Back In Action: Hiter returns, powers Louisa in Region semifinals

By Logan Riddick | Scrimmage Play Senior Correspondent

Savion Hiter scored four touchdowns and piled up 200 all-purpose yards in Louisa's region quarterfinal victory over Caroline County. Photo Courtesy Louisa County Public Schools.

Savion Hiter was back in action as the Region 4B playoffs kicked off in The Jungle on Friday night. The senior back tallied 200 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns as a strong second half on both sides of the ball propelled Louisa County to the semifinals with a 42-7 victory over Caroline.

“It feels amazing to be back with my teammates and able to have fun out here,” said Hiter, who rushed 24 times for 158 yards, both game-highs.

It was a one-score ballgame at the break (14-7) after the Lions had their last two drives thwarted by holding penalties and the Cavaliers blocked a 40-yard field goal attempt at the horn. With Louisa receiving the third quarter kickoff, the mission was clear: refocus and clean-up the ground game.

“We knew that we made a lot of mistakes, but we got it all together at halftime,” Hiter said. “After that, it was wraps.”

The Lions marched 67 yards in nine plays, with Hiter powering in from four yards out to double the margin. After the defense delivered a quick three-and-out, it took just one snap for Hiter to find paydirt again, bouncing out to the left and winning a footrace down the sideline for a 56-yard score.

Xzavion Johnson picked off a pass from Rashawn Rollins to bring the offense right back to the field five yards shy of midfield. Leading 28-7 at the 4:05 mark in the third, rather than a quick strike, the Lions put the contest on ice with a 17-play series that stretched over nine minutes.

“No doubt, that was a great drive,” said Louisa County coach Will Patrick. “We overcame three penalties, we were able to move the chains, keep it going, and go punch it in.”

The Lions covered the 55 yards, plus 30 more due to flags, before Hiter capped his evening cruising into the student section endzone on a pitch right from quarterback Levi Wilson.

“Easy as cake, baby,” said Hiter, who also picked up his second 21-yard chunk of the second half via catch-and-run screen during the drive.

Jahiem Jackson took over for Wilson at quarterback on Louisa’s next possession and gave the home crowd one last jolt with a 59-yard keeper to round out the scoring.

The Lions amassed 254 of their 296 second-half total yardage on the ground. Trell Creasy took it five times through the middle for 49 yards and finished with 89 on the night. He scored on a 17-yard run early in the second quarter that put Louisa ahead for good.

Senior quarterback Levi Wilson completed 7-of-10 passes for 124 yards and added another 46 on 14 rushes. After a holding penalty nullified a touchdown on a keeper on the offense’s first possession, Hiter ultimately cashed in from five yards on third-and-goal to put the Lions on the board midway through the first. Before the ground game got rolling in the second half, Wilson hit Donovan Nelson, Louis Tison, and Carson Lonce to pick up chunks.

Caroline responded with a 30-yard strike from Blake Morris to Blair Morris, who was streaking behind the secondary and made the grab in the middle of the endzone. Early in the drive, Morris converted on third-and-16 with a 29-yard pass to a leaping Spencer Pryor.

“We knew they had a really good passing game, and a great quarterback that can not only hurt you with his arm but his feet,” said Patrick. “Our gameplan was to contain the quarterback and play pass defense. We gave up a few– you gotta go tackle when they catch it in front of you, and we did a really good job doing that in the second half.”

For Caroline (8-3), the senior quarterback Blake Morris finished 5-of-10 passing for 88 yards and added 32 yards on eight runs. Pryor caught three passes for 45 yards. However, the Cavaliers managed just 62 yards of offense after the break.

Louisa (11-0) will welcome #3-seed Huguenot to The Jungle next Saturday at 1pm for a Region 4B semifinal.