What We Saw: Hunter-Kinard-Tyler 60, Ridge Spring-Monetta 8

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NEESES | Trent Summers</strong>, <strong>Darion Stroman</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1575294' first='Omarion' last='Holman']</strong> were the names Hunter-Kinard-Tyler head coach Jermaine Derricott rattled off pregame as among his playmakers out of the backfield.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The former South Carolina State safety great left out a name who was a major contributor in Friday's 60-8 win over Ridge Spring-Monetta.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Helping to clinch the Region III-A title was senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1575290' first='Stetson' last='Stack']</strong> who produced three touchdowns in both sides of the football. He kicked off the scoring with a 5-yard touchdown and added a 43-yard score in the third quarter. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>He then closed out the third quarter and game scoring by picking off quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1604020' first='Jaiden' last='Holloway'] </strong>and returned the football 37 yards for a touchdown.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I don't know what happened,” Stack said. “Every time I touched the ball, something special happened. I just did it for the team to win the region. I appreciate my team since they helped me out. This is my first time playing football since middle school and I just wanted to come help them out for my senior year." </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"He'd been a quiet assassin all year," Derricott said. “I didn't want to let everything out of the bag. Every time he touched the ball, he touches it two times, he'll score one time."&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Derricott also got steller two-way play from senior middle linebacker<strong> Aiden Stroman</strong>. The leader of the defense both verbally and in action, he rushed for a&nbsp; 67-yard touchdown and turned a sideline pass from quarterback<strong> Ahmir Creer</strong> into a 58-yard scoring reception.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>He and the defensive line also showed down Ridge Spring-Monetta after its lone score in a 12-yard run by Holloway in the first quarter. As a team, H-K-T collected five sacks as the defensive line of <strong>Taezon Sprinkle</strong>, <strong>Melvin Hart</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1519361' first='Kaleb' last='Landy']</strong>, <strong>Pierre Fogle </strong>(pictured number 72), <strong>Tyquan Isaac</strong> (pictured number 66) <strong>De'nyrion Cave</strong> pressured Holloway and placed punishing hits on running backs headed in their direction.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Emauri Blue was another defensive lineman who made things difficult for Ridge Spring-Monetta. He did so on special teams with seven touchbacks on kickoffs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Adding to Ridge Spring-Monetta's difficulties was having wide receiver<strong> Red Andrews</strong> leave the game after a hard tackle.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Hunter-Kinard-Tyler secondary, which was down an injured player, finished with three interceptions, two by <strong>John Ross</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As for Derricott's big hitters on offense, Summers rushed for a 28-yard touchdown, Stroman had a tough 34-yard scoring run through the middle of the Ridge Spring-Monetta defense and Holman added a 52-yard scamper.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jamari Wright</strong> also got into the scoring act with a spinning 23-yard touchdown run.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ridge Spring-Monetta did collect an interception to stop H-K-T's first drive and defensive tackle <strong>Austin Nesbitt</strong> had a sack.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With the win, H-K-T claimed its first region title since 1976. It has come a long way in the three seasons under Derricott when it included a large number of players from fellow Orangeburg County School District Five school North.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"We've been flying under the radar all year," Derricott said. "It's kind of how we want it. I've always known how good we were. We played some tough teams which helped. I really wanted us to be prepared for that moment because last year we played Blackville-Hilda, and I felt like the moment was a little too big. We either warmed up too fast and everything.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"So, this year, we played some tougher games. We played Lewisville (which handed H-K-T its lone loss) early. We played (Orangeburg-Wilkinson, a 23-22 road win). We played those tough games in a hostile environment to prepare us."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->