2022 Preview: Hartsville Red Foxes

Ian Guerin July 13, 2022 @ 08:00 AM

It’s hard to get into what Hartsville brings to the field in 2022 without first looking at the two star running back. [player_tooltip player_id="202738" first="J’Shawn" last="Anderson"] and [player_tooltip player_id="208339" first="Carmello" last="McDaniel"] propelled the Red Foxes to a second-place finish in the ultra-tough Region VI-4A and into the third round of the state playoffs. The way coach Jeff Calabrese sees it, they’re the tip of the spear. But not the staff. “Those two kids are phenomenally talented,” Calabrese said. “Whether or not [everyone else] did our job will determine our success. They have to hold themselves accountable in blocking as much as they do running the ball. These kids will be productive. What that is, I have no idea.” McDaniel and Anderson (pictured) will each have their choice of colleges when their high school careers are over. Anderson, a senior, rushed for 1,152 yards and 15 scores last season despite being hobbled by an ankle injury at the end of the season. McDaniel, a junior, put up 1,400 yards and 22 touchdowns. That’s 2,552 yards, 27 touchdowns and two all-region selections from two tailbacks on the same team. To say they’re the entire team, though, is disingenuous. The offensive line returns two all-region starters in center [player_tooltip player_id="208333" first="Slayton" last="Stokes"] and left guard Deric Brown. Quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="208342" first="McKendrie" last="Douglas"] is coming off a season in which he threw for 1,279 yards and 10 touchdowns (against five picks) while running for another 367 and two. The special teams (and defense) have an electric weapon in sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="272699" first="Da’Marion" last="Coe"], who gave the team three fields’ lengths worth of kickoff returns and a pair of touchdowns on top of his 23 tackles and a pick from his spot at cornerback. Justin Canty, one of Coe’s partners on the school’s 4x100 relay state championship team in the spring, bookends the other corner starting spot. Hybrid Bryson Jacobs (playing what Hartsville calls its “truck” position) put up 43 tackles and three sacks. Linebacker JD Allen had 31 stops of his own. And safety Treion McFarland is a bonafide star who roams the entire defense and is coming off a 67-tackle, five-interception season. Will that be enough to overcome 11 new starters on offense and defense? That’s the big question for Hartsville right now. The Red Foxes have a brutal schedule start to finish, much like last season when the team started 2-5 before making its run. But the entire goal was to keep building. That doesn’t change. “Each football season is like climbing Mount Everest,” Calabrese said. “No matter how many times you climb the mountain, there will be different things along the way. You’ve got to make sure everything is packed. “Do we have some talent? Absolutely we do. It would be foolish for me to say we don’t. We have some experience. But we have some guys who don’t have experience, too.”