teams combined for just 401 yards of offense and 18 first downs while punting 13 times.

Returning starting quarterback and Heisman candidate LaNorris Sellers engineered the first two series for Black, completing 4-of-7 passes for 53 yards but was sacked twice, including once on fourth down play after Black had reached the Garnet 28.

Garnet drew first blood midway through the second quarter after Myles Norwood intercepted an Air Noland pass and returned it to the Black 40. The drive stalled at the Black 18, but redshirt freshman Mason Love connected on a 36-yard field goal to give Garnet the three-point advantage.

Black marched down the field on its next possession to take its lone lead of the game. On the first play from his own 25, true freshman Cutter Woods connected with Vandrevius Jacobs on a 51-yard pass to the Garnet 24, then three plays later hit Brian Rowe Jr. for 23 yards to the one. Woods took it in himself from there to put Black on top 7-3 with 3:16 remaining until intermission.

Woods finished the night by completing 6-of-13 passes for a game-high 120 yards with one interception, while Rowe Jr. was the game’s top receiver with five catches for 45 yards.

Garnet, led by the veteran Doty, responded with a 75-yard scoring drive of its own. With just 14 seconds on the clock from the Black 40, Doty found Jared Bown for 24 yards, then connected with Clark on a 16-yard scoring pass as time ran out in the half to put Garnet back on top. Doty, an all-purpose performer throughout his career, completed 10-of-12 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown.

Neither team was able to put points on the board in the second half with a running clock, and Garnet, coached by Director of Football Operations George Wynn, celebrated the hard-earned victory.