HS Football 411: #MilltownShowdown preview, plus plays of the week, Stat Monsters
Get schooled up on high school football in The Herald’s coverage area ahead of Week 7 with the latest 411. Click on the links below to jump to a particular section:
Who made the best play in Week 6? Watch, then vote
Week 6 Hawgs of the Week were...
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The Herald’s Bret McCormick and Hall of Fame high school football coach Jimmy Wallace talk about Week 7 games:
Fort Mill (1-6, 0-1 Region 3-5A) at Nation Ford (3-3, 1-0)
Last week: Fort Mill lost to Rock Hill 71-0; Nation Ford beat Clover 23-20
Last meeting: Nation Ford won 20-13 (2017)
Key players: FM - LB/TE Caleb Smith, WR/DB Justin Crimm, P Kyle Romenick, TE/DE Elijah Champagne. NF - ATH Dewuan McCullum (Texas-San Antonio commit), ATH Harrison Cohen, DE Ashten Schaufert, ATH Quinton Jackson.
Need to know: This will be a slightly extended preview, owing to the growing importance and stature of the Milltown Showdown, the Fort Mill rivalry. Fort Mill is coming off one of the most lopsided losses in school history, and it’ll be curious to see how the Yellow Jackets react this week.
“It’s kind of hard to read that game,” Nation Ford coach Michael Allen said about studying film this week.
Injuries to important players have dragged down Fort Mill. The team’s top-two receivers -- Josh Cloud and Alan Stevens -- are both out with long-term injuries, which follows the loss of starting QB J.T. Marr for the year back in the preseason. His replacement, Dylan Helms, is also banged up and barely played in the 71-point loss to Rock Hill. Freshman Cole Rasmussen played most of the game.
Helms was one of several key Yellow Jacket contributors that didn’t play in the second half against Rock Hill, when Fort Mill surrendered 50 points. McNeely said he expects Helms to be ready to go this week, but he simply wasn’t last week.
‘”We had to kind of weigh our season at that point,” McNeely said. “Everybody’s got their own philosophy. We can’t afford to get anyone else hurt.”
Allen’s team has had considerably more fortune with health so far. He said two keys for his team are winning the turnover margin and energy level. When those have gone in the Falcons’ favor, they generally win. When they haven’t, they’ve struggled.
No question that the run game will be central to the game’s outcome. Nation Ford’s Nathan Mahaffey was held in check against Clover, but has four 100-yard-plus rushing efforts in six games. Fort Mill has maybe the most underrated rusher in The Herald’s area, Sebastian Lach, who is the area’s third-leading rusher (796 yards) and has 11 touchdowns. He’s had two straight quiet games. Which one will erupt Friday?
McNeely hopes it’s Lach. When Fort Mill runs the ball well, its defense gets a breather and it feels like the Yellow Jackets have some control over the proceedings.
“It’s big for our psyche too,” McNeely added.
Nation Ford has won four out of the last five against its rival. Allen thinks his team has a high 2018 ceiling, in part because he and his coaching staff haven’t quite found the right spot for all of their athletes. Early October is about the time, though, to finish moving the pieces around, especially with a rivalry game looming Friday. A second Region 3-5A win would put Nation Ford in pole position for a playoff spot.
“We don’t ever have to work to get our kids up to play Fort Mill,” said Allen. “But it’s a region game and that’s our focus this year, is region.”
READ: Latest Tri-County players of the week + The Undefeateds Map (updated)
READ: Local college/NFL players roundup
READ: The High School Football Pivot (from Week 6 to 7)
Northwestern (0-5, 0-0 Region 3-5A) at Clover (4-3, 0-1)
Last week: Northwestern was idle; Clover lost to Nation Ford 23-20
Last meeting: Northwestern won 48-18 (2017)
Key players: N - LB Greg Johnson, DB Fentrell Cypress (Virginia commit), DB D’Arthur Ratchford, ATH Jamario Holley (South Carolina commit). C - OL Clint Sexton, DB Ryan Jones, WR Blackmon Huckabee, QB Gabe Carroll.
Need to know: Clover had a great start in 2017 crumble once the Blue Eagles reached Region 3-5A play, and they have to be a tad anxious about that slide happening again. Northwestern presents a tricky game; the Trojans are 0-5, but four of those losses came against some of the best 4A and 5A teams in the state. South Carolina commit Jamario Holley is back from a dinged hamstring, and played pretty well against Dutch Fork, scoring twice. Clover last beat the Trojans in 2006, but has lost 11 straight to them since. The Blue Eagles need to get running back David Hall going, but also their top receiving weapons, Heze Massey and Zion Robbins, who have been relatively quiet when Clover loses. With balance and avoidance of turnovers, the Blue Eagles should be able to score on Northwestern.
South Pointe (5-1, 1-0 Region 3-4A) at Lancaster (5-1, 1-0)
Last week: South Pointe beat Westwood 32-21; Lancaster beat Richland Northeast 38-0
Last meeting: South Pointe won 45-10 (2017)
Key players: SP - ATH Omega Blake, DB Troy Frazier, OL Kyson Chisholm, LB Dwayne Davis. L - RB Asont’a Clark, OL Jalen Tatah, DL/LB Immanuel Bush, LB Will Burton.
