2022 Preview: Kingstree Blazers

Ian Guerin July 22, 2022 @ 01:04 PM

It might not be the biggest of buses, but Brian Smith is just fine with how his new squad will look getting off of it each Friday.   The new-look Kingstree Blazers - formed from the merger of the former Kingstree High School and CE Murray High School - will be one of the more interesting collections of talent in all of Class 2A this fall. It will include a roughly 60-40 mix of players from the old Kingstree and CE Murray, and yet, the two factions have already meshed.   “It’s been great, football-wise. The kids get along fantastic,” said Smith, who spent seven of the past nine seasons at CE Murray sandwiched around stops at Blythewood and Scott’s Branch. “I don’t see a difference between them last year at CE Murray and this year at Kingstree except we’ve got more talent now. They immediately bought into the greater good. It’s been, thankfully, like clockwork. It’s like they were part of my team already.”   Of course, maybe the biggest piece of the puzzle was a part of Smith’s old squad. [player_tooltip player_id=’89347’ first=’Nic’ last=’Brown’], the talented senior with offers from Miami (Ohio), Eastern Michigan, Middle Tennessee State, The Citadel and a slew of Division-II programs from around the state, is pretty much a beast wherever he lines up.   Last year, for instance, the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder had 20 receptions for 398 yards from his hybrid tight end/receiver spot. Brown (pictured) could split wide and use his huge frame to abuse defensive backs or even linebackers up close, or he could line up next to tackle and add a punishing blocker to the mix.   Defensively, Brown’s numbers were even more outlandish. He piled up 63.5 tackles (using the college formula), 34 tackles for loss (you read that right), five sacks and five forced fumbles. Brown also blocked four punts.   “I still think Nic’s underrated,” Smith said. “You look at his film and he’s all over the film. I don’t see that changing much in 2A.”   The merger did bump the CE Murray players on this new team up a classification, but that also shouldn’t be a big deal for tailback/receiver/linebacker [player_tooltip player_id=’123264’ first=’Amond’ last=’Myers’]. With a similar in-state recruiting haul as Brown, Myers is a dynamic offensive threat who will move more into the backfield this season after spitting time last season. He put up 616 yards and eight touchdowns combined as a junior.   That’s not the end of the Blazers’ star potential.    The offensive line of tackles Malcolm Salters and Tyshawn Dais, guards Taylor Wilson and [player_tooltip player_id=’340390’ first=’James’ last=’Brockington’] and center Mychael Wallace average 6-foot-1 and 265 pounds, a decent figure for teams in larger classifications.   Receiver [player_tooltip player_id=’336145’ first=’Khamis’ last=’Wilson’], all 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds of him, will give incoming starting quarterback JaShaun Dorsey a huge target on the outside opposite of Brown.   On the other side of the ball, Brockington (6-foot-2, 275) should be able to do damage from his defensive end spot (also opposite Brown), while Smith expects big things from defensive back Zaveion McDuffie and linebacker Jafari Slay (6-foot, 230 pounds), the latter of which can cover quite a bit of territory while providing great support at the line.   Simply, this isn’t your average Class 2A program, even considering Kingstree will be forced to navigate region foe Marion and perennial powers Gray Collegiate, Barnwell and Abbeville, as well as Class 2A newcomer Oceanside Collegiate.   “We want to be playing our best ball in November and see where the chips fall when we get there,” Smith said. “I feel like we’ll have a good chance of playing late in November. I’ll put our collection of talent against any of those teams.”

It might not be the biggest of buses, but Brian Smith is just fine with how his new squad will look getting off of it each Friday.