Gamecocks’ dynamic RB duo ready to go off in final seasons
BY TIM LEIBLE tim@theitem.com
For the past two seasons, there have been two staples in the Sumter High backfield: John Peeples and Kam Fortune.
The offensive line, quarterbacks and wide receivers might change, but the pair have been wreaking havoc on opposing defenses non-stop since they were sophomores. They’ve been a safety net for SHS head coach Mark Barnes and the Gamecocks.
“These two guys have gotten on the bus with me on Friday night, this will be the third year,” Barnes said. “I’m a big depth chart guy, planning for the future, so once these two guys proved to me that they were the players they were as a 10th-grader, that position got very comfortable for me.”
Peeples has been one of the most consistent athletes in the area over the past two seasons, powering a dynamic rushing attack night in and night out. Fortune has battled some injuries and cramping issues off and on over the years but still serves as the lightning to Peeples’ thunder. Both serve their purpose in the Gamecock backfield.
“It's almost funny, there's sometimes I'm like, ‘I'm glad Kam had that ball or I wish John would have had that ball, but they’re different types of runners,” Barnes said. “They've both been through the battles, and they understand what the game's about. We're just lucky to have them both.”
Both were very productive last season. Peeples rushed for 1,523 yards and a staggering 32
touchdowns. He also served as the backup quarterback, seeing the field during an injury to Pate Merchant to throw for another 269 yards and two scores. But Fortune is no slouch, adding another 714 yards and eight scores on the ground. Together, they’re an unstoppable duo.
“I really think we’re going to be something serious,” Fortune said. “We’ve been doing this since the 10th grade. We’re going to wreck ‘em, that’s all I’ve gotta say.”
Peeples has the chance to make history for SHS this fall. He’s amassed 2,929 yards in his career, just 1,280 yards shy of reaching Rod McDowell’s record of 4,209 yards. He’s also just eight touchdowns from tying Jamacia Jackson’s record of 60 career touchdowns. But the running back who earned all-state honorable mention honors last year isn’t counting down the yards or touchdowns until he’s at the top of the record books.
“I don't think about it at all,” he said. “I just go out there and play do my job for the team.”
While Peeples plays under the pressure of records, Fortune has his own external expectations. His older brother, O’Donnell, was a star cornerback for the Gamecocks, and now he’s wrapping up his final season starting for South Carolina. With that kind of lineage, many want to compare the standout runner to his brother, but Kam Fortune is his own man.
“Sometimes I be getting mad when y’all be comparing me to OD, I don’t like it sometimes,” Fortune said. “I just wanna be
Kam.”
Barnes made the point that he never wants to compare Fortune to his older brother, but he’s certainly glad that the running back has a great brother to learn from.
“I mean, number one, he's got a great bloodline. Number two, he's a great athlete,” Barnes said. “I love OD, he's one of my guys, he played here, but Kam's also had to watch OD go and watch him go to college. And OD made some mistakes early and learned not to make those mistakes.
“Everybody makes a big deal out of that. I'm like, ‘Golly, I hope all the ones that are great have brothers.’ I think we’re good about it too, we don’t compare him to OD. Even if he was a corner, we wouldn't compare him to OD. He's his own guy.”
The SHS offense will look a bit different this fall. Franklin Richardson will line up at QB, giving the Gamecocks another threat on the ground. Peeples will also get his share of snaps at quarterback, allowing Sumter High’s two-headed monster to share the backfield. Barnes got a glimpse of how special that can be last season and plans to keep teams off-balance again this fall.
“The game (Peeples) played quarterback last year, Kam played tailback that night and I think he had I think he threw for 180 yards, and it might have been our best Friday night offense that we had because we were a little different,” Barnes said. “But they do such a good job of complimenting each oth-
er and over the three years, they figured out you know what they need to do. As a head coach, that's satisfying for me. Next year at tailback, we might have a little problem on the depth chart, but for three years, we ain't worried about it.”
Barnes was also quick to give credit to Corey Mitchell, Sumter High’s running backs coach. He had the foresight back when Peeples and Fortune were sophomores to know just how special they could be.
“He told me three years ago, ‘These are your two guys, don't worry about that position anymore.’ I looked at him like he's kind of crazy,” Barnes recalled.
“John hadn't really played tailback that much. He was a quarterback. We couldn't really find a spot for John, really, when he's freshman, is that correct? It teaches you not to make early decisions on players.”
Both of these star runners are excited about their senior year. While things like records and college offers hang in the balance, they only have one thing on their minds.
“My goal this season is to go to state, that's everybody from goal,” Fortune said. “My real goal is to pass the third round. When my brother was here, OD, he couldn't pass the third round for nothing, so he told me a couple of days ago, ‘You’ve got to pass me. It’s on you.’”
Peeples sang a similar tune.
“My main goals are stay up, make sure the team is on the right track, be a leader, make sure we win, state champions,” Peeples said.
Sumter High brings next level athleticism to latest attempt at championship push
BY TIM LEIBLE tim@theitem.com
The Sumter High football team has been the pinnacle of success under head coach Mark Barnes. They’ve been a perennial region champion and county champion, while making a deep run in the playoffs nearly every season.
But last year, they only reached one of those goals, a fact that Barnes did not overlook this offseason.
“Our goals are always the same,” Barnes said. “We want to win the county, which we didn’t do last year, which bothered me a bit, so that’s a big goal for us this year. We want to win our region, which we didn’t do last year. I think seven out of nine times we’ve done that, but we did make a deep run in the playoffs and that’s always our third goal is to be relevant in the state championship.
“I think this team is built for success. We’ve got a lot of guys coming back, I think we’ve got eight guys that have played now (where) this is their third year of varsity football for us. Anytime you can draw on that experience, the positive and the negatives of some of the things that have happened to us over the last few years, we think that can be a good thing for us.”
One major change for Sumter High this season is a change of scenery. After years in a region comprised of mostly Horry County teams, the Gamecocks will play much closer to home this fall. Their new region is mostly schools out of Columbia, many of which are making the jump up from SCHSL 4A with the new realignment.
“We kind of know those guys more than the beach teams, honestly, so it's gonna be really more competitive, like it is in the city,” offensive lineman Jerius Williams said of the region. “We’re ready to play teams in Columbia.”
The travel time will be a blessing, but Barnes is also excited for the level of competition in Region V-5A.
“It's probably a little more competitive region from top to bottom than the one we've been in. Although Carolina Forest has been a great football team every year we played them and Conway was good for a few years as well,” Barnes said. “But from the top to the bottom, this is probably a little better reason. So, we're excited about that. I think you get tested, you get better.”
ELITE ATHLETICISM ON OFFENSE
The Sumter High offense will be as dynamic as ever this fall. They have plenty of familiar faces, notably star running backs John Peeples and Kam Fortune, as well as the return of the speedy Jamirh Bey, who led the team in receiving last year with 468 yards and five scores, at wide receiver. Chris Bentley missed almost the entire season with an ACL injury last season, but Barnes was excited about what he showed over the summer.
The big unknown was at quarterback after the graduation of Pate Merchant. The Gamecocks will largely be turning to sophomore Franklin Richardson, an explosive athlete in his own right, though Peeples will get his share of snaps at QB.
“The big question mark for us offensively is Frank Richardson at quarterback,” Barnes said. “He's a young guy. I think these guys will tell you though,
he's talented. He’ll be a little different, probably a little more like Ryan (McCants) when Ryan was here than Pate. We're gonna use his legs a little bit more. We’ve got confidence in him there. He will not be the reason we get beat.”
When Ryan McCants played quarterback for the Gamecocks, they ran a lot of option plays, both run-pass options and quarterback options. Those will be a major part of the offense again this fall. They have so many athletes that can do damage both on the ground and through the air, which Barnes plans to take advantage of. Because of all those weapons, Barnes doesn’t feel like there will be too much pressure on his young QB to carry the offense.
“I think what’s good about this group is Frank doesn't need us to really protect him, but we have ways to protect him, if that makes sense,” the SHS head coach said. “It's going to be Frank at times, he has a lot of skill now. He's strong and he's smart and he can run. He can do a lot of things, but he's not gonna carry us. Make no doubt about it (Peeples and Fortune) are going to carry us and then Frank's got to feed off them.”
That may be Sumter’s biggest strength this season.
“I don't think we're the type of team anymore where you come in here and say, ‘Take this guy away and do this, and you're gonna stop them,” Barnes said of the number of weapons SHS has this fall.
It helps to have some veteran players back on the offensive line.
Jerius Williams anchors the group that Barnes thinks can open the door for a big offensive season. SHS also has two returning tackles to bring some stability to the offense.
“I know when I need to move the ball that far, I know I can count on that dude right there,” Barnes said of Williams. “He’s going to fight; he’s going to battle. He’s not the tallest guy in the world but he’s got some dog in him, he’s got some nastiness about him and
when you get in that weight room and see him under that rack, you figure out what it’s about. I think he’s got confidence in himself, obviously our tailbacks have confidence in him.”
SAME FACES, NEW PLACES
Sumter High has a couple of noteworthy players moving around this year. One is a position change on the field, while the other is a player returning to the program after a year away.
Jordan Lowery has been an all-region defensive end for Sumter High, but he’s shifting to outside linebacker this season. Barnes was blown away when he saw Lowery run with the opportunity.
“He never should have played defensive line for us; he's not big enough but he's done it for two years and he’s been an all-region player for us for two years,” Barnes said of Lowery. “He's kind of what you want your football team to be like. He played defense line, never complained about it. I've never timed him in a 40, didn’t know what he ran in the 40, didn’t care. Then we go out there in the spring and he ran a 4.63 or something like that and he’s the fourth fastest guy on the team. I looked at our coaches and said he needs to be a linebacker. But he never asked to be a linebacker. Where we were asking him to play, he was going to go play. Those are the kind of kids you win with. They don't try to tell you what they should be, they’re just happy to be on the field.”
This move will also give the Gamecocks some incredible defensive versatility this season.