Need to know: Lancaster cannot fall behind South Pointe on Friday. If they can keep pace, the Bruins’ size could cause the Stallions some problems. But keeping pace has always been the issue for Lancaster when it comes to South Pointe; the Bruins are 0-10 all-time against South Pointe. The Stallions showed impressive guts to fend off Westwood last week, and they should have confidence in their own ability to win running the ball, thanks in large part to Joe Ervin. The Coastal Carolina-committed senior is playing like a college running back, putting South Pointe on his back in key moments. He announced a new scholarship offer from the Big 12’s Kansas State this week, and it’s hard to believe other bigger schools aren’t paying close attention, too.
Lee Central (1-4, 0-1 Region 4-2A) at Lewisville (0-6, 0-2)
Last week: Lee Central lost to Chesterfield 21-12; Lewisville lost to Buford 62-30
Key players: LC - DE Trey Robinson, DB Rashad Brown, LB Derrick Joye. L - ATH Jadon Scott, RB/LB Martez Moore, LB Will Stone, ATH Jashawn Jason.
Need to know: Lewisville has returned five kickoffs for touchdowns this season, a product of athletic, speedy return men combined with abundant kickoff return opportunities. The Lions simply haven’t been able to stop opponents defensively this year, a trend exacerbated in Region 4-2A play by huge disparities in depth. Lee Central has had the opposite problem, due in part to injuries to key offensive contributors. The Stallions are scoring just 14.4 points per game, and though they’ve had a pretty tough non-region schedule, they will get an idea of the true severity of their offensive issues when they go against Lewisville.
York (2-3, 1-0 Region 3-4A) at Westwood (4-1, 0-1)
Last week: York beat Ridge View 24-23; Westwood lost to South Pointe 32-21
Last meeting: York won 45-17 (2017)
Key players: Y - LB JayJay McNeal, OL Shaw Littleton, DB Jahari Moore, QB Tanner McKinney. W - WR/DB Cam Atkins, DT Avery Pearson, DB T.J. Blanding.
Need to know: Fascinating matchup here. How will Westwood react to last week’s huge disappointment at South Pointe? With a bit more precision and lethal instinct, the Redhawks -- athletic and very big at skill positions especially -- might have snapped South Pointe’s five-year region win streak. And can York continue its resurgence after a rough start? Seems like the lengthy break the Cougars got from a bye week and Hurricane Florence helped them get sorted out offensively. The answer seemed to be Stephen Oglesby, who has 266 yards and six TDs (and a 96-yard kickoff return score), the last two games, both wins.
Chester (7-0, 1-0 Region 4-3A) at Keenan (1-5, 0-1)
Last week: Chester beat Indian Land 12-9; Keenan
Last meeting: Chester won 50-7 (2017)
Key players: C - DB/WR Zion Mills, OL Wyatt Tunall (Appalachian State commit), DL Quay Evans, DE Teddy Murphy. K - QB Alajuwan Robinson, DE/TE Todd Garrett, DB Jyreik Allen.
Need to know: In its five losses, Keenan has surrendered at least 40 points. That should be music to the ears of a Chester offense that labored last week against a well-prepared Indian Land defense, but will be ready to let it rip again this week. The Raiders don’t have much size, while Victor Floyd has the physically-largest/strongest team he’s had in his second stint at Chester.
The best play from Week 5? Northwestern’s Fentrell Cypress won a huge majority of the vote for his 99-yard interception return touchdown against Dutch Fork. Check out the best plays from Week 6 in the above video, then vote below (or here if you’re on a mobile device):
Carson Murray, Rock Hill - Murray was one of the catalysts for the Bearcats’ 400-yard-plus rushing performance last Friday against Fort Mill. He graded 94 percent with four knockdown blocks, as Rock Hill scored seven rushing TDs, including four longer than 20 yards. Murray is a sharp student, with a 4.6 GPA and goals to go into computer science. “The line as a unit works diligently to prepare week to week for each opponent and Carson’s steady attention to detail makes him the anchor of our unit,” said Marcus Porter, Rock Hill High’s offensive line coach.
Samuel Rygol, Nation Ford - not surprising for a young man that wants to be a Navy Seal, Rygol did whatever it took to help the team during Nation Ford’s 23-20 win over Clover last week. He played on both sides of the ball during the entire second half, at center on offense and middle linebacker on defense. Rygol graded 91 percent with four pancake blocks and zero sacks allowed. Rygol has a 3.6 GPA and Nation Ford o-line coach Taylor Irvin said that Rygol always asks the right questions. Rygol loves Green Bay Packers edge rusher Clay Matthews and hates how the NFL’s new QB protection rules are holding back his favorite player.
Nominated: Dorian Jamison, South Pointe; Clint Sexton, Clover; Will Boggs, York.
This story was originally published October 4, 2018 at 11:46 AM.