Lowcountry & GSPD First Round Game Balls

The lights always seem to shine a little brighter during the playoffs.    Players up and down the coast were more than up to the additional attention.    From the Grand Strand and Pee Dee down to the Lowcountry, the performances during the first round of the SCHSL playoffs were equally eye-popping and crucial for their respective teams.   Here's what caught our eye.    CLASS 1A   [player_tooltip player_id='1012859' first='Karmello' last='Jones'] ATH, Cross    In beating Green Sea Floyds 48-0, Cross wasn't going to risk Jones more than it had to. He was relegated to 11 offensive carries and saw limited reps on defense. Still, he had three tackles and a tackle for loss from his spot at linebacker. On offense? It was another laughable showing. He finished with 212 yards and two touchdowns on those 11 carries. It was his third 200-yard game of the year and his sixth multi-touchdown rushing performance.    Wenson Smith RB, and Kayon Mulligan WR, Ridgeland   Ridgeland entered its first-round game against Scott's Branch having thrown for just 586 yards on the year while Smith was mostly leading the offense on the ground. Naturally, the Jaguars threw three touchdowns - including two from Smith on unconventional sets. One of those came during Ridgeland's possession in overtime. On Scott's Branch's try, Mulligan picked off a pass that ultimately sent the Jags to the second round.    [player_tooltip player_id='922678' first='Wade' last='Poston'] QB, Hannah-Pamplico   Nearly every starter was on the bench for a good portion of the Raiders' 43-6 win over Military Magnet. Yet, the senior signal-caller still managed to finish the night nine-of-12 passing for 128 yards while rushing six more times for another 43 yards and two touchdowns. He only played in the first half and watched the rest of the game play out alongside most of the other starters.    [player_tooltip player_id='1253894' first='Zoom' last='Jackson'] WR, Lamar   Jackson has had some pretty good games throughout his senior season. Friday against Whitmire was something pretty extraordinary. He finished the 62-0 win with four receptions for 153 yards and four touchdowns. His fifth touch was a punt return that he took back 62 yards for a fifth touchdown. That's five times with the ball in his hands, 215 total yards and five scores.     CLASS 2A   [player_tooltip player_id='1592198' first='Jontavious' last='Canty'] ATH, Manning   Canty is the embodiment of a small-school athlete capable of taking over in all three phases of the game. He did it again against North Central. Ready to hear the 5-foot-10, 195-pound junior's stat line? Offense: Nine carries, 135 yards, two touchdowns. Defensive: Three tackles, one tackle for loss, one fumble recovery returned 30 yards for another touchdowns. Special teams: Two blocked kicks. That's called getting it done for your team.    [player_tooltip player_id='1165165' first='Jaylen' last='Singletary'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1422535' first='Jayvin' last='Risher'] RBs, Hampton County   Since beating Whale Branch on October 25, the Hurricane have been sitting idle. Singletary and Risher were anything but in a 42-14 win over Woodland. Singletary, a junior, used 12 carries to run for 175 yards and a touchdown from 59 yards out. Risher, a sophomore, had 18 carries for 104 and two score. Each player now has 11 rushing touchdowns this year, and Singletary eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing.    [player_tooltip player_id='473015' first='Tyleek' last='Dukes'] ATH, Kingstree   It's sort of crazy to think that as a sophomore Dukes only got one carry on offense. After shifting offense positions from receiver to tailback, he's absolutely caught fire. In the 34-18 win over Whale Branch, Dukes had 29 carries for 221 yards, four touchdowns and a two-point conversion run. It was his second straight 200-yard rushing game and third of the year. He also had a pick and three tackles on defense.    CLASS 3A   [player_tooltip player_id='1672854' first='Mike' last='Waring'] RB, and [player_tooltip player_id='1359150' first='Dru' last='Goldsmith'] WR, Hanahan    Waring, just a freshman, had his veritable breakout game in the 35-10 win against Silver Bluff. He rushed for 129 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. He'd entered the game with 111 yards combined in his first three varsity appearances. Goldsmith set his season high with 139 yards while hauling in seven passes, one of which went for his fourth touchdown of the year.    [player_tooltip player_id='1267317' first='Daniel' last='Capehart'] LB/RB, Dillon   With the Wildcats still nursing their way through a battered crop of tailbacks, new faces are getting touches. In a blowout win over Battery Creek, Capehart was given five carries to go along with all his duties on defense. He turned those into 52 rushing yards and two touchdowns. It boosted what was already a pretty good night for him, as he had eight tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.    [player_tooltip player_id='473016' first='AJ' last='Grate'] LB/RB, Waccamaw   For as good as Year 1 for Swansea was under Willie Fox, Grate ended the turn around campaign on Friday. The junior two-way standout turned nine carries into 172 rushing yards and a score while adding a 38-yard touchdown reception. If that wasn't enough, he had eight total tackles and three tackles for loss from his spot at linebacker.     [player_tooltip player_id='1094944' first='Aiden' last='Manavian'] QB, Oceanside Collegiate   The Landsharks' sophomore quarterback didn't need to throw much in a 56-14 win over Fox Creek. In fact, he attempted only 11 passes, but he made them count. With seven completions, Manavian went for 194 yards and four touchdowns. It was the fourth time this season Manavian had thrown for four touchdowns in a single game. He's now got a 27-to-four touchdown-to-interception rate this year.    