McEachern Ends Season 32-0, No GEICO Nationals

On Saturday night in Macon, GA nationally-ranked McEachern completed their undefeated season with a 62-54 victory over defending champion Meadowcreek. Sharife Cooper led the Indians with 20 points while Issac Okoro (Auburn) finished with 16, Alyn Breed had 15 and Jared Jones (Northwestern) had 7 points and 9 rebounds.

Meadowcreek was led by Jalen Benjamin (UAB) 19 points while Jamir Chaplin (South Florida)  and Damian Dunn (Temple) each had 13 points.

McEachern’s season is complete at 32-0. Despite being nationally ranked No.1 or No.2 depending on the outlet and having defeated 9 teams that were ranked nationally at some point during the season the Indians will not be playing in the GEICO Nationals due to scheduling conflicts with several players and the school decided it would not send the team without it’s full complement of players. 

Wheeler and Miller Grove remain the only boys teams from Georgia to participate in the GEICO Nationals, which was formerly known as the Dick’s (Sporting Goods) Nationals when those teams played in the event.

 

South Carolina HSFB Sept 30

Spartanburg’s Coleman Rudolph recovered a block punt by Conner Shurgart for a touchdown for a 6-0 lead just before halftime. BJ Roseburgh capped the Vikings victory with a pick six touchdown in the fourth quarter to defeat Byrnes (1-5) 13-0. Byrnes was shutout for the first time since 2010 in a loss to Hoover, AL and did not score on four red zone opportunities.  Spartanburg (5-2) will have a bye week this week before taking on Dorman. Byrnes will host Boiling Springs this Friday.

Jermani Green got Myrtle Beach off to a fine start returning the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. In the end it was Sessions closing the deal for the Seahawks as they withstood a furious rally from North Myrtle Beach to win the battle of the undefeated teams 42-23. Trailing 29-7 in the third, North Mytrle Beach scored on three straight possessions on an AJ Gore touchdown,  Andrew Smith field goal and touchdown run by Kered Class to pull within 29-23. Sessions then scored his third touchdown of the game from three yards out and Toronto King capped the scoring with a touchdown run moments later in the fourth quarter for Myrtle Beach.

Other games of Interest: 

Top-ranked Northwestern shutout Fort Mill 41-0

Fort Dorchester defeated Stratford 55-6

Dorman defeated Boiling Springs 28-14

South Carolina HSFB Update

Top-ranked 5A Dutch Fork (3-0) topped off its come-from-behind victory over Summerville with a Reese Nichols to Bobby Irby 17-yard touchdown pass with 1:28 remaining to defeat Summerville  30-28. Trailing 17-14 early in the fourth Summerville (1-2) scored 14 unanswered points on touchdowns by runs by DJ Hancock and Derrick White to go up a 28-17 with less than seven minutes remaining. Leading 28-24 with less than three minutes remaining, Summerville quarterback Jonathan Bennett fumbled in Green Wave territory which led to the Nichols to Irby eventual game-winning touchdown. Nichols finished with over 240 yards passing and three touchdowns for the Silver Foxes.

Northwestern (3-1) broke open a 6-all game against Byrnes inthe second half to win 34-12 at Nixon Field in Duncan. Trojan quarterback Gage Moloney passed for over 400 yards and four touchdowns while receiver Wally Wilmore finished with over 170 yards receiving and two touchdown as Northwestern won for the first time at Byrnes since 2001 and for the time against the Rebels since 2013. Byrnes (1-3) has had an interesting summer and early fall at the quarterback spot with as many as five guys vying for the starting job leading up to the season opener. Brock Carroll has gotten the lions share of the reps since being inserted in the Myrtle Beach game. Carroll rushed for a touchdown before leaving the game with an injury and did not return. Dylon Donnahoo-who started the season opener at Myrtle Beach, passed for a touchdown in relief when the game had been decided. The loss should drop Byrnes from the rankings which entered the game ranked ninth in 5A.

Spartanburg (3-1) bounced back from last weeks defeat in Georgia with a 38-7 victory over Union County (2-2).  Zy’Kamren Robinson rushed for two touchdowns, quarterback William Yex passed for two touchdowns and Orinthius Byrd had a pair of interceptions, returning one for a touchdown for Spartanburg.

Other games of interest:

Gaffney took care of West Charlotte 43-7

T.L. Hanna (1-3) has played nothing but ranked foes to open the season and finally picked up its first win of the season with a 21-13 win over Belton-Honea Path (3-1).

Greenwood downed Goose Creek 21-14

Boiling Springs won its third game in a row outlasting Rock Hill 35-32.

Greenville got by Christ Church 41-7 to remain undefeated.

