GSPD Second Round Game Balls

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A tailback making up for a lost backfield mate.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A linebacker with the play of the year to date for his squad.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A quarterback showing off his arm and legs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A two-way threat who had equally impressive showings on both sides of a ball.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And the offensive line of Class 4A's top squad.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This week's Game Balls from the Grand Strand and Pee Dee were worthy of hefty praise after each of these athletes played a major role in sending their respective teams to the third round of the state playoffs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Travion McPhail</strong> RB, Lamar - When Silver Foxes' quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1165108' first='Zori' last='Pierce'] went down with a leg injury, McPhail had little choice but to ramp it up. He did, turning his 22 carries into 108 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the 23-20 win over Carvers Bay. It was McPhail's third consecutive 100-yard rushing game (and fourth of the year) and his fifth straight game with at least one touchdown run.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Freddy Cruz</strong> LB, Lamar - The 5-foot-6, 180-pound senior had another top tackling game, finishing the win over the Bears with 10 total stops. That's been par for the course of him most of the season. He also added two tackles for loss, giving him 12 stops behind the line. Where he made his mark on this game, though, was a late interception that set up Lamar's go-ahead, Grayson Booth 22-yard field goal with two seconds left.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1142820' first='Ethan' last='Hamilton']</strong> QB, Carolina Forest - The team's junior varsity quarterback-turned-varsity safety-turned varsity quarterback put together a pretty solid playoff stat line. He started off the game with a 79-yard touchdown run less than a minute into the win over West Ashley. That helped him rush for 130 yards on just 10 carries and pushed him to 1,045 yards on the season. He also completed three of his five pass attempts for 135 yards, including a 79-yard touchdown pass to <strong>Finnian Mahood</strong>.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='997329' first='Neal' last='Martin']</strong> RB/LB, Johnsonville - Ready for some ridiculousness? Martin (pictured) had a monster evening in the 35-14 win over Lake View that he's probably going to remember for the rest of his life. Against the Wild Gators, Martin had 130 yards and four touchdowns rushing, a 35-yard reception (first highlight) and an out of the backfield. His defensive production was equally impressive: 19 total tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/16440350/654f6fce3449040b9c3f59e6' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-655032b40c57d"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Offensive Line, South Florence - The seven most important members of the South Florence offense this season have been the dudes up front, especially after some injuries pivoted the Bruins to a run-heavy scheme. <strong>Jayden Grainger</strong> (LT), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='589058' first='Justin' last='Joe']</strong> (LG), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1574065' first='EJ' last='King']</strong> (C), <strong>Connor Jones</strong> (RG), <strong>Tyler Cockfield</strong> (RT) <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='393028' first='Rodney' last='Lesane']</strong> (HB) and <strong>Felder Gibson</strong> (TE) did it again in the win over Richland Northeast. They paved the way for <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='272722' first='Zion' last='Gilbert']</strong> (164 yards, touchdown) <strong>Syree Livingston</strong> (123 yards, three touchdowns) and <strong>Raleigh Jett</strong> (82 yards, touchdown). As a team, the Bruins rushed for 408 yards. Most of the squad's highlight reels weren't available yet, but all it takes is a couple runs on Jett's to see how much space the backs were working with against Richland Northeast.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/17060841/654f93be4ba8580f4cb2720f' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-655032b40c5ac"} /-->