2021 Season Preview: St. James Sharks
Tommy Norwood has won enough football games to recognize the biggest hurdle slowing down his St. James football team from taking the next step.
Consistent winning has eluded this program more often than not since the school opened in 2003. Playoff berths have been rare. Winning seasons even more so.
To change that, one undeniable fact will have to be circumvented.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>
“We’re going to blocking with 5-10s, they’re rushing with 6-2s,” Norwood said. “It makes a difference.”
Up front, returning starters <strong>Cam Thomas</strong> and <strong>Grayson Gollie</strong> will anchor a line that Norwood said was three-fifths solid leading into fall camp at the end of this week. And while the biggest issue - there aren’t a bunch of 6-foot-4, 275-pound athletes roaming the halls at St. James - can’t be ignored when going up against the likes of the deeply athletic trenches at region foes Sumter, Carolina Forest and even Conway, the rest of the offense at St. James may be about as strong as it has been in some time.
Starting quarterback <strong>Joey McMenamin</strong> got his feet wet last year, throwing for 506 yards and six touchdowns in limited action. Returning running back <strong>Patrick Gallagher</strong> (439 yards, three touchdowns) averaged better than 5.3 yards per carry.
H-back <strong>Cam Tibbits</strong> led the Sharks with 169 receiver yards and added a pair of scores while serving as a de facto sixth blocker. Returning receiver <strong>Ben Sandt</strong> piled up 144 yards on just seven receptions as the potential deep threat.
And <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="61073" first="Justice" last="Williams"]</strong>, the most dangerous player on that side of the ball, is getting healthy again after injuries shortened his 2020 season.
Defensively, the playmakers have already proved themselves capable of Class 5A football.
Linebacker <strong>Marcus Alston</strong> led the Sharks with 40.5 stops a year ago. A secondary that includes Williams, <strong>Joe Kotwicki</strong> and <strong>Andrew Charlette</strong> can cover a ton of ground.
And defensive end <strong>Bra’Lyan Smith-Sapp</strong> (pictured) appears destined for the NCAA Division-I ranks after a successful junior year and offseason that included some interest and offers.
Norwood, a defensive coach by nature, has already proved he can steady the Sharks defense. This was a team that held everyone outside of Sumter and Carolina Forest to fewer than four touchdowns per game last year. Then again, that isn’t necessarily the problem.
“The defensive lines that people have here, they’re pretty dog gone good,” Norwood said. “You’ve got to be able to throw the short passing game. We haven’t thrown a whole lot, period. But you have to run some option football to slow people down. We’re just not a power team.”
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