Class 5A, Division I Lower State First Round Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Summerville, Sumter, Carolina Forest and Cane Bay all earned first round byes and will await the winners of these four games as we move into the Class 5A, Division I playoffs. But these eight teams get things kicked off for the most exciting time of the year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>These are the eight lower seeds in the Lower State field, but each has an opportunity to play its way into a late November, early December run. Who steps up and makes the most of the chance? We will find out starting this Friday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is a look at the keys for the four first round games.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NO. 9 FORT DORCHESTER (5-5) at NO. 8 STRATFORD (5-5)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>These teams met back on September 6 with Fort Dorchester claiming a 26-24 victory. The Patriots lost two of three to end the season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='640683' first='Kevin' last='Johnson']</strong> has taken over the full-time quarterback spot since then and has 945 yards on the season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1198530' first='Jaxon' last='King'] </strong>leads the defense with 51 tackles and has two interceptions to his credit. <strong>Jordan Wright</strong> has three interceptions. Stratford defeated Goose Creek to end the regular season to finish with three wins in the final four games. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1165148' first='Jachin' last='Davis']</strong> (pictured) has over 1,600 passing yards on the season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='464896' first='Darrell' last='Holmes']</strong> is a tackling machine in the middle of the Knights defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>X-FACTOR:</em></strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='473024' first='Ryan' last='Campbell']</strong> was the workhorse the first two times these teams played. He ran for 195 yards and a touchdown and caught three passes for 51 yards and another score. He missed one game earlier this season and the Fort Dorchester offense looked lost in getting shutout against White Knoll. The junior has 1,185 rushing yards with 14 touchdowns and will need to be a huge factor in this one. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/17953867/6725a249293ffa7899fe1b38' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-673276470560d"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NO. 12 SPRING VALLEY (0-10) at NO. 5 RIDGE VIEW (6-4)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Blazers knocked off the Vikings 54-14 back on Oct 4 in the second region game of the season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='840548' first='Tre' last='Howard'] </strong>threw for 300 yards and four touchdowns in that game with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1042719' first='Hayden' last='Morris']</strong> catching three passes for 74 yards and two scores. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1078102' first='Darius' last='Carter']</strong> had three receptions for 94 yards in that game. Howard is over 2,000 yards passing on the season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1149057' first='Spencer' last='Bobian']</strong> has emerged as a dynamic ground threat. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1168540' first='Quency' last='Grant']</strong> leads Ridge View with two interceptions. Spring Valley has struggled offensively and averaged just over 10 points per game. They've faced some injuries and will lean heavily on quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='477819' first='Dylan' last='Redden'] </strong>and running back <strong>Zion Bennett </strong>to supply the firepower.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>X-FACTOR</em></strong>: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1172363' first='Khristian' last='Jackson']</strong> has emerged as a big-play threat on offense and special teams. In a 21-7 win over Blythewood on November 1, the sophomore caught two touchdown passes and returned a punt for another score. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='233146' first='Jordon' last='Gidron']</strong> is still getting back into the flow after suffering a mid-season knee injury but the 6-foot, 175 speedster has emerged as a threat and one of Howard's top targets.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/19474067/673151d6b32319cc18ec8603' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6732764705641"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NO. 11 WANDO (5-5) at NO. 6 JAMES ISLAND (8-2)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Warriors snapped a two-game slide with a 10-7 victory over Lucy Beckham in the final regular season game. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1592323' first='Harris' last='Stone'] </strong>has thrown for 1,716 yards and has a couple of top targets in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1578818' first='Cole' last='Fletcher']</strong> (33 catches for 407 yards and seven touchdowns) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1738855' first='David' last='Vennard']</strong> (24/289/2). <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='205794' first='Brock' last='Feinberg']</strong> is a two-way standout at tight end and linebacker. <strong>Brayden Berry </strong>is the leading tackler with 89 tackles. <strong>Loren Whitehurst</strong> has 10.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks. The Trojans closed the season on a three-game winning streak after dropping consecutive games to West Ashley and Summerville. QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1592342' first='Connor' last='Dantzler'] </strong>(1,412 yards and 12 touchdowns) leads the offensive attack, but James Island leans heavily on its defense. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='272709' first='Malachi' last='Jefferson']</strong> is one of the best in the state on the defensive front and has 32 tackles to go along with 13 tackles for loss and four sacks. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1012698' first='Hendrix' last='Beran']</strong> is on the other side, and he has 32 tackles and 14 tackles for loss. <strong>Coleman Jones</strong> heads up an active linebacker core.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>X-FACTOR</em></strong>: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='605524' first='Amor' last='Scott']</strong> has played in the final six games of the season and has been as good as ever. He missed the first four games of the season but has 503 yards on 74 carries and five touchdowns. He could see his workload increase now that the playoffs have arrived. Scott is the team's leading rusher and gives them a dynamic they didn't have in the early portion of the schedule. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/16052091/672d06b7742f7fc527269b46' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6732764705678"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NO. 7 WEST ASHLEY (4-6) at NO. 10 ASHLEY RIDGE (7-3)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Teams played the final week of the regular season on November 1 and the Swamp Foxes held on for a 47-41 victory. The Wildcats ran for 378 yards in the loss with <strong>William Washington</strong>, <strong>Zion Fuller</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1254089' first='David' last='Dounian']</strong> all going over the 100-yard mark. Dounian, who missed a few games, also threw for 119 yards and two touchdowns. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1249843' first='Davion' last='Kinard-Taylor']</strong> had eight tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble in that game. Ashley Ridge responded with 359 yards passing from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='402509' first='Trevor' last='Kalisz']</strong> in that game. Kalisz has over 3,000 passing yards on the season. The running game with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1157992' first='Jayden' last='Acosta']</strong> never got on track but Kalisz carried the load. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='734025' first='Nivay' last='Picou']</strong> had five receptions for 114 yards in that game. Freshman linebacker <strong>MJ Repass</strong> has been a pleasant surprise with 75 tackles on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>X-FACTOR: </em></strong>We wondered who would replace some of the lost offense production from a season ago and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1181027' first='Jaiden' last='Deweese']</strong> has more than stepped up. The senior receiver has 82 catches for 1,154 yards and 14 touchdowns. He can make all the plays and has a good yards-after-catch average. If he has a big game, defenses can't key in on Acosta and his over 1,200 yards rushing.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/16935480/672e4552ca23f9e56bb0d3c5' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67327647056a5"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->