GSPD Week 8 Game Balls

Nearly all of the Grand Strand and Pee Dee's Class 5A teams used Week 8 to hit the reset button while some portions of the state caught back up following long storm-related layoffs.   That didn't eliminate a number of Game Ball-worthy performances from taking place.    From the Pee Dee right on over to the Grand Strand, players put up some serious highlights.    Dillon Defense   Yes, all of them. The showing the Wildcats had on that side of the ball against previously unbeaten Marlboro County was worthy of all the praise. In holding the Bulldogs to just six points on offense (the other score was on special teams), there were standouts all over the field. [player_tooltip player_id='1025771' first='Keryien' last='Brown'] had 17 tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss. [player_tooltip player_id='1267317' first='Daniel' last='Capehart'] had 16 tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss. Daniel Graves picked off two passes, one of which he returned for a touchdown. [player_tooltip player_id='1172360' first='Kelvion' last='Manning'] (pictured) returned a fumble for a touchdown and had a tackle for loss. And on and on. This was arguably the Wildcats' most dominant defensive performance of the season against a team that entered the week averaging 41 points per game.    [player_tooltip player_id='797160' first='Moon' last='Gerald'] QB, Loris    The Lions junior helped Loris jump all over Georgetown and never look back. He finished the 52-0 win 12-of-18 for 301 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He hit [player_tooltip player_id='1656668' first='Khalid' last='Sherman'] with a 35-yard score 79 seconds into the game and then connected with DJ Gibbs from 33 yards out 8 minutes into the first quarter. By the time the second quarter began, Loris was up 28-0 en route to another region victory ahead of this week's game at Marlboro County.    [player_tooltip player_id='1574090' first='Lennix' last='Valarie'] WR, and [player_tooltip player_id='1166986' first='Messiah' last='Jackson'] QB, South Florence    As opponents continue to focus on South Carolina commit [player_tooltip player_id='464881' first='Jayden' last='Sellers'], Valarie is finding his own groove for the Bruins. In the blowout win over Wilson, Valarie hauled in six passes for 113 yards and three touchdowns. He now leads the team in both categories (518 yards, seven touchdowns). It's clear Jackson is getting more comfortable with him, too. The junior quarterback was 12-of-14 for 183 yards and four total touchdown passes. His 17-to-4 touchdowns to interception ratio is looking quite strong.     [player_tooltip player_id='1592473' first='Kylif' last='Miller'] RB, and [player_tooltip player_id='1012620' first='Web' last='Barnes'] LB, Hartsville    The Red Foxes extended their winning streak to six games with a 55-0 win against Darlington. And both Miller and Barnes looked pretty impressive on either side of the ball. Miller, the team's second tailback, needed all of 13 touches (12 carries, one reception) to his 102 total yards of offense. More importantly, he had five rushing touchdowns. Barnes, meanwhile, was Barnes. He ended the game with 15 total tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and his second straight game with a short-yardage rushing touchdowns.    [player_tooltip player_id='1344769' first='Zaireon' last='Skinner'], Kevin Jackson, [player_tooltip player_id='473016' first='AJ' last='Grate'] and Bryce Holloway Waccamaw   The Warriors have two tough games to finish out the regular season. But they also know they're already playoff bound after a big region win at Aynor. Each of the four players above played a hand in that victory. Skinner rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown and recovered a fumble. Jackson rushed for 41 yards and a score and finished with 14 tackles. Grate caught a 26-yard reception and threw a 50-yard pass and had 24 tackles, two tackles for loss and an interception on defense. And Holloway tied it all together with five tackles and an interception while rushing for 103 yards and a touchdown.     Jeffrey Ceasar ATH and Dayvon Bannister DB, Manning   Ceasar returned one kickoff and one punt in the win over Atlantic Collegiate. And he returned both of them for touchdowns. The kickoff return was a 91-yard score, while the punt return touchdown came in at 67 yards. Bannister got into the return action on defense, where he was able to pick off a pass and return it 92 yards for a touchdown. Those three made what was a relatively quiet night on offense inconsequential in a 42-10 win.    Rakeem McCray DL, [player_tooltip player_id='464893' first='Treshon' last='Burgess'] ATH, and Devin Cockfield LB, Lake City   The Panthers were so good on defense and special teams that Marion agreed to a second-quarter running clock. On top of Burgess' kickoff return for a touchdown (and two rushing scores), McCray and Cockfield were dynamic. The defensive lineman finished with nine tackles and six tackles for loss. Cockfield ended the shutout with eight tackles, three tackles for loss, one interception and a quarterback pressure.    [player_tooltip player_id='1165108' first='Zori' last='Pierce'] QB, Lamar    Pierce didn't start hot in the 39-12 win against Lee Central. In fact, he threw his first two interceptions of the season. However, he regrouped to throw for 157 yards and two scores while also rushing for 115 yards and a score. The junior is now just shy of 1,500 combined passing/rushing yards this year while sporting a pretty solid 25-3 touchdown-to-turnover rate.

Nearly all of the Grand Strand and Pee Dee's Class 5A teams used Week 8 to hit the reset button while some portions of the state caught back up following long storm-related layoffs.