Tonka Hemingway shines on special teams again in Vanderbilt win
Beamer Ball struck again on Saturday night, this time under the lights of the Nashville skyline.
It wasn’t as flashy or crazy as it has been before in Shane Beamer’s time as head coach, but it certainly got the job done.
On fourth and five the Gamecocks’ field goal unit trotted out to attempt a 46-yard field goal from the Vanderbilt 29-yard line.
Mitch Jeter lined his kick up, but at the snap of the ball Kai Kroeger rolled out instead of holding the ball for Jeter to kick. Upon rolling out he found Tonka Hemingway for a 16-yard completion that resulted in a first down.
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Hemingway used every bit of his 6-foot-3, 295-pound frame to fight and claw for those 16 yards. The Vanderbilt defender that ultimately brought him down did so illegally, and Beamer happily accepted the personal foul call that put South Carolina on its opponents’ six-yard line.
Two plays later and South Carolina scored its final touchdown of the night on a pass from Spencer Rattler to Juice Wells over the middle for 17 yards.
Beamer said they knew they were going to call the play after seeing the look Vanderbilt gave them on South Carolina’s first field goal attempt of the game.
“I was confident about it,” Hemingway said. “Coach Beamer, coach Lembo, they called it. I kinda got held up trying to get out…I was like ‘oh snap’ I kinda froze up a little bit and I kept running and I saw he threw it. Kai (Kroeger) gave me a great ball and after that, I was trying to score.”
After the game, Hemingway joked that he was more proud of the 13 he racked in after the catch than the actual catch itself.
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“I thought it was gonna be a little more wide open than what it was…anytime the ball is in his hands he produces, man what a player,” Beamer said.
This isn’t the first time Hemingway has gotten involved in some trickery on special teams this season, Beamer even laughed while saying that he may need some more touches on the offensive side of the ball.
When Rattler was prompted with the same question of whether Hemingway should be more involved in the wide receiver room he laughed and simply said “Nah”.
Josh Vann took time to give Kroeger a shoutout for “dotting” up another pass before praising Hemingway’s athletic ability.
“It’s always good to see a big boy catching passes,” Vann said. “It’s very funny, but at the same time, we have some really athletic guys on our team and whenever those guys get the chance to go show it, you can see it…As far as Tonka, he has been the go-to guy on special teams to make a play happen. I’m very happy for him, very excited.”