“Jordan being able to play out there, and then being able to come down and play defensive end also, allows us to go from a three-man front to a fourman front with the same people in the field,” Barnes said. “And when we put Jordan down there, we're not putting a subpar guy down there. You better not
run it at him because he’s got the right traits, he likes striking your tail.” It also erases what Barnes has seen as a major weakness of his defense over the years
“We've always had a problem when teams play with a tight end. They run off tackle at us because our outside linebackers, generally, aren't big enough to come down and cover up the tight end,” He said. “The first time we ran a play with a tight end in our team session the other day, Jordan was on the tight end and he just smoked our tight end. That play is going to be different this year for opponents because of the guy that's standing there.”
SEE SHS, PAGE 13C
REGION V-5A
MICAH GREEN / THE SUMTER ITEM
Sumter High expects to have a high-powered offense this fall. At the heart of that success are seniors, from left, John Peeples, Jerius Williams and Kam Fortune.
Young Knights unphased by challenge as they rise to SCHSL 4A
BY TIM LEIBLE tim@theitem.com
The Crestwood football team is coming off a historic season for their program, winning 11 games and a district title on their way to the third round of the SCHSL 3A playoffs. That success came with plenty of seniors in tow, so now they look to back up that success with a lot of new faces in the fold.
“Every day kind of a competition at Crestwood,” head coach Roosevelt Nelson said. “There's nothing given to the guys on the field, every position was up for grabs each and every day.”
The Knights will look to continue their success in a new classification, making the jump up to SCHSL 4A, sharing a region with two of the top teams in the classification, South Florence and Hartsville. But Crestwood isn’t overly concerned about who is on their schedule.
“I don’t really like to focus on the teams. I really want to focus on getting relationships with my teammates, building chemistry,” defensive back Dashawn Scriven said. “We build chemistry and get better with each other every day. I feel like no team can really beat us, for real.”
Nelson added, “Not too much focused on the 4A aspect, but more focusing on ourselves, on getting better day in and day out, making sure we take care of business within the building and also on the practice field. Just kind of focusing ourselves.”
One of the most noteworthy losses is at quarterback, where all-state signal-caller Javion Martin graduated and is now playing at North Carolina Central. Martin started at quarterback for four seasons and now hands the reigns to one of his former receivers, Jaydis Williams.
“He's been consistent, and steady. I told him, even in conditioning, don’t be Javion Martin, be yourself,” Nelson said. “The next step is getting live action.”
Williams will have Crestwood’s leading receiver back to aid in his transition, as Jeremie Richardson looks to build on a 946-yard, 6-touchdown season.
“Building the chemistry, it wasn’t easy, but we just worked out weekends at Dillon, at school, just getting our chemistry together,” the all-state receiver said.
Also returning at pass-catcher is tight end Jahiem Jones.
Crestwood will also have a different look to their backfield after the graduation of Azarian Yates, their workhorse back from a year ago. Stepping in is speedster LaDamien Belton. The offense may look a bit different with a new style of runner, but Nelson likes the way Belton has adjusted to the heavier workload after carrying the ball just 17 times a year ago.
“It's gonna look a little different at times. It’s a different kid, different abilities. LaDamien is a little bit more of a breakaway back. It shouldn’t take him 25-30 carries to get comfortable, he’s kind of a homerun hitter,” Nelson said. “Calvin Wofford is a young man that will feature in the backfield, as well. Jeremie is going to play some running back at certain times with certain packages for him.
“We’ve got three or four running backs we feel really good about, so it’s going to be more run dominant early on than it’s been in the past. At the same time, it’s all about balanced football.”
Offensively, Crestwood’s most veteran group is the offensive line. The lineup includes returners in Aidan Mack, Lorenzo Small, Landon Smith and Aaron Taylor. While they weren’t all full-time starters a year ago, they all got plenty of experience.
Their counterparts on the defensive line, however, are a different story. The Knights lost all three starters to graduation, including an all-state player in Lavion Lammie. Nelson is excited about the young group that will be learning on the job.
“We lost all three defensive linemen, all three graduated. That's a big loss for us, all three pretty good players. At the same time, some guys have stepped up for us so far,” Nelson said. “Jordan Carter, who's a sophomore, is doing a pretty good job for us for the most part. Zion Washington has done a tremendous job for us here. Peyton Grant, who started actually about four or five game last year as a freshman, so he has experience.
“That's a very, very young group. They’ve gotta learn fast, our conference is not gonna be easy at all.”
The Knights also lost a ton at linebacker, but return Robert Pugh, the team’s second-leading tackler. Alongside him are Yachin Gamble, who saw some playing time as a freshman, senior Kameron Brown and sophomore Ahmandre Ricks.
Scriven returns to anchor the secondary, taking some younger teammates under his wing.
“Last year, I was in the role and started as a sophomore, played behind Khalil Moody and Akelle Crawford. Those guys, they took me in as their little brother to teach me everything, they made sure that I was in tune to the defense, made sure I had the right techniques and all that other stuff,” he said. “But now I’ve stepped up to more of a mentor wrote because the guys that have stepped up, I’ve played with them. They're younger than me but I’ve got to get in that same role as Khalil Moody was to me.”
Jayden Wright, who played nickel last season, moves to an outside corner role. Other starters in the secondary include Jaquaylen Dennis-Harriett and Fredrick Wade.
Across the board, Nelson is happy with the team’s athleticism, but he’s ready to see how they compete against live competition.
“I think we’ve got a lot of guys that can run at all three levels. We only bring back three starters but six or seven guys that actually started different games, so it’s not like they didn’t play at all,” Nelson said. “We feel good about it right now.”
Scriven is making sure no one sleeps on the Knights’ defense this fall.
“Offensive teams, they might look at us say we're a little bit on the smaller side this year, but we’ve got guys that are athletic, that can run,” he said. “When it comes to the run game, we can make tackles, come downhill. When it comes to the passing game, I feel like with our abilities, we can contend with anyone.”
There are some expectations on Crestwood after a season like they had last fall, but they aren’t listening to outside noise. The Knights just want to play their game.
“For us to be successful this year, we’ve just gotta be us,” Belton said. “We can't try to be the last team because we learned that we’re not the same team as last year. Last year’s team was a great team, but we're not the same team. To take your pressure off us, we’ve just gotta be ourselves and we'll be successful.”
That being said, Nelson wants to build on last year’s success. That starts with staying true to Crestwood’s brand of football.
“Our biggest thing is don't get away from success, don't get away from what got us here,” Nelson said. “Stick to the basics, we’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. The biggest thing is training the right way, practicing the right way, being good students within the building and have the right frame of mind and make sure we get to the field, give your best.”
TIM LEIBLE / THE SUMTER ITEM
Crestwood quarterback Jaydis Williams, center, runs through drills during practice on Monday, Aug. 5.
With a full offseason in tow, Lakewood ready to grow in Year 2 under Offord
BY TIM LEIBLE tim@theitem.com
Willie Offord wanted to set a new identity at Lakewood when he took the job last season. He was hired late in the summer, so he didn’t have much time to establish his program before diving into his first season at the helm of the Gators. Now, with an offseason under his belt, Offord loves the strides his team has made headed into Year 2.
“The biggest gain, I think, we took from that is the kids know me and I know the kids. Those relationships have been built,” Offord said of having an offseason. “We've got pretty much complete buy in to the program, of the message that we're putting out there. It feels great to be a part of this process and the journey in terms of us being together for just a little more than 12 months now.”
Defensive standout Tyler Washington-Broomfield could relate to Offord last fall. He was a late transfer from Sumter High and was playing catchup early on. That’s definitely not the case now as he enters his senior season.
“I feel more prepared, I feel like my body's physically there, ready for the season,” the senior said. “It's a lot of work every day. I feel like we're the hardest working team in the city, honestly.”
The Gators face a tough task as they work to take that step forward, making a jump up to SCHSL 4A, where they’ll join what is arguably the most competitive region in the classification.
“From around the state and definitely from around the area, we know and understand that general consensus is not going to give us any chance of being successful in this region,” Offord said. “But our mindset is to take care of Lakewood and so that's what we're going to do to put our best foot forward each and every day.”
Star defensive back and offensive weapon Cedric Cisse embraces the challenge of facing a region that includes their crosstown rivals, Crestwood, a stout Hartsville team and a South Florence squad that has played for the last two 4A championships, winning one.
“That's what we want,” Cisse said. “Every day, we just go in and try to go 1-0. We don't complain about it, we just adapt to what we’ve got ahead of us.”
Lakewood has a lot of new faces on offense but have a sturdy and reliable offensive line to help establish some success on that side of the ball.
“Our greatest asset returning offensively is our entire offensive line,” Offord said. “Those kids played 10 games for us last year, so we're looking for some really good things from those guys up front.”
Around that offensive line with be Cisse and Washington-Broomfield alongside a slew of young additions. Lakewood struggled to consistently move the ball last year, so they stripped things down to the basics as they seek to find success.
“We've evolved into the traditional sets that people see each and every
week, the 20-Personnel stuff, H-back, the GH counter stuff,” Offord said. “That's what we're trying to perfect, just like every other team on our schedule.”
Brian Brooks makes the leap from JV to start at quarterback. The sophomore can hurt defenses with his arm and his legs. Offord is excited to see how he fares on Friday nights.
“He was our best junior varsity player last year. Athletically, he’s matured and taking on more of a leadership role by his actions,” Offord said. “He hasn’t gotten the vocal part of it down yet, but he's showing up every day and we feel confident that he'll be able to help us make tremendous gains offensively this season.”
Jamarion Brockington returns at running back stronger than ever. He’ll be buoyed by a couple of young backs in Micah Jenkins and James Brand.
“We anticipate Jamarion carrying most of the load,” Offord said. “He’s been gradually improving in the offseason in terms of speed. He's not very big in stature, but he's gotten a lot stronger. We feel like, this season, he'll be a lot more durable for us to earn that starting running back spot.”
Out at receiver, the Gators have their two senior defensive stars and bunch of young guns.
“On the offensive side, we’ve got Coach O’s son, Ziggy. He’s young, he’s a freshman, but you can tell he's got it.
I'm excited to see him throughout the season,” Washington-Broomfield said.
“The twins, Jaden and Justin Green, I'm excited to see them playing receiver. We’ve got a big guy tight end, Jamonte (Witherspoon), I’m excited to see him too. A lot of skill guys that we’re throwing in that I’m excited to see them against a different defense.”
