West Mecklenburg at Garinger: Offensive Standouts

<p>West Mecklenburg picked up their first win of the season, defeating Garinger 24-7 in a pivotal game for playoff seeding. There were some standout offensive players on both sides in this one, and we'll take a look at them in this article. </p>    <p class="text-gray-700">Drake has started this entire season as a freshman quarterback for the Hawks, and he's shown a lot to like. In this game, Drake had three touchdown passes, along with three two-point conversions. Drake, I wouldn't call a dual-threat player, but he can scramble to make throws outside of the pocket when things break down. I like his confidence in pushing the ball downfield and making plays with his athletic receivers. I spoke with Drake after the game. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1984107977264210179?t=bzMtPLUWBnEKcikukOQZ3Q&s=19 </div></figure>     <p class="text-gray-700">Amaree had two touchdown catches in this game, and he really showed some impressive speed on his first touchdown catch. A straight go route down the sideline, Amaree had a nice release off the line vs. man coverage and just ran past the corner for an easy score. On his second touchdown, Amaree found some open space versus zone coverage, sat down, and made an easy catch in the middle of the end zone. I spoke Amaree after the game. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1984107501663773144?t=BuUHScFQqbQ65rres3bycw&s=19 </div></figure>     <p class="text-gray-700">Dreshaun had a really good game for the Hawks. He had a nice catch in the middle of the end zone for a touchdown, and a couple of other contested catches against man coverage. His TD catch was working off the scramble rule where he broke to open space and his quarterback found him. Another catch of Dreshaun's he was able to high point the football against right man coverage and make an impressive catch while falling down. On his third nice catch, Dreshaun ran a crossing route over the middle and was able to juke and elude several defenders after the catch. For a freshman, he showed he has a real future as a slot receiver and possibly in the return game with his elusive ability. </p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Shawn had a couple of nice runs in this game, but his yardage was well earned because Garinger seemed to be really focused on shutting anything down in the running game before it got going. When Shawn did get free, it was more so on the edges of the defense where he could use his good speed to get into space and make some things happen.</p>     <p class="text-gray-700">The Wildcats offensive success this season has largely been on the back of Pharr, and they gave him every opportunity to lead them once again in this one. Pharr didn't have a lot of room to operate as the Hawks game plan was obvious - to swarm the running game at all costs. The couple of times Pharr was able to get loose, he showed some nice agility and wiggle with the football in his hands. Most notably, a play where he made a cut to the outside and a stiff arm was definitely highlight worthy. The talent is absolutely there with this young man. </p>     <p class="text-gray-700">The lone Queen City Senior Bowl selection for the Wildcats, Angel played center in this game and I have to say, his snapping and stepping was good, a technique good centers have to perfect in order to operate well in an offense. Garinger operated a lot out of the shotgun also, so this was something important to make sure their offense operated as efficiently as possible. Angel has positional versatility to play both guard and tackle as well, so those are some valuable skills for sure. Angel has hopes of playing at the next level and I'm excited to see him in a few weeks at the Queen City Senior Bowl. </p>

West Mecklenburg picked up their first win of the season, defeating Garinger 24-7 in a pivotal game for playoff seeding. There were some standout offensive players on both sides in this one, and we'll take a look at them in this article.