Week 8 Lower State Game Balls

As we close in on the end of the regular season, we continue to see impact performances across the lower state that is going to directly alter and configure postseason seeding and outcomes.   This week we had some shockers along with players we've talked about repeatedly in this weekly column.   Here are this week's edition of Game Balls for the Lower State   Ryan Campbell RB, Ashley Ridge   The Swamp Foxes pulled off one of the bigger shockers of the night in a 42-19 win over Summerville. It was the fact they won but it more had to do with the margin of victory. Campbell was a huge piece of that success as the senior rushed for 200 yards and four touchdowns on 25 carries. That gives Ashley Ridge the top spot in Region 8-AAAAA and they have a showdown with James Island this coming week.    [player_tooltip player_id='1319663' first='Royce' last='Williamson'] ATH and [player_tooltip player_id='1647592' first='Corey' last='Gleaton'] ATH, Gray Collegiate   The War Eagles continued dominance in region play with a 44-7 win over South Aiken and Williamson and Gleaton were again a big reason why. Williams had 79 receiving yards and two touchdowns with an interception. Gleaton had 103 receiving yards and an interception as well.   Kitt McLauchlin QB, Gilbert   The fact that McLauchlin was sitting in the Indians student section for the first game of the season makes this one even more spectacular. The senior hadn't played football since the 8th grade but due to injuries at quarterback, he was asked to come and try out. The baseball pitcher is getting better each week and finished the 30-19 win over Brookland-Cayce with 122 yards passing and two touchdowns to [player_tooltip player_id='1734581' first='RJ' last='Kearse'] on 6-of-13 passing.   [player_tooltip player_id='797160' first='Moon' last='Gerald'] QB, Loris   Gerald had himself a night in the 63-18 victory over Georgetown. The senior was 13-of-16 passing for 289 yards and touchdowns of 50, 15, 29 and 50 yards to four different receivers. [player_tooltip player_id='1821016' first='Khalil' last='Sherman'], [player_tooltip player_id='1656668' first='Khalid' last='Sherman'], [player_tooltip player_id='1422629' first='Roderick' last='Purcha'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1592447' first='Jacobien' last='Lewis'] caught touchdown passes.  He also rushed for 89 yards in five carries and added a 35-yard touchdown run to account for five scores.      Lucas Tejada QB, Clear Dot Charter   Tejada did a little bit of everything in the 33-3 win over North Augusta. The senior was 15-of-20 for 300 yards and passing touchdowns to Torrey Pettigrew and Chad Kea, and he added 86 yards rushing and two scores on just 10 carries. The Bats are 4-4 in their first varsity season and Tejada has been leading the way with nearly 1,600 yards passing.   [player_tooltip player_id='1148537' first='Jaryn' last='Fox'] RB and [player_tooltip player_id='1596856' first='Jayden' last='Alston'] DB, Carolina Forest   The duo of Fox and Alston played huge roles in the Panthers 49-7 win over North Myrtle Beach. Fox carried it 16 times for 220 yards and four touchdowns to pace the offense Alston contributed six tackles and two interceptions, his third two interception game of the season and he did it for the second straight week.   [player_tooltip player_id='1580947' first='Jayden' last='Boyd'] ATH and [player_tooltip player_id='1821209' first='Justin' last='Washington'] DB, Westwood   The Redhawks rallied to defeat Lugoff-Elgin 34-28 and the two seniors had big-time moments in the win. Boyd forced the extra period when he took a hook-and-ladder play 89 yards on the final play in regulation to tie the score at 21 after the extra point conversion. Boyd also caught a 65-yard touchdown from [player_tooltip player_id='1819183' first='Josiah' last='Henryhand'] in regulation. Washington made the game-saving tackle at the two-yard line on the final play of the second extra period to preserve the win.    [player_tooltip player_id='473002' first='Cameron' last='McMillon'] QB, Keenan   After sitting out the required time after transferring from South Pointe, McMillon made his debut in a 28-21 win over Fox Creek. The big-armed senior threw a touchdown pass and ran for another. McMillon is only eligible to play in the final three regular season games for the Raiders, but he helped them to their first region win and snapped a five-game losing streak in the process.   [player_tooltip player_id='1592473' first='Kylif' last='Miller'] RB, Hartsville   The vaunted Red Foxes rushing attack ran wild in the 45-24 victory over Darlington and Miller led the charge. Miller scored three of the five rushing touchdowns ([player_tooltip player_id='1615056' first='Ford' last='Wallace'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1639740' first='Dorian' last='Mason'] had the other two). Miller scored the first TD of the night for Hartsville, added another just before the half and salted the game away with the final touchdown of the night for Hartsville.   [player_tooltip player_id='1654810' first='Drelyn' last='Brown'] RB and [player_tooltip player_id='1822054' first='Jordan' last='Williams'] ATH, Silver Bluff   The Bulldogs stunned previously undefeated Swansea 37-28, and it was Brown and Williams leading the charge. Brown rushed for 102 of his 131 yards and both of his touchdown runs in the first half. That gave Williams time to figure out the quarterback spot in place of the injured Trellis Riley. Williams connected with Riley on the go-ahead 32-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter and also threw a 46-yard TD to [player_tooltip player_id='1820958' first='Jessie' last='Shelley'] in the first half.   [player_tooltip player_id='1824068' first='Jayden' last='Franklin'] ATH, Midland Valley   The Mustangs had watched a 19-point lead erased with a little over two minutes remaining and they faced a one-point deficit against Aiken. That's when Franklin made the play of the night. He scooped up the ensuing kickoff after the Hornets had taken the lead and raced 96 yards for the winning score in the 39-32 win.    [player_tooltip player_id='1603740' first='Thaddeus' last='Czarnecki'] ATH, Hilton Head   It feels like we have Czarnecki in this column weekly but the junior continues to make big plays when needed. In the Seahawks 31-15 win over May River, Czarnecki scored twice, once when he picked up a fumble and rumbled 40 yards and the other on a 54 yard run.   [player_tooltip player_id='1267347' first='Alex' last='Sandt'] QB, St. James   Sandt threw two touchdowns and ran for another to help carry the Sharks to a 36-23 victory over Conway. Sandt threw a 70-yard TD pass to [player_tooltip player_id='1819547' first='Alijah' last='Ochoa'] and later added a TD pass to [player_tooltip player_id='1819550' first='Ayden' last='Smith']. He also scored on a 1-yard run with just over four minutes remaining for the game-winning points before St. James added a late score from [player_tooltip player_id='1819557' first='Frank' last='Glover'] for the final margin.      [player_tooltip player_id='1165163' first='Zamaurious' last='Robertson'] ATH, Dillon   The UNC commitment did it on both sides of the ball in the 20-6 win over Marlboro County. On offense, Robertson caught six passes for 104 yards and a 27-yard TD reception. On defense, he added three tackles and a 70-yard pick six in the fourth quarter the sealed the 20-6 win over the Bulldogs.   Jah'Mir Heyward LB, Berkeley   The Stags offense sputtered in a 17-3 win over Wando but Heyward made up for it. He ripped the ball away from a Warriors ball carrier and returned it for a TD to help spur the 14-point win. Heyward also added four tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack.   [player_tooltip player_id='1165165' first='Jaylen' last='Singletary'] RB, Hampton County   Singletary had his second straight 200-yard rushing performance in the 50-0 win over Barnwell. Singletary finished with 210 yards rushing on 16 carries. It's the fourth straight game Singletary has rushed for three touchdowns in a game and that gives him 23 rushing scores and just shy of 1,400 yards on the season.

As we close in on the end of the regular season, we continue to see impact performances across the lower state that is going to directly alter and configure postseason seeding and outcomes.