If the Gators are going to be success-
ful this fall, it will start with consistency on offense.
“We have to execute on offense. We can't go three and out. We can't leave the defense on the field for the majority of the game, so they don't tire out,” Offord said. “From there, we talk about playing penalty-free football game in and game out. We want to be a very disciplined team.”
Defensively, Lakewood has almost everyone back, though a few people will be in new spots. Washington-Broomfield was primarily a corner last season but will now move around the defense as a versatile weapon.
“In high school football, whenever you have an athlete of his stature and some of the skillset that brings to it from a length standpoint, you want to be able to maximize his true potential,” Offord said of Washington-Broomfield. “You want to be able to put him in positions so he can be successful personally, but also put him in a position that's going to be the best for the defense. Tyler has a lot of versatility and we're going to allow him to display his talents.”
The senior summed his role up simply.
“Wherever plays need to be made, that’s where I’m getting put,” he said.
Cisse is also on the move to some degree. After playing safety last season, he’s sliding down to corner. Offord expects him to move around the defense, as well.
“We can move him around from corner to safety to nickel or if we need to get an extra rusher on the passer, he’s a defensive back that can kind of rush the passer as well,” Offord said. “We've got some really good nucleus of things that we can build upon throughout the season.”
Another key returner is Donte Boy-
kin at corner. That experience will be key, as both safeties are newcomers to the Gator secondary. Damien Dingle is a transfer, while Keondre Henry makes the jump from JV.
In the trenches, Dave Rogers, Richard Johnson and Jamir Scott all return and should be able to make a splash. Linebackers Darren Madison and Jenkins round out the defense.
Offord, a former professional safety with the Minnesota Vikings after a career at South Carolina, is glad his defenders largely have experience within his system. They didn’t need to spend the whole offseason teaching the basics.
“Just from a communication standpoint, we're a lot better,” he said. “The kids can visualize and see exactly what they're supposed to do, they know the scheme inside and out and that's been a very big plus for us. We don't have to necessarily worry about teaching all of the nuances that go along with the de-
SEE LAKEWOOD, PAGE 13C
NICH PITTS / ITEM CONTRIBUTOR
Lakewood's Tyler Washington-Broomfield speaks at The Sumter Item's Football Media Day on Saturday, Aug. 10, alongside head
coach Willie Offord, left.
Wilson Hall looks to build on championship game appearance
BY TIM LEIBLE tim@theitem.com
Last year was a season to remember for the Wilson Hall football team for a few different seasons.
The Barons made a spectacular run to the SCISA 3A state championship game despite an overwhelming number of injuries to some of their brightest stars. Now, they want to try to find similar magic, hopefully with fewer injuries along the way. They’ll attempt to find that special sauce with a mix of newcomers and veterans after losing a massive 15-player senior class. Head coach Adam Jarecki thinks they’ll be
able to do just that.
“We knew that last year we had three solid classes and a big part of that left. However, the group that we have back is probably one of the most successful groups we've had at Wilson Hall,” Jarecki said. “They have 18 wins in their two years as varsity football players. They have had a lot of success when they were in their younger years at B-Team and junior high levels. It kind of translates to everything. This group has been successful in basketball and baseball, and everything throughout, our soccer program.”
Injuries came early and often last season. Leading tackler Owen Meyers, who is back for his senior season this fall, only played two games last season before going down. Seniors like Slade Custer, Dylan Jones and Clark Kinney were just some of the people to miss at least two games. But those injuries also opened the door for some players to step up in new roles. While it was difficult to stomach a year ago, those lessons are paying off this season.
“We just kind of had to (have the) next guy step up and it provided an opportunity for us to find some depth and get other people ready to go. That was obviously going to pay off for this year,” Jarecki said. “Graduating 15 is a lot, especially in SCISA, but we felt like the core of them were going to be back because they had to kind of be forced to jump into the role last year.
“Depth is going to be a question mark. Right this second, we have a lot of people kind of playing some both ways roles and you know we're going to get to a point where we're not doing that as much. Last year, we were fortunate, because the numbers, that we didn't really have a lot of twoway guys and, of course, that had to change after some injuries but that's definitely a positive for this year.”
An injury to Kinney late in the regular season opened the door for a quarterback battle this season. Meyers went into the season as Kinney’s backup, but was already sidelined for weeks by the time Kinney hurt his elbow. Ford Wilder stepped in and performed admirably. That carried into the offseason and now both signal-callers will likely see snaps at quarterback this year.
“That has been really a pleasant deal all summer with both of them. They both have done extremely well and because of their abilities in other roles, we've got to kind of play them both,” Jarecki said. “Owen's one of the best defensive players we've ever had and we’ve got to make sure that we've got him on the field. Ford has capabilities of being a split end and some defensive back for us. It's going to give us an opportunity to let both have some
roles plus other roles on the team.”
Shawn Michael Matthews is one of the few returning skill players from a year ago and has plenty of experience with both QBs. Meyers was his JV quarterback and he played with Wilder last season. Matthews and Wilder also spend a ton of time together in the winter with basketball, so he has a great bond with both signal-callers.
“With Owen, we have always kind of had a connection because he's been in my grade, he's kind just the QB I'm most used to, so that's kind of been my familiar territory,” Matthews said. “But also with the basketball route, Ford and I are really close friends with that, so this year getting closer with the football side has been great. They're good QBs, so it's kind of easy for me.”
Around those quarterbacks, there are a lot of moving pieces. Outside
SEE WILSON HALL, PAGE 13C
NICH PITTS / ITEM CONTRIBUTOR
From left, Wilson Hall's Shawn Michael Matthews, head coach Adam Jarecki and Thomas Creech speak at The Sumter Item Football Media Day.
Young Laurence Manning squad focused on toughness under Briggs
BY TIM LEIBLE
tim@theitem.com
The Laurence Manning football team is going to look like a whole new squad this fall.
The Swampcats had about as much turnover as a program can have with more than 20 seniors graduating from last year's team. When they open the season, they’ll have new starters across their entire defense. They also have a new head coach roaming the sidelines, but it’s a very familiar face.
Robbie Briggs is back at LMA this fall and he’s looking to bring some extra toughness to the Swampcats.
“My biggest thing is just trying to get a little bit more toughness,” Briggs said. “Our slogan is tough all day for this year. We want to make sure that the guys are doing what they're supposed to be doing in the classroom when they go home as well as their practice field. They've been great.”
With so many young players stepping in, it can be temping to say this season is a full rebuild at LMA, but Briggs stressed that he plans to win this season. That just might come with some lumps early.
“We have 43 kids and I think we have 28 back for two more years, so we're excited about that. At the same time, we want to make sure that these seniors have a great senior year,” Briggs said. “The thing that I always harp on with them is that want to be great in November. That's our big deal, we want to be great in November and continue to get better.
“In the next three months, we’re going to surprise some people.”
The most important returning player is at quarterback. Grainger Powell split time with Tyler June at the position last fall, but he’s calling the shots full time this season. With a talented QB, Briggs is taking a new offensive approach this year.
“Our quarterback Grainger Powell is very talented. He's got a live arm,”
Briggs said. “If you went back 11 years ago when we first started here, we were always a run-first football team. That was our identity. With Granger, we’re probably going to throw the ball 25 to 32 times a game. That's a difference in what I'm not used to, to be honest.”
While Powell is going to guide the ship, the guys in the trenches will be the wind in their sails.
“When we get off the bus, I want our offensive line to be our identity,” Briggs said. “Our offensive line is amazing, that’s the strength of our football team.”
Senior Dillon Smith is one of two returning starters on the offensive line and he’s been impressed by the ‘Cats around him.
“We’ve got a new boy coming in from Thomas Sumter, his name is Jackson Barnes, he's pretty good,” Smith said. “The rest of our line, we’re still kinda young but we have two returning starters. Tristan (White), he’s our right guard, he’s pretty good. We’re all physical and ready to play.”
At the skill positions, BJ Balls, and the Dennis brothers, Scoop and Zy, will be the primary targets for Powell. Drew Ferriell is in the backfield at H-back, but he lost most of his offseason after undergoing labrum surgery during baseball season. Ferriell is ready to be back on the field, even if he’s limited to just the offensive side of the ball for now.
“It's definitely not easy,” Ferriell said of his recovery process. “It's more of a mental battle than a physical thing. So, just being patient and not doing anything to set yourself back further.”
The defense is littered with new faces. Briggs wants to make things a little easier on his young players in the trenches with some defensive pressure.
“We're going to try to bring pressure and create turnovers and do all those things,” Briggs said. “Literally, we have zero starters back from last year
53 tackles, 8 sacks, 6 TFL, 2 FF, 9 catches for 201 yards
NICH PITTS / ITEM CONTRIBUTOR
From left, Laurence Manning's Dillon Smith, head coach Robbie Briggs and Drew Ferriell speak at The Sumter Item's Football Media Day on Aug. 10.
SEE LAURENCE MANNNING, PAGE 15C
Expectations remain sky-high for Cavaliers as Furse takes the helm at Lee Academy
BY TIM LEIBLE tim@theitem.com
There’s a new sheriff in town at Lee Academy.
After years of success under head coach David Rankin, who leaves for Carolina Academy on the back of four consecutive championship appearances for the Cavs, Lee Academy football is under new management. Will Furse stepped in this spring to take over for the tenured Cavalier coach and was excited to pick up the torch after leading his alma mater, Laurence Manning, to consecutive SCISA 4A state championship games.
“Coach Rankin did a phenomenal
Key Losses:
Deshon Hadden – RB/LB
Clayton Catoe – QB/DB
William West – RB/DB
Lance Freidenberger – TE/LB
Bryson Muldrow – RB/LB
Aubrey Boyce – OL/DL
Key Players:
Trace June – OL/LB
Carson Davis – TE/LB
Noah Brazell – WR/DB
Andrew Bowers – RB/LB
Tucker Boyce – LB
AUG.
at Lee Academy. He is Lee Academy football; he won a ton of games there, won championships there. So, you don't want to come in and change too much about what he did, but at the same time, I'm my own person, and I want to put my own stamp on everything we're doing,” Furse said. “My first priority was just getting to know the kids, trying to figure out who can play what position and then just start installing defense and offense. We're running a lot of the same stuff, but our terminology is a little bit different.”
