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.
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