COLUMBIA – The young Westwood football team has had more than its share of adversity this year.
The Redhawks, who lost almost three dozen seniors from last year’s team, found themselves on the losing end of nine games going into Friday night’s game at Richland Northeast.
Unlike their other nine games, Westwood players looked to the expiring seconds of the clock and saw their 27-14 season-ending victory over the Cavaliers lit up on the scoreboard lights.
“You win your last game, every coach in the state wants to do that,” head coach Stephen Burris said. “Obviously we would’ve liked to have won a lot more, and we were in the position in probably seven of our games in the third quarter. We’ve just had to grow up, had to mature. We’ve got to learn to do the things that equals a win.”
Among the victors was senior running back, receiver, and kick returner Angelo Rios. The 5-feet, 5-inch veteran has cast a long shadow over the field for the past three seasons, whether slipping underneath tackles for a long gain or running out to the flat to catch screen passes and add yards after catches.
Friday night—his last as a high school player—Rios turned in one of his finest performances as a Redhawk, rushing 28 times for 166 yards and three touchdowns, making three catches for 42 yards, and returning three kicks for long distances.
“It was a lot going on and it was tough, but our guys are young and there’s talent here,” he said about the season. “I’m just glad I could be a leader and help them develop, because I know they’re going to be good.”
Sophomore quarterback Kylan Dopson finished the night 10-for-20 in passing for 115 yards and a touchdown pass to Raylan Stringer. He had one interception but also rushed nine times for 69 yards.
“At the beginning, like I said, young, young, real young,” Rios said. “But he definitely developed through the season and he’s going to be real good.”
When talking about chances of more victories in the season, Burris noted close games against Region 4-4A rivals Lugoff-Elgin and Dreher that went down as losses, but the Redhawks stayed competitive in both games. The Demons won 30-20 after the Redhawks (1-9,1-4 Region 4-4A) tried to get a touchdown closer on a final possession, and Westwood was tied 28-28 at Dreher before the Blue Devils made a late score to win 35-28.
Other recent losses, at Lancaster and at home against A.C. Flora, were more lopsided, but the Redhawks came into Cavaliers Stadium with a strong desire to get an early lead and keep it.
Westwood made good on its opening possession, driving 80 yards on 11 plays, with Rios taking center stage with six carries for 48 yards. He closed out the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.
Rios had another 2-yard TD run after Westwood recovered a Cavaliers fumble and drove 53 yards for the score at the 9:47 mark of the second quarter.
With Westwood up 13-0, Richland Northeast’s biggest moment cut the lead to 13-7 just 18 seconds after the Redhawks last score. On the first play after the kickoff, Zion Farmer unloaded a 60-yard touchdown pass to Tantavion Ross.
Unfazed, Westwood went back to work. The Redhawks drove to the RNE 3-yard line and faced a fourth-and goal. On that play Dopson scrambled to his right under heavy pressure and fired a touchdown pass to Raylan Stringer in the back of the end zone at the 6:07 mark of the second.
Four minutes later, Rios slipped into the end zone from 12 yards out to put the Redhawks up 27-7, a lead they took into intermission.
Rios had 110 yards and three scores on 17 carries by halftime. The Westwood defense held RNE to 69 rushing yards by that point.
The second half unraveled a little for the Redhawks, and Farmer found Ross in the end zone again for a 36-yard touchdown strike early in the third quarter. The Westwood defense bended somewhat because of long Cavaliers drives, but the Redhawks did not allow another score for the rest of the game.
With no playoffs in the picture this season, Burris and the up-and-coming Redhawks will start focusing on the work needed to be ready for the 2027 season.
“We need to stop being more focused on the end result and focus on the journey and what it takes to get there,” Burris said. “We lost focus a little when we got a big lead at halftime, but any time you win a game after the season we had and the struggles that we’ve had, I’m happy for the kids and happy for the coaches. But we’ve got a lot of work to do and that’s gonna start as soon as we get back to school on Wednesday.”
Rios reflecting on his high-school career and looking toward next year as a college hopeful, said Friday’s win over RNE (2-8, 0-4 Region 4-4A) was a fitting end to a season full of struggle.
“I’m just happy we got to end it with a win and have a good day,” Rios said. “Right now I’m just hoping for a college opportunity.”
Westwood – 7-20-0-0 – 27
Richland Northeast – 0-7-7-0 – 14
First Quarter
W – Angelo Rios 2 run (Mushin Yakubu kick) 7:40
Second Quarter
W – Rios 2 run (kick blocked) 9:44
R – Tantavion Ross 60 pass from Zion Farmer (Carlos Alzate kick) 9:31
W – Raylan Stringer 3 pass from Kylen Dopson (Yakubu kick) 6:07
W – Rios 12 run (Yakubu kick) 2:27
Third Quarter
R – Ross 36 pass from Zion Farmer (Alzate kick) 9:31
WHS RNE
First downs 18 11
Rushes-yds 19-241 23-130
Passing yds 115 182
Att-Com-Int 20-10-1 21-13-3
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-2
Penalties-yds 4-45 11-78
Punts-avg 1-37.0 2-37.0
RUSHING
W – Angelo Rios 28-166, Kylen Dopson 9-69, Malik Jacobs 1-24, Elye Owens 1-(-10), Cameron Coleman 1-(-10). R – Jarod Harris 8-49, Cameron Ceasar 6-56, Mario Hernandez 4-20. Zion Farmer 3-3, Donohue McNeal 1-2, Toreyon Livingston 1-0.
PASSING
W – Kylen Dopson 10-20-1. R – Zion Farmer 13-21-3.
RECEIVING
W – Cameron Coleman 3-42, Angelo Rios 3-35, Malik Jacobs 2-13, Malik Bradley 1-23, Raylan Stringer 1-3. R – Malachi Farmer 4-51, Tantavion Ross 3-108, Isaiah Woods 3-19, Jarod Harris 2-10, Adarius Willingham 1-(-6).