Greer snapped Daniel’s three game winning streak with a 42-28 victory

 

 

High School Football: South Carolina

Spartanburg outlasted T.L. Hanna 14-7 in overtime at Gibbs Stadium. Da’mjai Foster scored the second of his two touchdown in overtime and Spartanburg made an open field tackle on the final play of the game denying the Yellow Jackets the end zone. Davi Dean rushed for over 100 yards and a touchdown for T. L Hanna.

Byrnes raced by Greer 45-7. Brock Carroll passed and rushed for a touchdown each. Quez Mayes and Rajee Harris rushed for touchdowns. Jaiquez Lyles returned a fumble for a touchdown and Noah Means returned an interception for a touchdown for the Rebels defense.

Fort Dorchester won it second straight game with another prolific offensive showing 63-7 over Colleton County. Fort Dorchester quarterback Dakereon Joyner passed for three touchdowns and rushed for another in the first half as the Patriots took a 34-3 halftime lead. Former Colleton County receiver Justin Williams scored three touchdowns in the game for Fort Dorchester.  Joyner finished with four touchdown passes.

Other noteable games:

Northwestern (1-1) returned to its winning ways with a 42-28 win over Dorman (0-2).

Myrtle Beach improved to 2-0 by upending New Hanover (NC) 34-13.

 

High School Football Returns: South Carolina

The 2016 regular season high school football kicked off around the southeast with a slate of games from Thursday night to the wee hours of Sunday morning in what has come to be known as Week Zero. Here is a look at some noteable games from the weekend.

Myrtle Beach forced six turnovers, scoring 21 points off those turnovers and scored a special teams touchdown in a convincing yet surprising 35-19 victory over Byrnes. Seahawks’ Keyonte Sessions rushed for two touchdowns and Chris Weston returned an interception for a touchdown in the first half as Myrtle Beach jumped out to a 28-0 lead on the Rebels. Byrnes pulled to within two possessions in the fourth quarter however the Seahawks put the game away on a 84-yard touchdown pass from Lawson Cribb to Daron Finkley. Myrtle Beach dominated the line of scrimmage particularly on the defensive line causing issues for Byrnes multiple quarterbacks in starter Dylon Dunnahoo and backup Brock Carroll as the pair combined for three interceptions. Wide receiver Demarcus Gregory recorded over 120 yards receiving and a touchdown for the visiting Rebels. Myrtle Beach will host New Hanover (NC) this week while Byrnes will host Greer.

Speaking of turnovers, Spartanburg forced four Summerville turnovers, all in Viking territory, including three inside the 20 and two fumbles inside the Viking five by Green Wave quarterback Jonathan Bennett. Spartanburg quarterback William Yex passed for three touchdowns and rushed for another in his debut as the starting quarterback. Running back Ladarius Jones caught two touchdowns while receiver Romaine Kelly caught the other.Senior Eric Rice showed he’ll need to be accounted for by rushing for over 60 yards in the first half alone for the Vikings. Bennett hooked up twice for touchdowns with Shaq Davis and Darryl Hancock added a rushing touchdown for Summerville. Spartanburg will host TL Hanna (lost 45-35 to Gaffney) this week. Summerville is idle this week and will host Berkeley (lost 32-31 to Daniel) in two weeks.

South Pointe snapped its three-game losing streak to rival Northwestern with a 30-23 victory. South Pointe jumped out to a 9-0 lead behind three fields goals from B.T. Potter in the first half. The Stallions extended their lead to 15-0 on a Derion Kendrick touchdown run in the third quarter. Northwestern would fight back to take a 23-22 lead on a Jerry Howard touchdown run with just over three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. South Pointe would score the game-winning touchdown on a Geomni  Mayfield 5-yard touchdown run and successful two-point conversion reception. Mayfield’s touchdown was setup by a 75-yard run from starting running back Voshon St. Hill. Kendrick rushed for over 100 yards with two touchdowns and passed for over 100 yards for South Pointe. Howard rushed for two touchdowns while falling just shy of 100 yards rushing for Northwestern. South Pointe takes on Nation Ford this week while Northwestern travels to Dorman (lost 35-14 to Bob Jones, AL).

Fort Dorchester won its 16th straight game behind quarterback Dakereon Joyner’s 430-plus yards passing and five touchdowns. Joyner connected with Justin Williams on touchdowns of 72, 80 and 24 yards and Raquan Simmons on touchdowns of 77 and 79 yards as the Patriots from Fort Dorchester held off the Patriots from Sandy Creek (GA) 48-35 at Georgia Southern University. Sandy Creek running back Jaelen Green rushed for over 175 yards and touchdowns against the Fort Dorchester defense.  Fort Dorchester will host Colleton County (lost 46-14 to West Ashley) this week.

Dillon lost a hard fought defensive struggle to Mallard Creek (NC) 7-3 snapping its 37-game winning streak. Mallard Creek held Dillon out of the end zone from inside the ten four times in the second half. The game was marred by highly questionable officiating from start to finish.