Lower State Week 7 Game Balls

With much of the coast playing football underwater, we still saw some huge offensive and defensive performances.   Of course, some of those were due to schematic changes to counteract the weather.   But being able to pull off what some of this week's Lower State Game Balls honorees accomplished is only that much more impressive giving the conditions.    As we sprint toward the end of the regular season, each of these players were key in region victories for their respective squads.     [player_tooltip player_id='473014' first='Patrick' last='Belk'] QB, Heathwood Hall (pictured)   Belk has a big arm, but in the 28-6 win against Ben Lippen, he did considerably more damage with his legs than he did through the air (five-of-nine for 49 yards). Belk rushed for 139 yards and four touchdowns on just 12 carries. The Highlanders now have six wins on the year and four straight and will have a week off before finishing off the regular season against Camden Military and Northwood Academy.     [player_tooltip player_id='1172364' first='Mah'ky' last='Green'] RB, Cross    What was supposed to be a big region game against Scotts Branch turned into another lopsided Trojan victory, thanks in large part to Green. The junior tailback (and part-time defensive back) put up his third straight 100-yard rushing games, finishing with 129 and a touchdown on 21 carries. He also caught a 35-yard touchdown reception, connected on a two-point conversion reception, returned a pair of kicks for another 28 yards and tacked on three tackles.    [player_tooltip player_id='1271262' first='Alex' last='Tchoryk'] DE/TE, Philip Simmons   In a lopsided, running-clock blowout over Burke, the Philip Simmons starters mostly had to take advantage of early opportunities before heading to the bench for the second half. Tchoryk did just that. Defensively, he had eight tackles, four tackles for loss and a forced fumble. On offense, he caught a pair of passes from quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1821540' first='Hayes' last='Goddard'] (nine-of-13, 195 yards, three touchdowns). One of those passes went for a touchdown, one of nine the Iron Horses scored on the evening.    [player_tooltip player_id='1165165' first='Jaylen' last='Singletary'] RB, Hampton County    The Hurricanes senior was at it again in a blowout win at Lake Marion. With only 13 carries, he put up an eye-popping 297 yards and three touchdowns. His took his third touch of the game for a 66-yard score. He then added a 62-yard touchdown run and a 69-yard touchdown scamper not long after. Singletary has now surpassed his 1,129 yards from last year (in two fewer games) and has 20 scoring runs on the season.     Lovell Stevenson QB and [player_tooltip player_id='1820895' first='CJ' last='Robinson'] WR, Manning    The Monarchs continued their bounce back from a region-opening loss to East Clarendon on September 26 by putting up their best offensive showing of the season in a 53-20 win at Mullins. Stevenson completed 12-of-19 passes for 235 yards. He threw a pick, but he overwhelmed that miscue with four touchdowns. Robinson hauled in two of those to go along with 135 yards on six receptions. He also added 56 yards on two kickoff returns and nine more yards on a punt return.    [player_tooltip player_id='1395098' first='AJ' last='Lee'] RB, Andrews   Conventional wisdom says Andrews could have abandoned its high-powered rushing attack after falling behind 14-0 to Woodland. But conventional wisdom is also often wrong for a reason. Lee proved that again. The senior tailback got the bulk of the offensive workload, carrying the ball 29 times for 214 yards and three touchdowns. He wasn't stopped behind the line of scrimmage once and his fourth-quarter score ended up being the deciding factor for the Yellow Jackets.    [player_tooltip player_id='1823085' first='Noah' last='Singletary'] RB, and [player_tooltip player_id='1165163' first='Zamaurious' last='Robertson'] WR, Dillon   After the disheartening loss to Loris a week ago, the Wildcats couldn't afford a loss to Aynor. Enter Singletary and Robertson. The tailback needed just 12 carries to put up 116 yards and three touchdowns (5, 24, 4). Meanwhile, Robertson was the primary receiving target, hauling in seven passes for 137 yards and two scores of his own.     [player_tooltip player_id='1094944' first='Aiden' last='Manavian'] QB, Oceanside Collegiate    The rest of the Class 3A Lower State has seen this play out before. Manavian, clearly one of the best quarterbacks to the state, gets into October football and then starts putting up special performance after special performance. In leading the Landsharks to a 49-6 win over North Charleston, Manavian did Manavian things - in this case completing 12-of-14 passes for 272 yards and four touchdowns. More importantly, the junior quarterback didn't throw an interception for the second game in a row. In fact, he's only had two since starting off the season with seven total in losses to Irmo and Calvary Day. Like we said, he's heating up.    [player_tooltip player_id='1319663' first='Royce' last='Williamson'] WR/DB, Gray Collegiate    The Eagles junior caught four passes on Friday, and the most impressive part of that is that two of them were thrown by Airport. The two interceptions he recorded in the 62-7 win gives him six for the year, which places him among the leaders in the state, regardless of class. Offensively, he made the most of his two receptions, too, taking both of them for touchdowns and 70 total yards.    [player_tooltip player_id='1360306' first='Bennett' last='Plane'] WR/DB, [player_tooltip player_id='1816457' first='Andrew' last='Frick'] QB, and [player_tooltip player_id='1816469' first='Avery' last='King'] RB, Brookland-Cayce   The trio of Bearcats each put up tremendous showings in the 20-19 region victory over Aiken, and Brookland-Cayce needed every yard and tackle they had. King ran for 105 yards (his first career 100-yard game) on 16 carries and added five receptions for another 30 yards. Frick was 19-of-29 for 306 yards and three touchdowns and put up another 25 yards on the ground. And Plane? Well, he had a career night. The junior two-way standout hauled in eight of those receptions or 180 yards and all three touchdowns on offense, blocked a pair of PATs on special teams and recorded 10 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble on defense.     [player_tooltip player_id='1043170' first='Wynn' last='Meetze'] RB/DB, Gilbert    Midland Valley entered the game with a bunch of explosive offensive showings this year, but Meetze made sure the Indians left this one with a better result. The senior two-way standout rushed 18 times for 134 yards and two touchdowns (24, 28), if that wasn't enough, he also played a key role on the other side of the ball, too. He picked off a pass and put up three tackles.    [player_tooltip player_id='1592230' first='Sean' last='Mitchell'] RB/DB, May River   It's safe to say the May River coaching staff trusts Mitchell. It's also safe to say Bishop England will be happy when he graduates. In wet conditions Friday night, the senior was given 32 carries, which he took for 178 yards and both of the Sharks' touchdowns in a 14-7 win against Bishop England. It pushed him beyond 1,000 rushing yards (he had 991 as a junior). He also had four tackles on defense. Considering he went for 154 yards and a touchdown last year against Bishop England, he's going to remember this matchup for years to come.   [player_tooltip player_id='1596856' first='Jayden' last='Alston'] DB, [player_tooltip player_id='284135' first='Kamren' last='Long'] QB, and [player_tooltip player_id='1148537' first='Jaryn' last='Fox'] RB, Carolina Forest    The Panthers made another region foe feel helpless, and this time it was Alston, Long and Fox doing considerable damage. Alston, who came into the game with three picks on the year, added two more to go along with five tackles. Long finished nine-of-12 for 201 yards and three touchdowns to three different receivers. Fox needed only nine carries to hit 176yards and two touchdowns. He's now surpassed 1,000 yards on the ground for the second straight season and has 35 career touchdowns rushing/receiving.   [player_tooltip player_id='473027' first='Meliq' last='McGowan'] RB, Stratford   McGowan has already had some big games in a Knights uniform since transferring over from nearby Goose Creek. He put up his best one to date when Stratford desperately needed him. In heavy rains that made throwing the ball futile, the Knights bested Lucy Beckham 29-28 behind 282 yards, three touchdowns and a two-point conversion from McGowan. Considering the teams combined to throw for less than 50 yards, yeah, he picked a good spot to go off.    [player_tooltip player_id='1823169' first='Derrick' last='Austin'] DB, West Florence   Austin is quickly becoming one of the Knights' most influential defenders. He proved it yet again in the 21-7 region victory over Blythewood. The junior corner picked off two passes (doubling up his season tally), returned one of them for a touchdown, forced a fumble and had five tackles.

With much of the coast playing football underwater, we still saw some huge offensive and defensive performances.