Furse is the beneficiary of the great football culture Rankin set at Lee. He was happy to not have to drag kids into the weight room during the offseason.
“They know what it takes to win,” Furse said. “This summer, we had excellent numbers in the weight room because they've had that for years; it wasn’t new to them to get them in the weight room. When you take over a program that hasn't had success, that's usually an indicator is what your numbers are like over the summer.
"We’re fortunate at Lee Academy. It’s not really luck because Coach Rankin did it. I was fortunate to be able to follow him, and the culture was already there. It’s my job to maintain it and continue to watch it grow.”
The transition has gone pretty smoothly so far for the Cavs.
“It’s definitely different just because we've had coach Rankin since we started on JV, but it's been a smooth transition,” senior tight end and outside linebacker Carson Davis said. “Everything's gone really well. Learning the offense has been smooth. Defense has been great.”
Furse made some minor tweaks to both sides of the ball. Defensively, things are nearly identical, but he just uses different terminology. Offensively, the blocking scheme was revamped, and Furse plans to potentially throw the pill around a bit more.
“We're still going to run the football the majority of the time. We're going to try to pass it a little bit more than maybe they did in the past,” Furse said. “We're gonna have two tight ends on the field a lot of the time, running power and counter; a lot of stuff Coach Rankin did. Hopefully we'll get to the point where we can keep teams a little more honest through the air, and that's really what we've been emphasizing a little bit here this summer.”
The Cavaliers will have a freshman leading the offense in Brayden Davis. In a perfect moment, he was able to connect with his brother, Carson, for Lee’s first touchdown of the season in their Week 0 victory over Spartanburg Christian on Aug. 16.
“It's more fun, and it keeps the defense a little bit more honest,” C. Davis said of increasing the air attack. “It’s more to catch the ball than it is to block, but not saying it's not fun to
block either.”
Many of the skill position players will be in new roles. Andrew Bowers shifts from quarterback to running back and opened his season with four rushing touchdowns. Tucker Boyce and Landon Olsen will also be in the backfield. The wide receivers have some continuity with Noah Brazell and Cain June, along with Myles Frye.
The real blessing is in the trenches, where Lee has four starters back in the fold. Trace June leads that group that will look to steamroll teams on a weekly basis.
“We're lucky to have a bunch of guys returning on the offensive line,” Furse said. “I believe we lost one starter from last year up front, and Grant Hawkins and Cooper Newman have been battling out for that position at left guard.”
LEE ACADEMY, PAGE 15C
MICAH GREEN / THE SUMTER ITEM
Lee Academy's Carson Davis, right, sits next to head coach Will Furse during The Sumter Item's Football Media Day on Aug. 10.
SEE
BY TIM LEIBLE tim@theitem.com
The Manning football program comes into the fall with something every head coach loves to see: consistency.
The Monarchs have returners back across the gridiron. They had a few holes to fill in the trenches, but their skill positions on both sides of the ball are loaded with talented athletes with plenty of experience after going 8-3 a year ago.
“We feel like we’ve got some good pieces coming back,” head coach Reggie Kennedy said. "We felt like we had a few holes we needed to fill up front on the offensive line, and we felt like we did that during the offseason. Defensively, we’ve got some good pieces coming back with our defensive front and our linebacking corps.”
That veteran roster will now be competing in a new classification, as the Monarchs drop down to SCHSL 2A and join county rival East Clarendon in Region VII. Kennedy thinks his squad will be able to make a splash right away in their new home.
“We try to get caught up being A's; we're more concerned with what we do,” the Monarch head coach said. “We feel like we’ve got some good pieces coming back; it doesn’t matter what level we’re playing on. We feel like everything is falling into place. As far as team goals, we have one goal this year, and that’s to win a state championship.”
The new region provides Manning with a few familiar faces. Along with the Wolverines and the neighboring Kingstree, former region rivals like Lake City are also in the mix.
“It helps to be familiar with who
you're playing on your schedule; it helps with preparation,” Kennedy said. “It also saves a little time for us as coaches when we go to prep for the upcoming week.”
Kennedy wants that Clarendon County matchup with East Clarendon to be a tone-setter for what he expects to be a strong fall.
“We want to be the big dog in the county when it comes to football,” he said. “It’s always good to have local rivalries. I think it’s always good for the community. I like good, clean rivalries. At the end of the day, we still respect each other, can still go to church together, still go to Walmart together, but we want to be the team on top when we see them in the streets.”
JaRae Mitchell returns at quarter-
back for the Monarchs. He transferred in from Lakewood last year to play for his uncle, Kennedy, and has definitely settled in as he enters his senior season.
“(I’m) Way more comfortable than last year,” Mitchell said. “I feel like we can do something big with this team this year. We’re confident.”
Manning lost their leading rusher from last fall, Tristan Thames, but have bulldozer Jalynn Coard back in the backfield after rushing for 617 yards and 15 touchdowns. Jontavious Canty, Joshua Cooper and Jeffrey Ceasar will all see snaps in the backfield, as all of the Monarch rushers are key contributors on defense. Kennedy appreciates the diversity of style in their backfield.
“It kind of gives us a one-two punch. It also helps a lot with a quarterback being a dual thread,” Kennedy said. “We feel like we’ve got a good game plan going into the season. We’ve got guys who can bang it in between the tackles, then we got our guys that can get to the perimeter to help stretch the field for us.”
SEE MANNING, PAGE 14C
MICAH GREEN / THE SUMTER ITEM
From left, Manning's Jontavious Canty, Jalynn Coard, Jeremy Blanding and JaRae Mitchell will anchor the Monarchs on both sides of the ball.
Nyren Bowman – RB/WR
Quinton Jackson – QB/WR
Dwayne
Fleming ready to set new standard in first year at Scott’s Branch
BY TIM LEIBLE tim@theitem.com
When former Manning assistant Pat Fleming took over the Scott’s Branch football program in December, he wasn’t worried about the 0-10 record the Eagles struggled to the previous fall. He’s had one mindset since walking in the door in Summerton.
“The past is the past. We're flushing it,” he said. “We're driving the car forward. You look in the rear-view mirror too much, you’ll crash. We're not looking to crash; we’re looking to soar this year.”
Fleming has been around success on the gridiron. After earning all-state honors his senior year of high school with the Monarchs, he played for Lou Holtz at South Carolina as an outside linebacker. It took hard work to get to Division I football, and he’s looking to
Schedule 2024
instill that mentality in the Eagles.
“My biggest point is the learning guys how to grind,” Fleming said. “Today's culture in society kind of takes away from that with so much technology, I wanted to get the guys on the ground floor, just learning about hard work,
grit, determination and perseverance. Coming off an 0-10 campaign, it’s really introducing them to being the winners.
“It starts with the little things; going to class on time, being on time for lifts,
After playoff win last year, Wolverines look to take another step in climb to 2A
Rod Shaw – RB
Jyre Fulton – WR/DB
Ryan Sullivan – LB/TE
Key Players:
Darius McCray – WR/LB
Jay Webb – RB/DB
Hunter Mixon – RB/LB
Whit Nesbitt – WR/DB
Takoda Cornelius – QB/WR/DB
Jaylon Barron – OL/DB
Michael Woods – OL/DL
BY TIM LEIBLE tim@theitem.com
After a slow start to the season, last year was an unquestionable success for the East Clarendon football team. The Wolverines got out to a bumpy 2-5 start but won their final two games to finish second in Region V-1A. EC then kept the ball rolling with a blowout 42-0 win over Military Magnet in the first round of the play-
offs. Heading into Year 2 under head coach Larry Cornelius, there’s a new level of expectation for the Wolverines.
“I feel like the program is moving in the right direction; we just have to take that next step,” Coach Cornelius said. “There's no more, ‘We’ve just got to compete.’ Our goal is to win.”
That task got a little harder when the Wolverines got news of the SCHSL reclassifications this offseason. East Clarendon will make the jump back up to 2A, where they’ll face the likes of county rival Manning in region play.
“It really doesn't matter to me. It's just numbers and A's,” Coach Cornelius. “You’ve still got to get your team ready. We're worried about East Clarendon; we're not worried about these other teams until we play them.
“I'm cocky. I'm cocky because of what I have. Our potential is very good, and the cockier I am, that means I trust these guys even more. Our potential is up there. It’s a matter of if we meet it or not.”
But the Wolverines heard the chatter in the offseason. They’re excited to prove people wrong.
“When we first heard we were going to 2A, there was a lot of talk about us not being able to compete, like people around our community, and we really just said we didn't want to hear it,” senior Hunter Mixon said. “We just wanted to work.”
So the Wolverines went to work. Coach Cornelius didn’t sugarcoat things. He knew East Clarendon needed to put in a ton of work this
SEE EAST CLARENDON, PAGE 14C
NICH PITTS / ITEM CONTRIBUTOR
From left, Scott's Branch's Quinton Jackson, head coach Pat Fleming and Nyren Bowman speak at The Sumter Item's Football Media Day.
JuJu
Chuck
Shadrach
Dede
Veteran LCHS Stallions look to improve amid move to SCHSL 1A
BY TIM LEIBLE tim@theitem.com
The Lee Central football team is amped up to begin their season thanks to an exciting combination of the old and the new.
The old things are exactly what a head coach wants, veteran players. The Stallions bring back most of their starters on either side of the ball. While they have some new players that will tote the rock a few more times this fall, most of the crew has at least some varsity experience.
The new aspect for LCHS this year is their classification. The Stallions dropped down to SCHSL 1A and have a whole new schedule this year as they move into Region II. Head coach
Justin Danner can’t wait to get started.
“We feel our program is in a great place,” he said. “We had a great spring and a good summer. We've had a lot of
participation and, more so than anything, we bring back a good little bit of guys. We're always excited about that. We bring back a veteran quarterback, and we bring back a veteran backfield as well as we've got some experienced guys up front both offensively and defensively. We feel like, right now, we're in a good place and we just want to try to use our preseason to get better."
Last season, JuJu Davis started the year in a quarterback battle, but he grabbed the position by the horns. He feels even better in the position this season after getting a full offseason with some familiar faces.
