TEC Bowl: Thursday Practice Notes

MYRTLE BEACH | William Young took one look at [player_tooltip player_id='139304' first='Chris' last='Dixon'] and had a request.   Dixon, a South Pointe defensive lineman, had just shoved his way through the offensive line and was all up in the quarterback's face.    “Dixon, that was awesome,” said Young, the North head coach at this week's Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl. “But will you let him get the pass off?”   The question was more praise than anything, and considering who Dixon (pictured) was lining up against, the action that led to the coach's comment was even more impressive. Later on, the player himself said the compliment was a nice cherry to the morning sessions.    “It made me feel good - a coach telling me to stop abusing his [offensive] line,” Dixon said.   And, yet, it also wasn't all that surprising.   Dixon used his final season at South Pointe to rack up 32.5 tackles for loss and 21.5 sacks.   How was he able to do that? In many ways Dixon is an anomaly to his own size. He chimed in at an even 6-feet, 260 pounds on Tuesday (Catapult conducts all measurements for the Touchstone Energy Bowl).    That would be par for the course for a small-school defensive tackle, not one at the Class 4A level. The fun part about Dixon is that he's a defensive tackle in name only. For all intents and purposes, he's as comfortable on the edge as he is lined up against guards.    A super quick burst off the snap makes that possible.    “[Dixon has] great speed, a great motor,” Young said. “You can tell he's a leader on that D-Line. He talks a lot, which is fun. I enjoy it. But he's doing a heck of a job.”   The description of Dixon was the embodiment of the North's approach to player selection along the line. None of the guys up front on the defensive side of the ball are overly big, but all of them can move.    For Dixon, the M.O. of the relatively physical practices was just fine, too. While other players around him were looking to take advantage of their size, Dixon relied on his wheels.    It produced a nice morning showing in front of a slew of college coaches, including a number who'd already pulled the trigger with an offer.    “I came here with a mindset to get better, get ready for college, go against the best from around the state and have a good time Saturday,” Dixon said. “I support the contact 100 percent.”   MORE NORTH PRACTICE NOTES   Young was equally complimentary of Dixon's South Pointe teammate, quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='771038' first='Malachi' last='Marshall'].   “His ability to do things with his feet when he gets in trouble in the pocket is impressive,” Young said. “He's able to keep his eyes up while he's working in the pocket.”   Offenses in this game have a tendency to break down in a hurry, and the freelance capabilities - something we've raved around in terms of Marshall before - should do him well in Saturday's game.    Likewise, Saluda tailback [player_tooltip player_id='1142771' first='Kenmane' last='Brunson'] showed off some serious start-stop-start skills throughout the session. At all of 5-foot-4.5 and 167 pounds, the smaller Brunson is using his lack of size to hide behind offensive linemen before making his cuts to the hole. He could have taken several carries to the house Thursday had the play not been whistled dead to keep things moving.    When center [player_tooltip player_id='1001124' first='JT' last='Sowell'] had to be removed from the game due to an injury Wednesday, the North had no choice but to add another center (none of the other offensive linemen selected had played the position). Enter Westside's Nick Hatten - who at 6-foot-2 and 330 pounds is the heaviest player on the North's line. Hatten arrived late Wednesday night and used Thursday to get acclimated to the system and his teammates.    SOUTH PRACTICE NOTES   Maybe the most entertaining one-on-one match-up through the first two days of full-padded practices has been of Ashley Ridge receiver [player_tooltip player_id='589052' first='Derrick' last='Salley'] and corner [player_tooltip player_id='208346' first='Jayden' last='Whaley'] (James Island). Salley (6-foot-3.5, 216 pounds) and Whaley (6-foot-1.5, 192) are both well above average for their respective positions. And neither is likely to be lined up against anyone on Saturday with as much size as their practice counterpart. The two exchanged nice plays against each other, and while we'd likely give the nod to the sure-handed Salley because of how many passes he caught, Whaley certainly didn't get burned on any of them and didn't allow for a deep completion.   Hartsville quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='208342' first='McKendrie' last='Douglas'] played a role in most of Salley's completions, too. Douglas immediately formed a connection with Salley on Wednesday and rode the momentum right into Thursday. The Red Foxes senior had no issue throwing a less-pretty ball if it meant getting into Salley territory quicker.   Dwayne Simmons might have been a tight end most of the year at Ashley Ridge. But he's going to get plenty of looks on the outside Saturday. That's in direct conflict to what the staff intended to do with the block-first player, but also a response to Camden's [player_tooltip player_id='448982' first='Jaquarius' last='Mayrant'] needing to leave the game with an injury. The South staff elected to let South Florence tight end [player_tooltip player_id='393028' first='Rodney' last='Lesane'] do what he does best next to tackle and move Simmons to the fringe.

MYRTLE BEACH | William Young took one look at Chris Dixon Chris Dixon 6'2" | 260 lbs | DL South Pointe | 2024 State SC and had a request.