Best Chances For An Offensive Encore Along The Coast

Ian Guerin August 25, 2021 @ 11:09 AM

Four backfield players from the Pee Dee down to the Lowcountry etched out a focal point for how their teams will likely succeed this year last week. And with bounce-back games on the schedule for this week, all could thrive again. The two running backs and two quarterbacks have at least semi-favorable match-ups, even in the case of the first one, whose team picked up a late contest against one of the state’s best Class 5A squads. [player_tooltip player_id="89329" first="Luke" last="Janack"], CAROLINA FOREST We hardly even mentioned the Panthers’ senior running back after last week, thanks to the breakout performance by first-year starting quarterback Scott Saylor. But make no mistake: Janack (pictured) is the week-to-week star on this team. In just seven carries last week in a huge win over West Brunswick, he went for 152 yards and two touchdowns. We almost missed a chance for a quick return to the field, but Carolina Forest agreed to a game at Fort Dorchester this week. ORLANDO HUDSON, WEST FLORENCE Knights coach Jody Jenerette was really high on his transfer quarterback after a small number of sessions. After concentrating mostly on basketball at nearby Darlington, Hudson moved over to West in the offseason and started to grip the reins of the quarterback job left open by George Henry Floyd (now playing baseball at The Citadel). In his debut at Lexington in Week 0, Hudson ran for 157 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries and threw for another 105 yards and a score. This week against Cheraw, his numbers could be even more bloated. GARVIN DOUGLAS, MAY RIVER Much like Hudson, Douglas took advantage of his first career start. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound quarterback was a serviceable 5-of-13 for 103 yards passing. More importantly, he had 15 carries for 152 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Orangeburg-Wilkinson. This week against Hartsville - a team that has spent nearly half of its preseason in quarantine and then making a long trek to the Lowcountry - Douglass could repeat the performance. FREEMAN BARBER, PORTER GAUD Built more like a fullback, Barber chewed through Bishop England in the annual SCISA-SCHSL rivalry game a week ago. He accounted for all of the Cyclone’s touchdowns in a 20-0 victory, and he ended the game with 221 rushing yards. This week’s opponent, Burke, doesn’t appear to have much in the way of stopping him, either. Porter Gaud will want to make sure he’s firing on all cylinders before the bigger litmus tests begin over the next couple weeks.