WHAT WE SAW: St. James overwhelms Waccamaw
Few were taken off guard by the fact that Class 5A St. James took down Waccamaw 38-6 Saturday night. But the bigger picture was that it came with new offensive weapons leading the way for a Sharks’ squad hopeful for…
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Continue ReadingFew were taken off guard by the fact that Class 5A St. James took down Waccamaw 38-6 Saturday night.
But the bigger picture was that it came with new offensive weapons leading the way for a Sharks’ squad hopeful for its best season as a member of the state’s largest classification. The team’s leading running back and quarterback were barely afterthoughts in the offense a year ago, and a couple of inexperienced receivers added to what we already know senior Ben Sandt can do.
Anyone who’s watched St. James in the preseason knew the turnover was coming. But first-year starting quarterback Connor Schwalm Connor Schwalm 5'11" | 205 lbs | QB St. James | 2024 State SC went a step further than simply take over.
The 5-foot-11, 205-pound signal caller finished the night 15-of-18 for 243 yards and a pair of passing touchdowns and carried it across the goal line on another score. He showed he could handle an above-average Waccamaw front seven on pocket throws, designed runs and busted plays. While he didn’t set the world on fire, the promise for something special was there in his first career start.
Clearly, this is an offense that has faith in its new signal caller.
In many ways Saturday, the rest of the gang proved how cohesive the entire unit could be.
Ben Sandt, who led the Sharks with 201 receiving yards last season (in just six games), started off the 2022 season with four catches for 77 yards. And since he was drawing plenty of attention, the added bonus for St. James was the use of Jace Shropshire, a 6-foot, 145-pound junior (two receptions, 50 yards, touchdown) and junior tight end Jace Leninger (a 6-foot-4, 190-pounder who with one perfectly run 20-yard seam route set up the Sharks’ third touchdown of the opening half.
Cooper Kelly‘s third-down reception with 4 minutes left in the Q3 was a 37-yard beauty, and a swing route to Ja’Saan Faulkner that same quarter then showed an added development to the passing game – using tailbacks as a backup plan instead of a first option.
We haven’t even mentioned the defense or special teams.
Linebacker Grayson Gollie, a converted defensive lineman, was everywhere Saturday. He put up at least four solo tackles against the Warriors’ run game and was in the backfield one-on-one against quarterback Jaret Yonker on three occasions. None of the three resulted in positive offensive yardage.
Defensive tackle Chris Skinner (6-foot-3, 280 pounds and whom coach Tommy Norwood said “He doesn’t know how good he could be.”) was a run-stopping threat throughout.
And when it came to kicker and punter Daniel Deneen, St. James’ extra weapon showed his worth. This was his night in a nutshell:
*A 32-yard field goal in the fourth quarter;
*One 37-yard punt that pinned Waccamaw on its own 12-yard line;
*Six of his seven kickoffs were no-doubter touchbacks; the one that wasn’t only came after an offside penalty had him kickoff off from the 35;
*On that longer kickoff, Waccamaw’s returner had nothing but the new green turf and Deneen between him and the end zone when the St. James kicker ended those thoughts with a form tackle near midfield.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS
As much as Waccamaw started with what we expected – a 24-yard Jaret Yonker touchdown pass, it was the name on the receiving end that Warriors fans were reminded would be the long-term picture.
AJ Grate hauled in that strike – the team’s only real chance at points all evening – and then him and his twin brother Andre Grate continued to hear their names over the PA system.
Much like we saw in the CNB Kickoff Classic last week, the brothers Grate totaled 15 touches on Waccamaw’s 39 plays from scrimmages. That doesn’t include incomplete passes in which one of the two were targeted but couldn’t make a catch.
The Grates’ ability to flip from the backfield to the outside will be a storyline for years to come.