2021 Season Preview: South Florence Bruins

Ian Guerin August 10, 2021 @ 08:00 AM

Drew Marlowe threw his players into the fire. After arriving to South Florence and found the program lacking much direction, he felt it was his best option to move the Bruins to where he wanted them to go. No one on his young roster came out of it all hotter than [player_tooltip player_id="146356" first="LaNorris" last="Sellers"]. “I have no earthly idea where that came from,” Marlowe said of Sellers’ first college offer, one from Washington State. “But for the next two weeks, I was on the phone three hours a day with recruiters. That was after me reaching out to everyone.” Not long after, Sellers (pictured above) got an offer that stuck and he verbally committed to Virginia this summer. Quick recruiting cycles happen, of course, but considering that Sellers has two years of high school ball remaining, it’s easy to see why there is some serious optimism here. Sellers accounted for 78 percent of the team’s offense in 2020, when he threw for 1,042 yards and ran for another 374 yards in the pandemic-shortened season. His 17 combined touchdowns (passing and rushing) comprised all but four the team put up throughout the year, further evidence of how much he was relied to carry South Florence. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Sellers has added some significant arm strength, a product of an extra 15 pounds of muscle he’s added since the end of last season. It’s a microcosm of the growth for the entire Bruins team - gradual improvement on a sturdy frame. The quarterback is just one of nine returning starters on offense, while another eight come back on defense. That list includes right tackle Hunter McClary, right guard Justin Joe, center Nate McGee, left guard Connor Jones and left tackle Dy’Quayvon Dickens-Jones. Leading receiver Evin Singletary had 29 catches for 466 yards and a score last year. Jabray Johnson had nine receptions for 196 yards and a team-leading three touchdowns. Both are juniors. The Bruins will also have an experienced linebacker core to lean on this fall. There’s Eric Cooper, the team’s best tackler a year ago, who is back for his senior season after notching 53.5 stops, five tackles for loss and a sack. Fellow senior Denzel Brown had 19.5 tackles, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, an interception and a sack, while senior safety Ziyhon McLaurin had 23.5 tackles, four pass break ups and a forced fumble of his own. And juniors Jaylin Davis and Trokel Prew combined for 45 stops. Davis also had three tackles for loss, three sacks, a forced fumble and two quarterback hurries. That so many of those players have eligibility remaining after this season already has some people wondering about 2022. Marlowe said it’s all part of the plan. “Frankly, this year, we need to learn how to win,” he said. “We need to learn how to play as a group. I see us taking big steps forward this year. But we’re trying to make sure we’re set for ’22. In ’22, I think we’re poised to explode.”