Week 1 GSPD Game Balls
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When it’s worth it, we’ll stretch the list of Game Balls we hand out each week. After Thursday and Friday’s game, it’s certainly worth it. The Grand Strand and Pee Dee was full of huge performances that made any chance…
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Continue ReadingWhen it’s worth it, we’ll stretch the list of Game Balls we hand out each week.
After Thursday and Friday’s game, it’s certainly worth it.
The Grand Strand and Pee Dee was full of huge performances that made any chance of cutting this post to even seven or eight players impossible. That’s how good the individual showings were.
Editor’s Note: To nominate your players a Game Ball, please send a member of the Prep Red Zone South Carolina team your players’ performance data by noon Saturday following Friday games.
Hakeem Watters Hakeem Watters 5'6" | 170 lbs | RB Hartsville | 2025 State SC RB, Hartsville
The first-year starter didn’t exactly come into the season without any experience. And he’s proving very quickly he’s a perfect fit for this offense. The junior pumped out 278 yards and three touchdowns on just 17 carries in the 55-26 win against Darlington. The crazy part is he could have had plenty more. The score was lopsided enough in the third quarter that the clock started running, reducing his workload.
Cade Amell QB, Trinity Collegiate
Not only did the Trinity signal caller throw for 219 yards and three touchdowns in just his third career start. And not only is Amell still an eighth grader. Against CA Johnson, he led a game-winning, 70-yard drive with less than 2 minutes to go to give the Titans a 30-26 victory, the team’s first win of the year.
Courtlyn Brunson Courtlyn Brunson 6'0" | 170 lbs | ATH Trinity-Collegiate | 2024 State SC RB/WR/DB/LB/PR, Trinity Collegiate
Brunson (pictured) is starting to take on the job that Brycen Scott Brycen Scott 5'11" | 170 lbs | DB Wilson | 2024 State SC held last year at Trinity, doing a lot of everything on both sides of the ball. In the win over CA Johnson, Brunson had a lengthy list of notables: 25 carries for 140 yards and a touchdown; three receptions for 40 yards, two touchdowns and a two-point conversion; nine total tackles, four tackles for loss and a forced fumble; a 26-yard punt return.
Jamarcus Williams Jamarcus Williams 5'10" | 190 lbs | RB Hannah-Pamplico | 2025 State SC RB, Hannah-Pamplico
A relatively casual night by Williams’ standards, he overcame a slow start against North Central to finish with 17 carries, 167 yards and three touchdowns, as well as a reception that added another 19 yards to his overall total. Just a junior, Williams is now within striking distance of 3,000 total yards from scrimmage for his career, a mark he should probably hit inside of the Raiders’ next two games.
Brandon Cumbee Brandon Cumbee 5'10" | 160 lbs | ATH Andrews | 2025 State SC QB, Andrews
The Yellow Jackets’ junior was heading toward the game of his career when Andrews’ trip to Georgetown was called at halftime because of a fight that led to shot being fired in the parking lot. Up to that point, Cumbee was everything coach Scott Durham believes he can be in his first year as the starter after replacing his older brother, Cam. The young Cumbee needed just two quarters to throw for 109 yards and rush for another 108 yards and two scores against the Bulldogs in a high-scoring game that was surely heading for plenty more production.
Evans Bellamy/Stephen Vereen RBs, North Myrtle Beach
North Myrtle Beach hasn’t had a reliable run game since the end of the 2021 season, but Bellamy and Vereen look to be a strong building block after they combined for 242 yards in the double overtime loss to Loris. The duo did the majority of their damage after the Lions jumped out to a 21-0 lead and looked to be en route to a huge romp. Instead, they kept the chains moving and the Chiefs’ offense looking as good as it has in two seasons. The biggest knock was Vereen’s fumble during the first overtime, but the two tailbacks were largely responsible for leading the come back.
Rivers Johnson QB, Aynor
As anyone who has followed the Blue Jackets the last few years can tell you, this offense is based upon the quarterback’s ability to find holes in the defensive line to punch through. Johnson had his best game to date, taking his 17 carries for 111 yards and a touchdown in the 30-14 win over Kingstree to give Aynor its first win of the 2023 season. Johnson is already more than halfway to his rushing total from last year, when he was playing mostly in a reserve role.
Xavier Dukes Xavier Dukes 5'8" | 145 lbs | ATH Kingstree | 2025 State SC WR, Kingstree
The Blazers aren’t exactly known for big passing/receiving nights. After all, only one player (Nic Brown, three times) was able to eclipse the 100-yard receiving mark in a game last year. Dukes is now the second player in the school’s brief history to have done it. Dukes needed just three receptions in the loss to Aynor to put up 112 yards and two touchdowns, including a 55 yarder in which he got behind the defense and turned it into six points.
Timothy Rawls/Antonio Sirmans DLs, West Florence
West certainly called an audible by moving both of its top defensive standouts – Franklin Emerson Franklin Emerson 6'0" | 220 lbs | ATH West Florence | 2024 State SC and Kelvin Hunter Kelvin Hunter 6'1" | 185 lbs | DB West Florence | 2024 State SC – to offense almost exclusively against Lake City. The change worked, thanks in large part to Rawls and Sirmans. The Knights’ big guys each had considerable nights, as Rawls finished with five tackles, four tackles for loss, one sack and a forced fumble while Sirmans accounted for 4.5 tackles, three tackles for loss a sack and another forced fumble.
La’Ontray Knox RB, Loris
Knox is proving he’s going to take on even more responsibility for leading this offense during his senior year. After rushing for 681 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, he’s already up to 187 yards and three scores this year after his solid performance against North Myrtle Beach on Friday. Knox finished the double-overtime win over the Chiefs with his third touchdown of the game, a 10-yard score. Knox previously had touchdown runs of five and 18 yards.