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By Fred Guarino

The Lowndes Signal
The Lowndes Academy Rebels were scrappy against the Abbeville Christian Academy Generals in a Class A Region 1 encounter at home Friday night, but fell in the end 52-34.
However, providing a lift to the Rebels’ spirit by just attending the game was Trevor Johnson, the Lowndes Academy football player who was critically injured in an accident the day before the first game of the season.
Lowndes Academy head football coach Bob Taylor called Johnson a walking miracle.
The loss Friday night dropped the Rebels to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in regional play.
But the Rebels won’t have long to lick their wounds as they will travel Friday, Oct. 14 to face regional opponent South Montgomery Christian Academy.
Following Friday’s contest, Lowndes Academy head football coach Taylor said of Abbeville Christian, “You know they’re the class of 1A and have been. They did a good job in the second half of adjusting.”
He said the Rebels had some turnovers and didn’t execute well in the second half. Those turnovers given up by the Rebels included a fumble and two interceptions.
On the night, Abbeville Christian had 439 total yards of offense to 387 total yards for Lowndes.
The General had 144 yards passing and 295 yards rushing to 119 yards passing for the Rebels and 268 yards rushing.
Taylor said Abbeville Christian showed why they are two time state champions. He said, “We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and get ready for South Montgomery next week and continue to work from there.”
When asked about the performance by Lowndes Academy’s Brandon Reid who scored four touchdowns in the loss, Taylor said, “Brandon is the class… he’s one of the best backs in our association. He continues to play hard and do the things we ask him to do. He’s a great leader. He’s a great person, a great student.”
Reid, who proved a scoring machine last week with five touchdowns, picked up where he left off striking pay dirt for the Rebels scoring on a 9-yard run at the 5:39 mark of the first quarter. John Taylor added the point after, and Lowndes Academy led Abbeville Christian, a team Taylor calls the class of AISA Class A football, 7-0.
The Generals answered with a 25-yard field goal at the 3:52 mark of the quarter to make it a 7-3 contest.
It was show time for Reid again when he scored on a 1-yard run. Brian Rayburn then connected with Reid for the 2-point conversion to put the Rebels up 15-3 with 22 seconds left in the quarter.
However, the Abbeville Christian Generals showed why Taylor called them the class of the AISA IA scoring on a 25-yard run to make it a 15-9 contest with two seconds left in the opening stanza.
The Generals next intercepted a Rebel pass and followed that up with a 36-yard touchdown run. With the point after, the Generals took a 16-15 lead at the 10:41 mark of the second quarter.
Yet those scrappy Rebels would not go away, and Jon Johnson scored on a 2-yard run to put Lowndes Academy back on top 21-16 with 5:55 left in the half.
But the Generals refused to bow and next scored on a 27-yard pass and added the point after to go up 23-21 at the half.
And Abbeville Christian began to flex their muscle as the game progressed.
The General would next score on a 56-yard run and point after to lead 30-21 at the 10:55 mark of the third quarter.
The visitors would strike again on a 9-yard run and point after to lead 37-21 at the 8:39 mark of the third quarter.
But the Rebels were not going to go down without a fight, not with Trevor Johnson watching them.
Reid would score his third touchdown of the night on a 3-yard plunge to keep the Rebels within striking distance 27-37 at the 6:44 mark of the third stanza.
But the Generals were just too much for the Rebels on this mild October night.
Abbeville Christian would go up on a 1-yard run and 2-point conversion to lead 45-27 at the 10:35 mark of the fourth quarter.
The visitors would score again on a 3-yard run and point after to lead 52-27 with 3:05 left in the game.
But showing why Taylor believes Reid to be one of the finest backs in the AISA, Reid scored his fourth touchdown of the night on an 17-yard run with 57 seconds left in the game. Taylor added the point after, and the game would end with the Generals claiming the regional victory 52-34.
On the night Johnson was nine of 22 passing for 119 yards and tossed two interceptions. He also rushed 17 times for 21 yards and a touchdown, but also suffered one fumble.
Reid rushed 26 times for 246 yards and four touchdowns.
Defensively Reid and Chase Little had six tackles each, Mason McCurdy had four tackles and two assists, and Jackson Patton had three tackles, three assists and one tackle for loss.