Fort Mill, South Pointe football teams battle to tie in scrimmage

Although it might seem to have been a meaningless scrimmage at South Pointe Friday, Fort Mill High School head coach Ed Susi said he saw some good things he could build on as the Jackets creep closer to the regular season.

Fort Mill and South Pointe battled to a 21-21 tie in the two-hour match-up at District III South Stadium. And while just a scrimmage, Susi said in years past, the Jackets were not able to compete with the three-time defending 4A state champion Stallions.

“We hung in there,” Susi said. “This is going to make us better.”

The one thing that stood out for Fort Mill was that all three of its potential starting quarterbacks – Dylan Helms, JT Marr and Drew Hartman – all threw touchdown passes. None of the three performed poorly, in fact, thus making the job harder for Susi and staff when it comes to naming a starter at for the season opener Aug. 18 against Spring Valley at home.

Defensively, Fort Mill’s secondary shined as the Jackets picked off South Pointe twice, including on the scrimmage-ending drive that forced a tie.

“We need to do a better job of tackling in space,” Susi said. “We are going to see speed all year. We were in position and there were guys in there to make places.”

Fort Mill will have one more preseason scrimmage Friday at home against Weddington.

This story was originally published August 7, 2017 at 2:17 PM with the headline "Fort Mill, South Pointe football teams battle to tie in scrimmage."