“I'm comfortable with the line because we got a lot that return, but we're kind of young on the line,” Davis said. “In the backfield, I'm comfortable with everybody running the ball, we bring our receivers back so that helps us too.”
While the Stallions’ top rusher last
season, Nyi’zeair Burroughs, graduated, they ran a balanced attack. Davis ran for 443 yards and three scores a year ago, while De’marion Morgan and Rico Hickman combined for just shy of 700 yards and six touchdowns. The Stallions will continue to rotate through a stampede of runners to keep the backfield fresh. At receiver, Chuck Harry returns alongside Javon Jenkins, while De’marius Gregg is back at linebacker.
“We've been able to know who's going where, so you're able to talk to guys about things they even did a year ago and what things that we feel were their strengths and other guys’ weaknesses and trying to really put guys in the right place,” Danner said. “Over the past two years, we've not been so veteran, so now we're excited to finally
SEE LEE CENTRAL, PAGE 15C
Young Generals taking new steps in 1st year under new head coach Bell
Key Losses:
Sam Matthews – LB
Holden Trimnal – OL/DL
Key Players:
Jordan Tillman – RB/DB
Carter Hill – RB/DB
Andrew Conyers – QB
Clay Team – QB
Sam Petrauschke – WR/DB
Max Moreno - LB
BY TIM LEIBLE tim@theitem.com
The Thomas Sumter football team is in a time of transition.
They’ve got a new head coach in Stacy Bell and an unbelievably young squad. The Generals have just six seniors and a ton of freshmen and sophomores in the fold. In many ways, Bell is able to build for now and the future all in one go.
“We're actually excited about that,” Bell said of the young players getting opportunities this season. “Our sub-varsity is running the same system that the varsity is. We’re focused on this year, we’re focused on getting better today but we're able to pinpoint next year that we need one slot back, we need one offensive lineman. With our lower levels, the priority is to
keep numbers up.”
The Generals are emphasizing competition this year at every position. With so few veteran players, no position is safe. Bell has installed what he calls Competition Tuesdays, where anyone can volunteer to make a push for a starting job. That being said, there are only so many players to fill those starting spots for the Generals.
“Everybody that is on our team currently is starting somewhere. So, you're either starting offense, defense, special teams. It might be kickoff, kickoff return, but the opportunity is there for you,” Bell said. “We have several young men that are ready to give significant reps, but they're probably not quite ready yet to tote the ball 20 times.”
Bell has also worked to make sure
his young squad understands the structure he’s trying to put into place.
“I thought it was very important that we're clear to our athletes what we're asking of them. We tried to establish a process, for lack of a better word, during certain times of the year,” Bell said. “The analogy that I normally give them is you can't show up to school and go to all your classes at once, you have to go to first block and then second block and third block. So, we've tried to establish clear communication and competition. We want it to be based off of who produces.”
Jordan Tillman is one of the few seniors at TSA. He’s excited about the energy that Bell has brought into the
SEE THOMAS SUMTER, PAGE 15C
Young Saints look to build on success in second season under Larrimer
Darius Aiken – RB/DB
Brock Mathis – QB/LB
Kole Elliott – WR/DB Wilder Robinson – WR/DB
Karson Fields – OL/DL
Key Players:
Thelien Naas – RB/LB
Griffin McIntosh – LB/WR
Graham Lee – QB
Tommy Atkinson – OL/DL
BY TIM LEIBLE tim@theitem.com
Clarendon Hall head football coach and athletic director Todd Larrimer wasn’t sure what to expect from his team at this time last season. He was in his first season on the job, just trying to figure out the ins and outs of being a head football coach.
As it turns out, he could expect a lot from his team. The Saints won eight games and earned a trip to the playoffs, falling to eventual SCISA 1A runners up Lee Academy in the first round. Now, the key is following up on a strong first season.
“The goal right now is just continue to build on that success and just focus on our process and try to stay as consistent as we possibly can,” Larrimer said. “We had a pretty good summer, the boys worked out pretty hard. Spring ball went pretty well. It was the first spring ball I think we’ve had where we actually were able to install,
Schedule 2024
so I think the boys came together pretty good. We had a great camp. They're meshing pretty nice right now.”
This year’s senior captains went out of their way to put their best foot forward this offseason.
“Over the summer, we all hit the weight room pretty hard. A lot of people showed up, surprisingly,” running back Thelien Naas said. “Me and another captain, Evan Reynolds, we did a little right out of school spring practice thing with no coaches, just working on footwork and base drills. It's looking pretty good.”
This group of seniors have to step into some massive roles this season after some critical graduations last year. Program staples like Darius Aiken, Kole Elliott, Brock Mathis, Karson Fields and Wilder Robinson were just a few stars that moved on after a strong senior year. Offensively, the challenge becomes finding ways to be more diverse after driving most of their pro-
duction through Aiken in the backfield and Elliott at receiver.
“We definitely have some big shoes to fill,” Larrimer admitted. “We had Kole Elliott at receiver last year. I don't think we have anybody on the team that has necessarily his skill set. I do feel like we have some talented receivers that we can utilize but, as far as a one-on-one matchup, Kole's pretty special. Darius Aiken, you had top-end speed. We are going to have to run the ball a little bit differently, I would say. Nobody's going to compare to Darius’ speed, but I feel like we're adjusting that pretty well.”
One key returner offensively is quarterback Graham Lee. He took over the starting job from Mathis, who also starred at linebacker, midway through the season last year and got some crucial reps. As a junior, Larrimer thinks he’s ready to grab this offense by the SEE SAINTS, PAGE 14C
The Gamecocks also have Jeremiah Burson back at linebacker this season. He left to play at Laurence Manning last fall, teaming up with his brother Josiah for his final year with the Swampcats. He fills a void at linebacker after the graduation of guys like Jaheim Rose, AJ Bracey and Bryson Cuffie.
“Jeremiah, that's a linebacker we needed back. He's feeling a huge gap for us,” Williams said. “He can cover the ball, great downhill back. He standing over me every time at practice.”
IN THE TRENCHES
With Lowery moving to linebacker, there are some new faces to fill in up front. South Carolina commit Anthony Addison locks down one spot and he’s taking some newcomers under his wing. Rashaun Dickey makes the jump from JV and Cameron Bradley moved in from North Carolina to help fill in some of those gaps. Mike McCray returns after seeing time in nine games last season.
“We did have a guy (Cameron Bradley) move in, who we think is going to help us some there and Mike McCray at noseguard is going to help us some,” Barnes said. “Dickey played JV last year for us and is a lot like Jordan from a speed reduction standpoint, so he'll fit in. We think we've got five guys to play three spots that we feel comfortable with.”
Williams has seen some great battles with the group in practice and thinks they’ll be just fine with Addison leading the pack.
“I think that front seven has the possibility to be the best in the state. When all is said and done, they will be good,” Williams said. “If Anthony Addison is up front, this defensive line will be good. He has Dickey under his wing, Dickey’s gonna be a name to know.”
RETURNERS IN SECONDARY
The defensive secondary has a ton of players back, while Tymarius Thompson-Durant returns at outside linebacker. Terrence Burgess is a senior leader on the back end around players like Bryce Allen and Davon Bowman that played big roles at times a year ago.
“We're excited about this defensive team. We're going to be nasty, we're going to run and we're going to hit you. We're going to fly around and hit your tail,” Barnes said. “If you ain't comfortable that we're gonna make you uncomfortable.
“I think it's the fastest de-
LAKEWOOD
fense because they've already played in it for 10 games.”
After a challenging season a year ago, the Gators are only worried about one thing.
fense we've had here in nine years. It's not the biggest, but they can run and when you have speed, you can make some mistakes and speed covers up for mistakes.”
The biggest question for Barnes on both sides of the ball this season will be depth.
“I feel very comfortable with our starting 15 guys we use on offense and our 15 guys we use on defense, but we do have some depth issues,” he said. “We've got to stay healthy.”
COMFORT IN DISCOMFORT
A running theme for Barnes this season is being comfortable when facing adversity. While the Gamecocks have been extremely successful over the years, they haven’t been able to make that final push for a state title. Barnes thinks this mindset can be the difference-maker.
“We've got to be able to sustain and play at a high level when things are hard, not when things are easy. This program's been great about taking care of the teams they're supposed to beat,” Barnes said. “And we’ve bet some teams we shouldn't beat too; everybody just didn't know it. When we get against the White Knolls and the Dutch Forks and Summervilles and those type of people, we've got to find a way to score enough points to win the game and continue to play good defense. I think it comes down to an attitude of not giving in when it's hard.”
Just as importantly, he wants Sumter High to make other people
“I love to be comfortable being uncomfortable, and we want to make other teams have to feel like that,” Barnes said. “We want to take them to a place in a physical game that they don't want to be in.”
This team has its eyes on making the push for a state title, plain and simple. That mindset will be the key if they make that push.
“I think the first goal everyone should have is we’re coming for the state championship this year. We’re done with the third round, we need the fourth and fifth round. We’re playing in December for sure,” Williams said. “Individually, a lot of us seniors, we’ve got a lot of goals, a lot of us have to go to college, a lot of us have to get college offers. We know we have to make all-area. A lot of teams talking and we want to hush ‘em up. We’re in a new region, we need all-region honors. Some of us are going to the North-South Game, some of us are going to the Shrine Bowl. We’re going to put Sumter on the map this season with our accolades.”
FROM PAGE 5C
want these kids to have some success,” the LHS coach said.
of Matthews at tight end, almost everyone is new at their position, though some saw limited action a year ago. Players like Ben McLaurin, Milling Galloway and Harris Naylor are all going to see snaps in the backfield, as will sophomore John Land. Thomas Creech moves into the backfield as a B-back after spending his limited time on offense at receiver last season. He was able to learn some great flexibility as a defensive player last year, moving to a few different spots as injuries piled up, so it makes an offensive move a little more palatable.
“It’s pretty different because I've been a wide receiver, but it also helps because last year, unfortunately we had those injuries, but I got asked to play like linebacker and safety,” he said. “It took a little bit of getting used to it first, but then I got used to it pretty quick, just going through the motions.”