CLASS 4A   [player_tooltip player_id='1615056' first='Ford' last='Wallace'] QB, Hartsville   With senior starter [player_tooltip player_id='1578854' first='EJ' last='Smith'] out of the lineup in the first-round win over Beaufort, the Red Foxes turned toward their quarterback of the future. All Wallace did was complete 11-of-13 passes for 234 yards and four touchdowns - two each to [player_tooltip player_id='1592487' first='Tristian' last='Spann'] (three catches, 70 yards) and Casey Hawkins (four receptions, 126 yards). In Wallace's first 23 pass attempts of his varsity career, he's thrown six touchdowns without a pick.   [player_tooltip player_id='1579108' first='Nygel' last='McFadden'] LB, Darlington    In a 22-15 win over Midland Valley, McFadden helped extend his team's season at least another week. The senior safety ended the playoff victory with 17 tackles, two forced fumbles and a pass break-up. He'll be tested against Hartsville - which beat the Falcons 55-0 on October 18 - but a repeat performance the the one in the first round will go a long way.    [player_tooltip player_id='1603740' first='Thaddeus' last='Czarnecki'] LB/RB and [player_tooltip player_id='1013024' first='Troy' last='Timko'] RB, Hilton Head   The Seahawks' dynamic duo was clutch in the team's first playoff victory since 2015. Timko finished the 19-17 win over Crestwood with 138 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries and a 24-yard reception. Czarnecki was held in check on the ground (five carries for eight yards). However, he came up big on defense, where he had eight tackles, a tackle for loss, two quarterback hurries and a forced fumble.   [player_tooltip player_id='1267265' first='Amare' last='Reaves'] DB, and [player_tooltip player_id='272717' first='Tre' last='Leonard'] RB, South Florence   The Bruins jumped all over Brookland-Cayce in the second and third quarters of a 56-20 win. The junior multi-dimensional defensive back and the senior tailback each had a lot to do with that. Leonard ended his night with 11 carries for 162 yards, including a 59-yard touchdown run. Reaves countered with five tackles, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.    [player_tooltip player_id='1592310' first='Quinn' last='Mahoney'] QB, and Zachary Balog and Jacob Mackara WRs, Bishop England   South Aiken could do next to nothing against Bishop England's passing attack Friday. Mahoney, who also ran for 47 yards and a touchdown, passed for 286 yards and four touchdowns. Balog had seven receptions for 174 yards and two of those scores, while Mackara had Mahoney's other three completions, which the senior used to put up 112 yards and the other two passing touchdowns.    [player_tooltip player_id='1360121' first='Tanner' last='Macy'] QB, May River   A year ago, what Macy (pictured) did against Bluffton late might have felt more natural. But the scheme change has taken much of the onus off the senior quarterback to do as much as he did when he was a junior. Still, his 17 carries (just the second time all year he's had double-digit rushes) for 93 yards and three touchdowns doesn't tell the entire story. One of those scores came at the end of the fourth quarter and sent the game to overtime. Then, after both teams scored in the first extra period and Bluffton went up by seven in the second, Macy scored again from three yards out and then added a two-point conversion run that ended the game.    CLASS 5A, DIVISION II   [player_tooltip player_id='985097' first='Landon' last='Cloninger'] QB, and Sloan McIntyre LB, North Myrtle Beach   The Chiefs jumped all over Lucy Beckham and while the final scored was 42-28, the game was never really that close. Cloninger led six straight touchdown drives to propel North Myrtle Beach to a 42-7 lead and finished with a touchdown pass and two scoring runs. McIntyre helped hold the Bengals to just 280 yards of offense, with 40 percent of those coming in the final quarter. The linebacker had 10 tackles, most near the line of scrimmage.    CLASS 5A, DIVISION I   Duke Williams DB/WR, and Anthony Williams WR, Fort Dorchester   Duke Williams' 70-yard interception return for a touchdown sealed the Patriots' 20-10 win over Stratford late in the game. He also played a role on offense, where he caught three passes for 58 yards. Meanwhile, Anthony Williams had five catches for 113 yards and a score to help quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1639886' first='Banks' last='Wickersham'] hit 212 yards.    Jaseyvion Brown DB, and [player_tooltip player_id='605524' first='Amor' last='Scott'] RB, James Island    The junior was vital in the Trojans' 24-2 first-round win over Wando. He recorded a safety, an interception, a pass break-up and four tackles in shutting out the Warriors' offense. Scott's ability to move the ball on offense was also big. He finished with 20 carries for 155 yards. That also led him to another individual milestone. Those 155 yards pushed him past 2,000 for his career   [player_tooltip player_id='402509' first='Trevor' last='Kalisz'] QB, and [player_tooltip player_id='734025' first='Nivay' last='Picou'] WR, Ashley Ridge   With everyone trying to blanket this high-powered passing attack, Picou had his best game of the year. He led the Swamp Foxes with 114 receiving yards and a touchdown on five receptions, giving Ashley Ridge another complement to [player_tooltip player_id='1181027' first='Jaiden' last='Deweese'] (95 yards, touchdown). It helped Kalisz finish 29-of-39 yard for 359 yards and three touchdowns. He added 29 yards and a touchdown on the ground, too.

The lights always seem to shine a little brighter during the playoffs.