Lower State Second Round Game Balls

If Friday night was any indication, the state playoffs are only going to get more insane.   We saw miraculous catches.   Last-minute and overtime victories.   And plenty of monster individual performances to go around.   The Round 2 Game Balls are reflections of all of it. We're still not exactly sure what all we witnessed from Friday night. But let's give it a try just the same.   Here are your top honorees from the week that was.   [player_tooltip player_id='1215391' first='Jayven' last='Williams'] RB, and [player_tooltip player_id='1734517' first='Max' last='Stafford'] QB, Summerville   The Green Wave fell to Ashley Ridge in the regular-season matchup between the two teams. Williams and Stafford made sure the rematch went their way. Stafford went 13-of-20 passing for 243 yards and two touchdowns, as well as a rushing score. Williams needed 22 carries to hit 272 yards and three scores. It all added up to a 48-27 win to send Summerville to a third-round matchup at Carolina Forest. Speaking of…   [player_tooltip player_id='1148537' first='Jaryn' last='Fox'] RB, Carolina Forest   Fox put up a ton of regular-season yards last year, but his big playoff opener went for not when the Panthers were eliminated in the second round of the 2024 playoffs. He got plenty of help this time around, but he also sat around and watched after pumping up his teammates, too. The senior tailback officially finished the second-round win over Fort Dorchester with 12 carries for 201 yards and three touchdowns (slightly less than what we had him for live). He played a few snaps of the second half before cheering on his teammates the rest of the way in a 49-7 victory. Fox will enter the third-round game against Summerville with 1,655 yards and 22 touchdowns rushing on the season.    [player_tooltip player_id='1592342' first='Connor' last='Dantzler'] QB, [player_tooltip player_id='874321' first='Raphael' last='Puiu'] WR, and [player_tooltip player_id='1822902' first='James' last='Hurteau'] WR, James Island   In a game that needed two overtimes, Dantzler, Puiu and Hurteau all took turns doing their thing in the 42-35 win at Sumter. Dantzler - who connected with Hurteau in the second overtime for the eventual game winner - threw for 261 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for another 52 yards and two scores. Puiu caught two of the passing touchdowns. Hurteau had the other two.    [player_tooltip player_id='1165148' first='Jachin' last='Davis'] QB, and [player_tooltip player_id='1822240' first='J'Qwan' last='Crosby'] WR, Stratford   It's funny how the first 47 minutes of a ball game can fall by the wayside real quick when something special happens. Case in point: [player_tooltip player_id='473027' first='Meliq' last='McGowan'] had another big rushing night. But what people will take about from this one is the finish of the Knights' 40-35 win over River Bluff. After falling behind by a point on Gator tailback [player_tooltip player_id='1592250' first='Hayden' last='Myers']' fifth touchdown of the game with 10 seconds to play, Davis and Crosby linked up on a 51-yard Hail Mary as time expired to send River Bluff back to Columbia with an unthinkable loss and Stratford to a third-round home game against James Island. <a href="https://fan.hudl.com/usa/sc/goose-creek/organization/11238/stratford-high-school/team/680437/boys-varsity-football/watch?hr=SGlnaGxpZ2h0UmVlbFN1bW1hcnk2OTE4MTUwN2E3MTZkMmFlZDNiY2EzNTg%3D&ot=TEAM&oi=680437">Give the start-to-finish run down a look to believe it for yourself</a>.   [player_tooltip player_id='1025815' first='Caleb' last='Geronomi'] ATH, White Knoll   There are good nights, and there is whatever you would call what Geronomi did the 14-10 second-round win at home against Lucy Beckham. With the Bengals grinding clock, everything Geronomi did more than made up for a muffed punt he had earlier in the game. Try this on for size: Three catches for 67 yards and a touchdown that would have made Randy Moss blush; eight tackles; two tackles for loss; one pass break-up. The effort pushed the Timberwolves to a rematch with fellow 5A, Division-II Powerhouse Irmo.    Henry Daniel K, Myrtle Beach   With his big brother, Charlie, out of the game again, the Seahawks had no issue turning to the freshman when they needed him most. After handling kickoffs and extra points for a second consecutive game, Daniel connected on a 32-yard field goal with 40 seconds left to break a 21-all tie against old nemesis West Florence and advance to the third round. Prior to Friday, Daniel had attempted only one kick, a 29-yard field goal against North Myrtle Beach in the regular-season finale. While [player_tooltip player_id='1823730' first='Michael' last='Cohen'] had two touchdowns (one receiving, one rushing) and [player_tooltip player_id='1267229' first='Antonio' last='Brown'] also got into the end zone on the ground, it was Daniel's kick that made sure those stuck.    [player_tooltip player_id='1357963' first='Landon' last='Jackson'] DL, Berkeley    Jackson's had bigger nights in terms of tackles, but the impact of his performance was unmistakable. The defensive lineman returned two fumbles for touchdowns in the 48-20 win over Westwood. On the second (highlight below), he picked it up and avoided would-be tacklers all the way to the end zone. Jackson added a sack, four stops and two tackles for loss. In that last category, he now has 20 for the season.     [player_tooltip player_id='1827481' first='Jayden' last='Hatcher'] RB, North Augusta   With Shine Bowler [player_tooltip player_id='402503' first='Mike' last='Doe'] still nursing an injury, Hatcher got his chance to shine again in the 35-7 second-round win at home against Gilbert. Hatcher finished the game with 28 carries for 208 yards and four touchdowns (as well as a 20-yard reception). His first touchdown came in the first quarter from 20 yards away. In the third quarter, he gave North Augusta a two-score advantage before putting the game away with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns.    [player_tooltip player_id='1036777' first='Trevon' last='Williamson'] RB, and [player_tooltip player_id='1623307' first='Xavier' last='Wright'] QB, Gray Collegiate   Williamson and Wright swamped Hartsville and made sure the Red Foxes would have to put up a bunch of points of their own just to keep pace, and Gray's offensive leaders made it look easy. Wright, a freshman, finished 16-of-28 for 302 yards. He three three interceptions, but he more than made up for those with three touchdowns and 71 rushing yards. Williamson continued his own hot individual run by going for another 119 yards and three touchdowns and three receptions for another 32 yards. It was his sixth straight game with at least two touchdowns.    [player_tooltip player_id='1822839' first='Josh' last='Bigger'] DL, [player_tooltip player_id='1822838' first='Will' last='Jimenez'] LB, and [player_tooltip player_id='1422535' first='Jayvin' last='Risher'] ATH, Hilton Head   The Seahawks' defense did some significant work en route to holding Wilson to seven points in the second-round win. Bigger finished with 10 tackles, six tackles for loss, three sacks and four quarterback hurries. Jimenez had 11 tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks, three quarterback hurries, a pass break-up and a fumble recovery. And Risher, who also rushed for 26 yards, had 12 tackles, three tackles for loss, a pass break-up, a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble.     [player_tooltip player_id='1422632' first='Makel' last='Stephens'] RB, Loris   With quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='797160' first='Moon' last='Gerald'] (10-of-20, 97 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions, 56 rushing yards) not having his normally stellar game, Stephens took over when his team needed him. In a 56-20 win over Orangeburg-Wilkinson, the tailback went off for 252 yards and four touchdowns on just 18 carries. He scored from 2, 38, 10 and 2 yards. For good measure, he added a 10-yard reception.     [player_tooltip player_id='1165165' first='Jaylen' last='Singletary'] RB/DB, Hampton County   Stop us if you've heard this before, but Singletary had another huge night. In the 28-10 win over Cheraw, the senior was responsible for all four touchdowns the Hurricanes score. While employing a grind-it-out offensive style to keep the clock moving and the Braves off the field, Singletary had 29 carries for 212 yards and three scores. His fourth score came on defense, when he picked off a pass and took it back to the house. He now how 34 rushing touchdowns this season and 39 overall.    [player_tooltip player_id='1592572' first='JaKari' last='Holloman'] LB/RB, [player_tooltip player_id='1639669' first='Ashten' last='Wilson'] RB and [player_tooltip player_id='1639753' first='Aiden' last='Short'] ATH, Central   The Eagles rolled through East Clarendon and into the third round with a nice joint effort from these three. Short needed only three carries to hit 60 yard and a touchdown and also threw a 47-yard touchdown pass while starting on defense and making a bunch of stops. Wilson had 14 carries for 142 yards and a score. And Holloman averaged better than 50 yards on his three carries, finishing with 155 and two touchdowns. He had another double-digit tackle game to go along with his offensive production.    [player_tooltip player_id='1820181' first='Kenard' last='Heyward'] RB, Carvers Bay (pictured)   We're not done with the 200-yard rushers from Friday. Heyward joined the fray by running all over Lake View in the Bears' 56-8 second-round win. In the first half - before he was pulled to save him for the third-round showdown with Bamberg-Ehrhardt - Heyward rushed for 280 yards and a pair of touchdowns. And the best part is that he did it with just 14 carries. That's right, he averaged exactly 20 yards per carry. That was important because all those long runs got Carvers Bay in and out of a game against an opponent it had already beaten by 25 points earlier in the year without extending itself in the process.   [player_tooltip player_id='1822457' first='Brian' last='Mcmillan'] QB/DB, Bamberg-Ehrhardt   A bunch of Raiders had big nights in the 49-6 thumping of Latta. [player_tooltip player_id='1819949' first='Jason' last='Youmans'] had two touchdowns recipients. [player_tooltip player_id='1196428' first='Jalen' last='McGraw'] had 16 tackles. Darin Sease had 12 tackles, three tackles for loss and two pass break-ups. But McMillan's night was next level. On defense, the junior had 14 tackles, a 90-yard pick-six and two pass break-ups. On offense, he had a casual 11-of-15 passing night for 305 yards and four touchdowns to go along with two rushing scores. Just a ho-hum, seven-touchdown evening.    [player_tooltip player_id='1824345' first='Tristan' last='Heckman'] RB/DB, Pee Dee Academy   By the week, it's getting more and more difficult to understand how Heckman doesn't have more season-long production given what he's done since about mid-September. The 5-foot-9, 190-pound senior two-way player put up five tackles and a tackle for loss on defense, sure, but he also had his biggest offensive game of the season, finishing with 259 yards and four touchdowns in the 34-33 win against Hilton Head Prep. He now has 16 rushing touchdowns for the year, and all of them have come on or after September 19.

If Friday night was any indication, the state playoffs are only going to get more insane.