That flexibility was an important lesson from last fall. Jarecki feels like his team has been able to stress that flexibility a little more this offseason because it proved extremely necessary a year ago. “In order to be successful, the next guy has got to step up and somebody else has got to take over that role. Last year was a great example of that,” Jarecki said. “We feel like the core we have back and the young ones, they're getting there, they really are. There's a couple that are going to be playing a great deal for us. We feel like we have the potential to be right where we were.”
While Wilson Hall lost starters at every position group, they have the most continuity on the offensive line. They have two all-state linemen back in center Cooper Scott and tackle Carson Wilsey. Andrew Howle is another returning starter, while they have five other linemen that will likely see some time as they rotate in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Those include Adam Baker, Parker McLeod, Banks Smith, Peyton Gilley and Reese Wilson.
“With who’s coming back, it's the strength of our team,” Jarecki said. “Up front we have more depth and that's going to translate when we start talking about both sides of the ball. That's where
SCOTT'S
we can kind of get some relief there. I feel like this group's been together for so long that that's one of our strengths.”
Many of those guys are going to rotate in on the defensive line, though Wilsey and Gilley will see their defensive snaps come at linebacker. Meyers’ return is a critical addition to their defense, while Jackson Bonser is also back at their shark position, which is akin to a strong safety.
“We have a little depth at linebacker as far as having more people there than we've had in the past,” Jarecki said. “Last year before state championship we had two and there's two on the field, so if something were to happen, we would have had to convert somebody quick to do something different. That's not the case this year, we've got a little bit of depth there.”
In the secondary, Matthews and Creech will both see some time alongside Cooper Hill, Benson Elmore, Galloway and Land. Perhaps the most critical returner is in a new spot, as Naylor takes over for Landon Gilley at free safety.
“That's a big piece of our defensive scheme is what happens at free safety,” Jarecki said. “Landon Gilley was our free safety the last two years and had an exceptional year. We feel like Harris is that athlete that can step right into it.”
LEADERSHIP
With the graduation of a massive senior class, there are suddenly a lot of spots open for leadership roles. Creech is confident the current senior class is ready to fill that void.
“Last year, we were playing under the seniors a lot, but we're also playing alongside him in a lot of spots,” he said. “I feel like experience is probably another thing that will help us because it wasn't just like we were sitting on the bench the entire time.”
Matthews is no stranger to being a vocal leader. As the point guard on the basketball team, he’s in charge of directing the offense. Some of those traits can carry over into football.
“It’s definitely familiar territory where it kind of feels like second nature just to kind of be in that spot,” the
BRANCH FROM PAGE 10C
being a leader regardless of classification in classroom.”
Sophomore all-region linebacker Nyren Bowman noticed a quick change when Fleming came in the door.
“Most people on the team that are still on the team wanted to quit, but when Coach Fleming came in, he brought the energy that made everybody want to stay, so we put the work in,” Bowman said. “We feel like we'll have a great season.”
The Eagles will go with the flow under Fleming. He wants Scott’s Branch to be malleable on both sides of the ball.
liams, Javien Watson, Toby Mauldin, Dwayne Fludd and Travontae Adams.
“We're going to two-platoon it. In 1A football, that's a winning formula because most teams have their best linemen going both ways,” Fleming said. “We really want to have seven linemen. With seven linemen, we really feel like we can make a push.”
tight end said. “It's different a little because basketball is a sport where I'm mainly focused on but yeah, it's helpful being in that light.”
EXPECTATIONS
After playing for the SCISA 3A state title last season, the Barons know that comes with a certain level of expectation. However, they don’t see those expectations as pressure.
“It's less like we're nervous, we're just kind of excited,” Matthews said. “We know we can do it and we know we're ready to do it. We're antsy to get on the field and kind of show that we're here to win.”
If there’s any pressure, it’s the knowledge that Wilson Hall has consistently been on an upward trajectory over the past few years.
“We've done increasingly better for the past three years, and we've always had a motto like ‘next step,’” Creech said. “We made the state championship last year, but we lost, so this year, we might take that next step and win it.”
Jarecki likes the idea of going out and making that final push.
“The last couple of years we’ve kind of set a new standard around here and we wanted to move it to the next level. We got to the finals last year, be it injuries and all,” the Baron head coach said. “That was the goal and that was great to get there, but let's try to win the thing now. I think everything is about finishing this year and trying to get to get over the top of it. With our senior class being as successful as they have been in everything, we feel like this is a great opportunity for us to at least get in that same position to finish it.”
The biggest key to making that final push? Jarecki thinks the most important thing is making sure his team doesn’t get too far ahead of itself.
“We got to kind of concentrate on who we play this week and who do we have now and not look past it,” he said. “Our schedule, basically, is trying to be 1-0 and take care of who we’ve got and things will fall into place and be where they’re at. I don't want them to look at expectations and what they’ve got to do, we’ve got to take care of what's in hand now.”
on.”
More than anything, Scott’s Branch needed an influx of confidence.
“I’m not going into games with individual goals. My big goal this season is to turn the lifestyle around, turn the season around from last year,” Washington-Broomfield said. “We went 2-8 and I don't want to repeat of that. I want to become a winning team, have a winning season, and hopefully win our first playoff game at Lakewood.”
Offord wants nothing more than to bring that playoff win to The Swamp.
“I'm just excited about this group that's coming back and I
“There's no secret that, in the last decade or so, our overall record, we're 30-78 and all of that is not coaching. We're trying to change the program from a culture standpoint. What we have to do is definitely go out there and win and that's the way you change things around, you have success.
“This season, we're looking to have success. In a tough region, we're looking to make a playoff push. We're looking to get into the tournament and then, from there, we're looking to win a game in the tournament. We’ve got to take those types of steps.”
“My motto as a head coach is whatever it takes to win,” he said. “If you’re going to run a 50 front, we’re going to spread you out. If you want to spread us out, we’ll condense it and we’ll pound it. Same thing on defense, we’re multiple.”
The Eagles have plenty of athletes that will help them be multiple. Jaiven Conyers takes over at quarterback surrounded by a slew of sophomores in Bowman, Quinton Jackson, Ja’den Dixon and Danny Ragin.
“That transfer quarterback’s got an arm on him,” Bowman said. “He can get a ball where we need it at.”
Fleming plans to keep his offensive line rested by rotating players in the trenches. Those big fellas include Jayden Holliday, Tyquan Wil-
Defense is Fleming’s bread and butter. With standouts like Bowman, Jackson, Ragin, Jaiden Dixon, Gabriel Johnson, Montrell Session, Christian Green, Jeremiah Butler, Jamauri Calloway and Javier Lawson, he feels they can be flexible enough to succeed.
“On defense, we have four defensive packages, so whatever you're gonna do, we’re trying to stop it,” the Eagles head coach said. “I believe in shutouts. I believe in defense being a mentality. My main thing is to establish a mentality. We’re hunting, we want everybody flying around, but we also want to be smart in their position."
He moved a few guys around this season, which he thinks can make a big difference.
“A lot of guys were out of position last year, so just getting them in the right position, getting them not to think as much and to be aggressive,” Fleming said. “Fast, smart, physical, that’s our motto, that’s what we’re living
“Confidence comes when you’re your best self,” Fleming said. “I preach that to him all the time; it starts when you get up in the morning. You’ve gotta flush the day because you can't go from the past when everything is moving forward. That's the biggest thing. We’re a young group who really hasn't experienced success, so we don’t want the avalanche effect where one bad thing turns into 10. It's getting them in the mind saying, ‘Hey, if I focus, I do my job, we’re better as a team than an individual,’ because this is the ultimate team sport.”
Fleming is ready to set a new standard at Scott’s Branch, and that starts with a strong season in Year 1.
“From 0-10, if we win one game, it’s a success, just being honest,” Fleming quipped.
“But that's not our goal. Our goal is a standard. If you hit the standard, you always hit the goal. The goal is to give your best effort and be your best self. I harp on that with guys all the time. With these young guys and the crime rate and all these bad things happening with these young people, I just encourage them to not be incarcerated about 21 and alive by 25. That's real nowadays in society.”
NICH PITTS / ITEM CONTRIBUTOR
Sumter High head coach Mark Barnes, second from left, sits with John Peeples, left, Kam Fortune, second from right, and Jerius Williams during the Sumter Item's Football Media Day.
horns.
“I didn't want to start him at the beginning of the year, I think it's too much expectation on a young guy like that,” Larrimer said of Lee. “With him being upperclassman now, he's got several regular season games and a trip to the playoffs under his belt. Now he's expected to become kind of more of a spoken leader. It’s going to be interesting to see how he adjusts to that this year.”
The Saints will look different this season out of necessity. Aiken used his blazing speed to rush for 1,494 yards and 20 touchdowns last year, while Elliott led the team comfortably with 23 catches for 459 yards and three scores. Naas, the team’s fullback a year ago, will step into the role of No. 1 running back, while Griffin McIntosh will look to lead the receiving group. McIntosh is the only returning player with more than one reception a year ago.
“I do think it's going to force us to be able to score on offense with different parts, opposed to just using one focal point of an offense. I do think it's going to help us remain more balanced, which is the goal. That was our goal last year,” Larrimer said. “With Thelien, he's kind of transitioning to more of a tailback role this year, so he's worked real hard in the offseason kind of fine-tuning technique and improving his vision and actually becoming more of a wellround back opposed to just a straight powered fullback. He's doing real well for that this year. Griffin, he kind of got some touches last year in the backfield. We're going to transition him out to slot a little bit. He's a great route runner.”
Naas has to play the game a bit differently this season as a running back, but he’s excited to embrace the challenge.
“I was mainly primarily a fullback, it's just aggressive, explosive, no negative yards and that's about it,” Naas said. “Now I have to get way past the linebackers and everything, not just the first down. (I’m) Not nearly as fast as Darius. I’m used to just straight line, nose in the gridiron. Now I’ve gotta have field vision and adjust and everything, which I've worked really hard on in the offseason.”
McIntosh has been a jack of all trades for the Saints throughout his career, so he’s more than happy to move out to receiver more this fall.
“I have played different positions throughout my varsity career, just really where they need me,” he said. “I feel like I’m a pretty versatile guy and I’m excited to kind of get the passing game going and help out in the run game when I need
to.”
Maybe the most difficult loss to account for is Fields, their veteran center. Charlie Roberson will slide over from guard and is filling in the hole nicely.
