What We Saw: District Two Jamboree

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>BOILING SPRINGS |</strong> The District Two Jamboree at Boiling Springs was a bit of a showcase for one of the district's teams, as Chesnee had by far the best showing of the evening, winning the opening matchup 21-0 over Union County in two quarters of action.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Eagles' top performers played pitch-and-catch from the opening kickoff. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1809232' first='Evan-Reece' last='Lawter']</strong> put on a show at quarterback for Chesnee, finishing a perfect 7-for-7 for 163 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He hit a couple of big throws, including one down the middle on the Eagles third play from scrimmage, a long gain to <strong>Jayden Burgess</strong>. That helped set up Chesnee's first touchdown, a score by <strong>Keedyn Platt</strong> that provided an early lead and set the tone. Platt had a good night running the ball for the Eagles, along with <strong>Taven Pesaro</strong>, as each accounted for some hard yards between the tackles. Sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1809771' first='Marquez' last='Franklin']</strong> showed flashes of blazing speed on the edge with a couple of big gains.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But the most explosive performance of the night came courtesy of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1732649' first='Braylon' last='Blanton']</strong>. Blanton (pictured) had just four catches on the night, but those went for 104 yards and four touchdowns, including a circus catch that saw him high-point a throw, pull it in between two defenders, shake free from both, and fight off another defender on the way to the end zone.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the middle game of the night, Ridge View took a 14-6 win over Dorman. The matchup featured a couple of wrinkles, including a really interesting one from Dorman. All-everything defensive back <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='402497' first='Kentavion' last='Anderson']</strong> took some snaps as the triggerman in Dorman's short-yardage GATA formation, scoring the Cavaliers' only TD of the night from two yards out to cap a drive set up by a fumble recovery by <strong>Jaylen Farrington</strong>. Anderson also did plenty on defense, as did DT <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1639739' first='Christian' last='Waring']</strong>, who had a key tackle for loss. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='340230' first='Meek' last='Slydell']</strong> looked solid running Dorman's offense, particularly on the move.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ridge View, meanwhile, showcased some power on offense. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='840548' first='Tre' last='Howard'] </strong>looked just as good with his legs as with his arm, rushing for a touchdown and providing a true dual-threat at QB. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1172363' first='Khristian' last='Jackson'] </strong>hauled in a couple of pretty balls and showed some flashes of what makes him such an electric player. And when the Blazers were grinding out a game-sealing touchdown drive, they turned to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1283827' first='Aidan' last='Keeffe']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1149057' first='Spencer' last='Bobian']</strong>, who churned out tough straight-ahead yards and capped the scoring with Bobian's eight-yard run.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There was no shortage of fireworks in the nightcap, either, as JL Mann turned away a late scoring chance to beat Boiling Springs 12-10. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bulldogs forced a fumble on the first play, scored on a touchdown run from QB <strong>Imri Logan</strong>, and later added a field goal from <strong>Alan Labra</strong>. But a lot of the story for Boiling Springs was their defense. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1036731' first='Dennis' last='Glenn Jr']</strong> looked dominant, demanding double teams up front and freeing up linebackers behind him to make plays. That benefitted <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1592395' first='TJ' last='Collins']</strong>, who flew around making plays, combining with Glenn on a sack and coming up with another tackle for loss along with <strong>Djay Leake</strong>. And <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='473009' first='Jeremiah' last='Favorite']</strong> showed why he's one of the most impactful players in the Upstate, largely by doing nothing. That's because Mann didn't bother to challenge his direction very much. What he DID do was to continue to be an absolute nightmare in the return game, breaking a couple of long returns and putting the Bulldogs in good positions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For JL Mann, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1420582' first='McLeod' last='Darnell']</strong> was impressive at quarterback, notching key completions including a dart in the middle of the field to <strong>Harrison Knight</strong>, which set up a one-yard score from <strong>Aiden Williams</strong>. Williams would score again to give the Patriots their eventual game-winning margin. That came at the end of a drive that saw sophomore <strong>KV Massey</strong> do a lot of the heavy lifting. Massey showed some good speed and plenty of power, picking up tough yardage for Mann. He had the best rushing performance of the night among all players in the Jamboree, with 86 yards on just seven carries.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->