Stretches of seven straight games and 23, to rival South Aiken and overall, were mere yards away from finally ending Friday night for Aiken High's football team.

The Hornets had the ball, had the momentum, had the time remaining with 2:05 on the clock and the ball at the South Aiken 9. The only thing they didn't have was the lead, and down 20-14 they were on the doorstep of having that, too.

Then the T-Breds broke their hearts again.

Nick Starlings stepped in front of a Tanner Padgett pass, picking it off at the 4, one sophomore making his first big stamp on the rivalry at the expense of another. On the next snap it was senior running back Jevon Edwards, who tormented Aiken one final time with a 96-yard touchdown run, his fourth of the night, for a 26-14 lead with only 1:21 remaining.

That figuratively finished off the game, which met its literal end one play later after a scuffle near the Aiken sideline on the ensuing kickoff. Aiken athletic director Phillip Blacha made the call to call the game at that point, taking the final minute and change off the clock and sending the T-Breds to the bus waving toward the home crowd.

"Yeah, I mean, I'm proud of them about (the win)," said a frustrated South Aiken head coach Chris Hamilton. "I'm not happy with the stupid -- we're better than that. I know the emotions in this game. It is what it is. We've got to do better than that, and we've got to come out and play like the group we were before the hurricane. I'm still struggling on that, and I've got to figure that out.

"As the head coach, that's on me. That's on me to get them to play every day, and I'm not doing a very good job of that right now. I'm going to go back to work. That's the only thing I know to do is go back to work and figure that out, and that's what we're going to do."

Edwards, who last year turned in the finest rushing performance in school history last year against Aiken with 442 yards and six touchdowns, the last of which came with 23 seconds left for a 42-41 win.

He did it again Friday, rushing for all four scores and 338 yards -- giving him an even 2,000 for the season -- on 29 carries. And, like last year, South Aiken (4-5, 2-4 Region 4-AAAA) needed every bit of it.

"That's a good high school rivalry football game," said Aiken head coach Heath Corley. "It gets a little heated sometimes, and that's the way it's supposed to be. Our kids have tried to answer the bell since day one when I took over. They know they're the underdog every time they go out here, and they take that personally.

"It hasn't been a good season for us, but they could've easily, easily packed it in and not given the crowd at home something to be excited about. Heck, we had a chance. We gave ourselves a chance. We knew if we were in it at halftime that we'd have a shot at it, and we did. We had a shot, and they just made more plays than we did. 10's a heck of a running back. He puts you in a bind. He's a very good football player."

The late interception was a sour capper to the night for Padgett, who threaded a 34-yard touchdown pass to Darius Walker with 17 seconds left in the first half and kept the Hornets' final drive moving with a 13-yard scramble to the South Aiken 17.

Walker accounted for 132 yards of total offense, and Gray Kitchings rushed for 52 yards including a 32-yard touchdown run out of the Wishbone for the Hornets' first score of the night. That formation has always been available for Aiken (0-9, 0-6), which has used it in recent weeks to try to take advantage of opponents' short preparation time as Region 4-AAAA played catch-up to make up games missed due to Hurricane Helene.

Still, South Aiken's defense didn't make anything easy on the Hornets. The T-Breds forced three turnovers -- Briceon Braxton had an interception and a fumble recovery to go with Starlings' pick.

"Our defense played really, really good tonight," Hamilton said. "There were a couple ... in the first half. But the second half, man, they played lights-out and I'm proud of them boys. They played really good. Offensively, we've got to figure out what's going on."

Aiken's defense played well, too -- ask the other eight coaches who have faced South Aiken this season how they'd feel about Edwards going for 289 yards, and there would probably be a few takers. The Hornets forced the T-Breds to turn it over on downs twice, ripped two fumbles away from Edwards and also got an interception from Riley Young.

Despite that, the Hornets were left to feel the sting of an eighth straight loss to their rival and a 24th overall. They have a quick turnaround for their regular-season finale, which will be Wednesday at home against Gilbert.

"I always remind them the feeling of disappointment and why we have disappointment," Corley said. "We've got to turn around and be a man and try to learn from it and grow from it. I think each week we've done that, in baby steps sometimes. I think in the last couple of weeks we've gotten a lot better as far as mental toughness, and that helps.

"It's tough when you don't feel success from all your hard work. The kids believe in it, and they believe in our coaching staff. They get out there and they play hard for each other and for the school. They take a lot of pride in it. They catch a lot of flak, but that's just the nature of the beast. Some people walk around and talk, and other kids get out here and try to do something about it."

South Aiken left with some satisfaction from an eighth consecutive win over Aiken, extending the T-Breds' record streak in series history. But Hamilton's frustration was evident, and the T-Breds have a quick turnaround of their own before Thursday's regular-season finale at home against Airport.

"The streak continues," Hamilton said. "You know, Aiken is still South Aiken, so that's the way it is right now. We still got this rivalry at least for another year. We'll have to come back and do it next year. But it's always a good one. Kudos to Coach Corley, got them boys playing that hard. That's awesome. What a great job he did of getting them guys to play hard. Awesome job by him. Of course, rivalry game, they're going to."

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A -- Tanner Padgett 34 pass to Darius Walker (Beltran kick) 0:17

SA -- Jevon Edwards 29-338-4, Tucker Bryan 5-25, Kyson McLeod 1-5, Javarse Houston 2-5. Totals 37-373-4.

A -- Darius Walker 13-71, Gray Kitchings 11-52-1, Tanner Padgett 3-22, Caleb Griffin 1-7, Tre'vron Washington 2-3, Malik McLaurin 1-1. Totals 31-156-1.

SA -- Kyson McLeod 3-15, Keon Raysor 1-13, Jevon Edwards 1-10, Jack Luton 1-8, Blain Drake 1-(-2). Totals 7-44.

A -- Darius Walker 3-63-1, Caleb Griffin 4-27, Tre'vron Washington 3-23, Traevar Tyler 1-3. Totals 11-116-1.