“That was the trickiest part about the offense in the spring,” Todd said of finding a center. “We experimented with some young guys coming up from JV, but I think we’re going to settle with Charlie Roberson. He's making a move from guard. It’s big shoes to fill up front. I mean, he was calling all of our blocking schemes at the line, ended up being the MVP of our team. Karson Fields is great center, great kid, but I do think Charlie's picking up the torch. I think he's going to do pretty well this year.”
With a school the size of Clarendon Hall, those losses on offense also hurt on defense. The Saints lost nearly their entire secondary with Elliott, Aiken and Robinson, so filling those holes was priority No. 1 on defense.
“Last year, I would say our the strength of our defense was probably our secondary. Transitioning to this year, Darius graduating, Kole graduating, Wilder at corner (graduating). I wouldn’t say our secondary is weak, but we're inexperienced right now,” Larrimer said. “Our front four is definitely going to be our bread and butter. We might have to take a couple extra shots this year and take more of an aggressive approach, opposed to our normal conservative approach. That's just going to force us to be a more versatile team.”
Tommy Lei Atkinson anchors that strong defensive front, while Reynolds drops back from the defensive line to take Mathis’ spot at linebacker. Both are adjusting well to their new spots.
“He’s been fantastic off the edge,” Larrimer said of Atkinson. “Evan Reynolds played up front on the line of scrimmage last year, played some nose, played a little bit of defensive tackle. He's lost about 25, 30 pounds and he looks good right now. We transitioned him to middle linebacker, and he's handling that transition pretty well. I'm really excited to see what he's gonna be able to do in a game.”
Griffin will now be the coach on the field for the Saints, working closely with defensive coordinator Stewart Price to master the scheme.
“Griffin is our more cerebral (player), he's an extremely smart player. Halfway into the season, he was calling plays out before they even ran them,” Larrimer said. “He does all of our scout cards, everything, so he's kind of running the show on the defensive side of the ball.”
MANNING FROM PAGE 9C
The offensive line is where some of the questions arise. Jeremy Blanding and Semaj Bush are back on the offensive line, but the other three are newcomers this season.
“It starts up front, no matter who is carrying the football,” Kennedy said. “We’ve got some good pieces coming back. We got Jeremy Blanding, and he’s leading us up front; he’s the only senior. Our center, Semaj Bush, is a returner for us, and we have some good pieces that fall in coming up from our JV program. We’re going to run the football.”
The Monarchs plan to use Mitchell’s arm a bit more this season, as well.
“We feel like we’re more of a dual-threat team this year,” Kennedy said. “We feel like we can throw it just as well as we can run the football. But we feel like one aspect of
The senior has his hands full as he adjusts to a position change on offense, but he’s not worried about balancing his time on both sides of the ball.
“It just takes a lot of time, just a lot of concentration,” McIntosh said. “What's really helped me a lot is the past couple years, getting to learn the off defense from Coach Price and it just becoming second nature to me, I know how it works, so that allows me to learn more on offense and just be more overall more versatile.”
The biggest question for the Saints early in the season is depth. While they have a good number of seniors, a huge portion of their roster will be freshmen.
“Experienced subs are going to be slim,” Larrimer admitted. “We're lacking some depth right now, so we're really trying to develop that freshman class as quick as possible. We better be in shape, that's all I gotta say.”
One of those freshmen that will play an important role is Wyatt Simpson, a true feel-good story after suffering a serious injury last fall.
“He's kind of filled in at that starting left guard spot,” Larrimer said of Simpson. “He had a great year on a JV last year, had an injury with his neck, so it was kind of scary. For him to even be on a football field, we're all thankful for that, but for him to be on a football field and actually contribute right away, that's extremely exciting.”
After a strong year last season, the Saints want to continue to move in the right direction. Just three years ago, Clarendon Hall was playing 8-man football and now they’re moving into SCISA 2A. That being said, the Saints aren’t keeping their eyes glued on their win total.
“Like Coach Todd always says, it’s the process over results, for sure,” Naas said. “My main goal is to perfect the process, I guess, and the results will come with that.”
Larrimer thinks his team is ready for another step forward. He just hopes his first game doesn’t have the same stress as the opening minutes of their opener last fall as they look to make that push forward.
“The simple answer is get the first snap because the first game last year, we did fumble the first step of the year,” Larrimer quipped about the key to continuing to improve. “That being said, the key to success this year is confidence. I think confidence from our team, knowing that we can play at a high level, and I think the guys have seen that. Just stepping on the field between the lines and having that self-confidence is going to go a long way.”
offseason if they wanted to take the next step.
“I’m maybe too honest with them, but I want them to know where they're at every single day, what our goals are,” Coach Cornelius said. “We don't have dudes. Like Manning, when Coach (Reggie) Kennedy was in here, I thought he had an assistant coach beside him with Jalynn (Coard). They’ve got dudes, but what we have are fighters. I try to get them to take on my identity, which is being stubborn and never giving up.”
Coach Cornelius runs a complicated offense, which includes a lot of moving pieces in the backfield and a runpass option system. This offseason, he was excited to build on what EC was able to install during his first year with the team.
“I feel like our offense was already complicated, and all we've done is add on to it,” he said. “We're gonna be doing a lot of RPOing this year, so you got to put a lot of trust in the quarterbacks that we have to do it. Some fans might not understand why we're running the ball on third-and-eight, but it's all based on the quarterback and what he sees.”
That quarterback will once again be the head coach’s son, Takoda Cornelius. The junior shifted to quarterback for the first time last year, but he’s fully embraced the role this season.
“I've always said he wasn't a quarterback. He’d never played quarterback until last year. I still joke about it, but he actually looks like quarterback now,” the EC head coach said. “He has a little bit of swag to him; he's not as mechanical. He always says the offense is easy to him, which makes me a little upset because I pride myself on (players needing to) be locked in. You’ve got to be focused. Sometimes we throw some things in practice just to test these guys, but he's done real well. His arm strength has gone up and, of course, he's got legs. He can run.”
The rest of the Wolverines are feeling much more comfortable in the offense during their second go around.
“Just practicing it a lot and getting yelled at for not doing what you're supposed to, it'll make you remember pretty quick,” Mixon joked about picking up the scheme.
Senior wide receiver Darius McCray added, “Last year, it was kind of hard because, not just me, but a lot of guys, it was their first time playing receiver. I feel like we worked so hard this offseason, improving our catching radius, catching, finishing the play, that it's gonna be solid this year.”
lius is excited to have a committee back there this fall.
“Not taking anything from Rod, he did great for us last year, but I feel better at running back this year because of the depth that we have,” Coach Cornelius said. “We're gonna have four running backs, and there's only one on the field at the same time, so they're going to be sharing the reps. We’re going to be faster in the backfield. When you put the quarterback in that piece, we’ve got the three fastest guys on the team back there.”
The Wolverines also have great continuity on the offensive line, returning four main contributors from a year ago.
“My fat boys, my favorite, my linemen,” Coach Cornelius said with a chuckle. “The center will be Colten Baker. Kollin Brown will get in there some, as well. Left guard right now is Jordan Wright; we’ve still got competition. He plays both sides of the ball, so you're going to see Jaylon Barron, also Walker Kirby. On the right side, we're gonna have Mike Woods and Zay Smith.”
A lot of those guys will then flip over to the other side of the ball, where EC returns all but two starters. Unfortunately, they both played the same position.
“On paper, it looks good. We're returning nine starters. Unfortunately, the two that we lost were both our inside backers, who I believe were No. 1 and No. 2 or No. 1 and No. 3 on the team in tackles,” Coach Cornelius said. “We have to fill out that void right there, so we're looking at about five or six guys.”
While linebacker comes with some questions, the defensive secondary is rock solid with the likes of Webb and a trio of Browns, Syrus, Picasso and Braylon at corner. T. Cornelius, Nesbitt, Beard and Wes Springs will all get reps at safety.
“Our weakness last year was at DB, and it was really that we were young. This year we're full up,” the EC head coach said. “I feel like at the first level and third level, we're really good. We’ve just got to figure out that core at inside backer. We're turning everyone up front and in the back.”
The Wolverines are eager to prove they belong in 2A, and that will start in earnest when they face Manning in region play. The Monarchs are coming down from 3A and were ranked ninth in the S.C. Prep Football Media Preseason Polls.
the game sets up the other, so we always try to establish the running game first, and then we build off that.”
Defensively, the Monarchs have a ton of veteran leadership, specifically at linebacker.
“We’ve got our entire linebacking corps coming back from last year with Lamar Hilton, who was our leading tackler last year; Jontavious Canty, who was our second leading tackler; Daquan McFadden, an outside linebacker returning,” Kennedy said. “We’ve got some good pieces at the second level, and we’ve got some guys up front that can do the dirty work to free up those guys to make plays over the top.”
Coard leads the defensive line group, while Ceasar and Cooper return as cornerbacks. The Monarchs will face some new faces behind them at safety, but Kennedy
is confident that they’ve got the horses to thrive.
“That’s one plus for us here at Manning; we’re always kinda top-heavy at the skill positions,” the MHS head coach said. “We were fortunate that the guys behind them had the opportunity to play last year, so the kids who played behind them that are stepping in to fill some of the vacancies we had from last year, they’ve got game experience.”
Kennedy expects to succeed in this move to 2A. In his eyes, only one thing can get in Manning’s way.
“We have to minimize our mistakes, don't beat ourselves,” he said. “It goes back to preparation. We just got to be able to prepare week in and week out. We’ve got to be able to turn the page each week and just keep things moving in the positive direction.”
The EC quarterback will have plenty of weapons around him both through the air and on the ground. The Wolverines have a small army of receivers, all fitting into different roles. McCray and Hunter Matthews fill into the X position, while Jamal Prince is what Coach Cornelius dubbed the “Little Y” and tight end Jesse Floyd is the “Big Y.” Whit Nesbitt and Dawson Beard are out at the Z.
“We run a lot of receivers in and out because basically every play they’re running routes, they’re not blocking,” the East Clarendon head coach said.
