South RBs Bring Monster Resumes To Touchstone Energy Bowl

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Riddle time.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What has 10 legs, 10,500 yards and 154 rushing touchdowns in the last three months?&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Answer: The five-headed running back monster playing for the South squad in this week's Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hartsville's [player_tooltip player_id='202738' first='J'Shawn' last='Anderson'], Lexington's [player_tooltip player_id='443502' first='Jonah' last='Norris'], Johnsonville's <strong>Daquan Burroughs</strong>, Beaufort's [player_tooltip player_id='336146' first='Kacy' last='Fields'] and Barnwell's [player_tooltip player_id='262552' first='Tyler' last='J Smith'] will all be wearing red uniforms Saturday in what has to be considered the position's biggest collection of production in event history. The five players lit up scoreboards and opposing defenses this season, and now each of them will be a viable game-breaking option out of the backfield for South head coach Justin Gentry.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I'm just excited to be able to have them all on my team,” Gentry said in advance of the 75th annual North-South game. "I'm glad we're not having to prepare for them. That's a special group right there.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Each of the five put on a show this year for his respective team.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Anderson, who has been starting since his sophomore year at Hartsville, put up his best season to date, rushing for 1405 yards and 23 touchdowns this fall for the Red Foxes.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Burroughs, a 6-foot-1, 195-pounder, led Johnsonville to the Class A state championship by rushing for 1,781 yards and 23 touchdowns (stats don't include title game).&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Over at Lexington, Norris, one of the two Mr. Football finalists in this group, returned from an injury during his junior season to tally 1,959 yards and 27 touchdowns.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fields took over the starting tailback job after the start of the year and went on a tear. He ran for more than 2,200 yards and 32 touchdowns, even before Beaufort's Class 3A championship game appearance.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And then there's Smith. The Barnwell senior and another of seven finalists for the state's Mr. Football award had one of the best rushing seasons in South Carolina history. He finished the 2022 season with 2,903 yards and 46 touchdowns.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The next obvious question is whether Gentry will have enough touches to spread around. There are, after all, a bunch of quarterbacks and receivers who expect to be involved in the offense, too.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The South staff has a plan - at least to see how things shake out.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Norris, Anderson, Smith and Burroughs will all get snaps at tailback for the first practice on Wednesday morning. In the afternoon session, Burroughs will trade out with Fields at slot receiver and the Beaufort standout with get his chance to impress from the backfield.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The rotation will continue through Friday's practices to see who can pick up the play calls fastest. But either way, every one of those guys will see plenty of time on the field during Saturday's game. Burroughs and Fields have plenty of experience at receiver (Fields was a starter there in the Class 4A title game a year ago and began this year there, too). Anderson can shift to cornerback if necessary. And Smith is, as Gentry put it, just as good of a linebacker as he is a tailback.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->