The Wolverines are rolling deep in the backfield, too. Mixon, Jay Webb, Syrus Brown and Tyquan Wilson will all get carries, while T. Cornelius isn’t afraid to use his legs. East Clarendon had a workhorse back last year in Rod Shaw, but Coach Corne-
“We have a great relationship with Coach Kennedy. You have my former quarterback (JaRae Mitchell) over there,” Coach Cornelius said. “I know they want to be the big dogs, I believe that's how he said it, that they think they’re going to be the big dogs in the county. What do you think we’re going to do?
“My first goal is to win the county championship. That starts with Scott's Branch Week 0, and it ends with Manning.”
EC doesn’t want to stop with a region title, though.
“Really just be region champs and try to go for state,” Webb said.
His head coach echoed that sentiment.
“For me, not to get any 15yard penalties this year. I tend to get one or two a year,” Coach Cornelius joked. “I want these guys to experience winning. I've done it as a player, I’ve done it as a coach, and I want it so bad for these young men. Our big-picture goals are county, region and state in that order. We’re attacking each game one at a time.”
program.
“I feel like, as a whole team, we want to compete, we want to play, we want to win,” Tillman said. “Everybody's out there trying their best, giving effort, they're doing their lifts. More and more people just keep showing up at practice. Everybody wants to be there and win as a team.”
OFFENSE
The Generals will run a double slot offense this season. That puts a fullback deep in the backfield and will generally put two slots offset behind their tackles. They’ll have plenty of moving pieces in the backfield with Tillman and Carter Hill serving as the primary options in those slot positions. Other noteworthy options at the skill positions are fullback Jake Lessard and wide receiver Sam Petrauschke.
“We want to focus on being good at a handful of things,” Bell said. “We're not trying to do a hundred things, we're trying to get really good at what we want to be and uh just keep growing from there.”
The two slot backs love the optionality of the offense.
“I like being able to get the ball to the outside and set up the middle. I like how there's a lot of movement going on in the offense, so it's a little bit harder for the defense to see what's going on,” Tillman said. “It's a lot different. I feel like it confuses the defense a lot more and makes them change their coverages and whatnot.”
Hill added, “I like the fact that you run the ball and you can also all receive it…You aren’t just stuck at one thing, running the ball or receiving, you can do both.”
Thomas Sumter will run a little bit of a two quarterback system with ju-
nior Andrew Conyers and sophomore Clay Team splitting reps.
“Andrew's a little bit more of a runner type. Clay is a little bit larger of a body but it's really just a case of both of them have done such a good job. Both are there consistently; both understand what we're trying to do,” Bell said. “We want to get our best players on the field and, during the course of the game, I don't want one of those guys not getting in just because they're not the starter per se.”
The biggest question is up front, where senior Aiden Smith is the only player to lock his position in stone.
“The rest of the line, right now, is still a competition but Aiden's shown great leadership,” Bell said. “We have the bodies there, we just have to finalize that. We're not quite there, but we get closer each day.”
DEFENSE
Defensively, Bell wants to run a base
LEE CENTRAL FROM PAGE 11C
bring some guys back and it's done really well so far as far as communication.”
Last season, Lee Central largely threw the football when they were in obvious passing situations. With plenty of returners, Danner is hopeful they’ll be able to open things up a bit more.
“We were definitely under center and kind of grinding it out. We threw when we felt like we kind of needed to, but we've got some pieces, especially with Juju coming in, he's got a unique skill set and he was able to do some things for us as the year went on last year,” Danner said. “We got better. We made some changes within the offense. We felt like coming into this year, we'd be able to be better. Our summer has been good, we’ve thrown the ball a whole lot more than we did.”
In the trenches, Lee Central has three starters back, all of which are seniors. Nate Pitts, Tyler Ford and Nikeyce Porter will get some help from newcomers Demarcus Atkinson and Savion Williams.
“We’ve got more seniors, more people that have seen the game, so this year probably be better with better communication,” Pitts said. Defensively, most of the lineup returns. They’re led by linebacker Shadrach Williams, who has Ezekiel Blake and Tavon McFadden by his side at outside linebacker. Gregg, Jadin Price and Robert Joe complete a veteran defensive front. The secondary is led by Joseph Anderson, Reggie Epps, Harry and Morgan. With plenty of veteran experience, Danner hopes to lean
on his defense, but he knows that football doesn’t always go accord to plan.
“Definitely, in a perfect world,” Danner quipped about being able to trust his defense enough to try some things on offense. “We want to be able to get as many stops as possible and just go back out there and kind of plug away. That's definitely our goal. We want to be able to try to be as good as we can be on defense and give us a chance offensively.”
The Stallions had a bumpy season in 2023, winning four games before falling to eventual state champion Oceanside Collegiate in the first round of the playoffs. While it wasn’t a perfect season, LCHS was able to learn through the hard times.
“We came more together because we faced more adversity,” Pitts said.
“When we’re down in football games losing, everybody wants to fuss and argue, but when you have leaders to step up, everybody comes back together.”
Expectations can be high when a program drops down to a smaller classification, but Danner was quick to make sure his team doesn’t think they’ll just be able to stroll through 1A football.
“When you're coming from a bigger classification to a smaller one, I think people automatically say, ‘Oh, this should be a walk in the park.’ But we walked into an extremely competitive conference. We knew going in that we're going to have to you know be ready to play,” Danner said. “The exciting part about it is that you're playing new people. Since I've been at Lee
LAURENCE MANNING
because (Ferriell) is limited to offense for at least two or three months, but we’ll be fine.”
While The Swampcats are young, Briggs has been impressed by the senior leaders on his team.
“We've got a very strong senior class, even though it's only six or seven kids,” he said. “They're used to winning. We’ve played for six state championships in the last seven years and we came up short on those type deals. But these kids, we’re going to go to work, lunch pail, that’s kind of what we are. Hopefully, at the end of the day, when the season ends, we’re going to be fine.”
FROM PAGE 7C
Laurence Manning has a rich football history. They’ve become a mainstay in championship games, be it in SCISA 3A or 4A. That comes with some added pressure, especially after losing a massive senior class.
“There's definitely a lot of pressure on us because people don't think we'll be as good,” Smith said.
“They're laughing at us,” Briggs interjected. “I told the kids the first day, everybody's laughing at us. They don't think we're gonna do anything this year because we have so many young guys and so many guys that have graduated. They
3-4 defense, but stressed flexibility.
Many of those same names on offense flip over to the defense, but Bell specifically noted the impact junior Max Moreno has made on the defensive side of the ball.
“We're, more times are not, going to have a three-man line, we have a twoshell, and depending on the formation, we may end up in a 3-3, we may end up in a 4-2,” Bell said of his defense.
“We're going to adjust what they do but, once again, we want to simplify it and play fast.”
With such a young team, leadership will be important. Tillman has stepped up in that position on both sides of the ball and relishes the opportunity to help the young crop of Generals.
“I feel like the younger guys, they look up to me. It's cool to hype them up when they make a big play, they make a pick or I make a big play and they're all cheering for me. I like leading them, showing them a good example, try to help them become a better
football player or just better outside of the field.”
TSA had a tough season last year, going 1-8. They’re wiping that clean and looking to make a splash this fall.
“Our goal is to win; our goal right now is to get better each day in practice and win our first game and that cycle just kind of turns back over. After week one, it'll go to week two. Eventually, as we establish the program, we want to make the playoffs, that’s a goal each year,” Bell said.
“We’d like to beat our rival and then make as deep a run into playoffs as we can. From a coaching perspective, I want all of my senior athletes to graduate. I want them to be able to choose the field that they want. We want to place them out in the community here and have, when you guys run into them couple years from now, you say, ‘I remember those guys they’re Generals. They're good guys, and they're making a positive impact in the community.’”
Central, I've been able to be in a few different conferences and play a lot of different people, so there's always excitement when you're going to new venues and playing new people and forming new rivalry games.
“I think our kids are excited because we’re looking to turn a new leaf and really work hard for a better year.”
The Stallions are hungry. They’re ready to hit the ground running this fall.
“I think the sky's the limit for this football team. They've been a really good group to coach so far,” Danner said. “They've helped me grow in a lot of areas, and I'm excited about that. It's excited being able to come to practice
think that this year is going to be the year they're going to pick on Laurence Manning. And I understand that. But from a physical standpoint, we're going to be fine. When it comes to October November, we're going to be fine.”
The Swampcats don’t mind being overlooked.
“It’s just motivation to prove them wrong,” Ferriell said.
Laurence Manning plans to win and they’ll hit you in the mouth in the process.
“We don’t want to be a team that other teams want to play,” Ferriell said. Smith added, “The team that we played is going to know we played them.”
to find out what's going to be different for our guys. I feel like our team has a really good chance to be successful if we can stay focused and be able to persevere through some hard spots, I think that's been the tough thing.
“When you don't always make your mark, there are some negatives that come along with that. From a physical perspective, I feel like we're just as good as anybody else, but we've got to make sure that we are able to handle adversity, being able to respond to your teammate, being able to do those type things. We've got our work cut out for us, but it's more so still about us.”
LEE ACADEMY
FROM PAGE 8C
Defensively, Lee has plenty back. Tom Katkoe is leading the defensive front, while Boyce and T. June roam the middle of the field at linebacker. C. Davis and Bowers line up at outside linebacker, while Brazell and C. June return in the secondary.
“Tucker Boyce at inside linebacker, he's fast, he's strong, he's intelligent. He's a very good player for us,” Furse said of his standout defenders. “Tom Katkoe is our nose guard; he's done a really good job. Trace is our middle linebacker. He's been excellent so far. He's a
big linebacker, but he moves a lot better than maybe you’d think he would if you just looked at him.” While there can be some pressure to follow up on the championship success of previous teams, the Cavs aren’t overly concerned.
“I wouldn’t say there’s pressure because I think we'll get there,” C. Davis said. “I think we've got a very well coached team and a very talented team. There's a little bit of pressure to get there, but I think we'll be able to handle that very well.”
PHOTO BY NICH PITTS
From left, Lee Central's Juju Davis, head coach Justin Danner and Nate Pitts speak at The Sumter Item's Football Media Day on Aug. 10.
NICH PITTS / ITEM CONTRIBUTOR
From left, Thomas Sumter's Carter Hill, head coach Stacy Bell and Jordan Tillman speak at The Sumter Item's Football Media Day.
