Coaches poll: Which players from The Herald’s coverage area graded out well in Week 1?
Like in seasons past, The Herald met with the coaches present at the Tri-County Coaches Association meeting on Tuesday, and the newspaper facilitated a vote among the coaches to determine who would earn Player of the Week awards.
This year, the awards will be split into three classifications: 5A (five area teams); 4A (five area teams); and 3A, 2A, 1A (four area teams).
Here’s who won the Week 1 awards.
5A awards: Northwestern, Nation Ford, Rock Hill
Offensive Player of the Week: Carson Black, Nation Ford’s sophomore quarterback, went 21-33 for 319 yards and four touchdowns in his team’s win over Fort Mill this week.
The other nominee was Northwestern running back Jaylen Chavis.
Offensive Lineman of the Week: Jordan Knox, Northwestern’s left tackle, graded out at 91% with two pancake blocks and three knockdowns. He was part of an offensive line that didn’t give up any sacks in Northwestern’s win over Ridge View on Friday night.
Other nominees included Michael Agnew of Nation Ford and Garrett Pfirman of Rock Hill.
Defensive Player of the Week: Chance Mackey, a Clover defensive back, notched nine tackles, one interception for a touchdown, three pass deflections, five pass breakups and one fumble recovery in his team’s loss to Wren.
Other nominees included Gregory Johnson III of Northwestern and Clayton Rygol of Nation Ford.
Defensive Lineman of the Week: Ravion Cunningham of Rock Hill had 11 tackles (seven of which were solo), three tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble and one QB hurry in his team’s loss to Spring Valley on Friday night.
Other nominees included Bryce Webb of Nation Ford and Isaac McClellan of Northwestern.
Special Teams of the Week: Northwestern kicker Kanoah Vinesett went 4-4 on extra points and nailed two field goals in his team’s Friday night win — including a school-record 53-yarder at the end of first half.
4A awards: South Pointe nearly sweeps awards
Offensive Player of the Week: South Pointe’s O’Mega Blake went 6-12 passing for 107 yards and one touchdown and added seven rushes for 91 yards and two touchdowns in Friday night’s win over Catawba Ridge.
The other nominee was Jadyn Davis of Catawba Ridge.
Offensive Lineman of the Week: Joshua Greenwood of South Pointe graded out at 95% and added 4 pancake blocks and two knockdowns on Friday night.
The other nominee was Seth Petty of York.
Defensive Player of the Week: South Pointe defensive back Troy Frazier notched 12 tackles and a pass break up on Friday night.
Other nominees included Kayden Hager of Catawba Ridge and Dumkele Idehen of Indian Land.
Defensive Lineman of the Week: Indian Land’s JT Knight had five tackles, two tackles for loss and one forced fumble in Indian Land’s loss to York on Friday night.
Special Teams of the Week: South Pointe kicker Colin Karhu was 4-4 on extra points and added a 35-yard field goal on Friday night.
The other nominee was Jordan Burris of York.
3A, 2A, 1A awards: Xavier Brown from Great Falls has a day
Offensive Player of the Week: Xavier Brown was a bright spot for Great Falls in its home-opening loss to Lamar. At quarterback, Brown notched six carries for 142 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
Offensive Lineman of the Week: Jeremiah Days of Chester graded out at 88% with four knockdown blocks.
The other nominee was Wyatt Faulkenberry of Andrew Jackson.
Defensive Player of the Week: Darius Brice of Andrew Jackson notched 14 tackles in his team’s win over Central, helping in a win for the history books: Friday night marked the first Volunteer win in Pageland since 1982, and the second straight win over Central since the program did it in 1981 and 1982.
Defensive Lineman of the Week: Trey Watts of Andrew Jackson was all over the field Friday, recording 11 tackles, five tackles for loss, one sack and one fumble recovery on Friday night.
The other nominee was Jaylin Woods of Chester.
Special Teams Player of the Week: Coley Oliver of Andrew Jackson made six tackles, one sack and returned a blocked punt for a touchdown on Friday night.
Members of the Tri-County Coaches Association include Page Wofford (Northwestern head football coach); Bubba Pittman (Rock Hill head football coach); Rob McNeely (Fort Mill head football coach); Michael Allen (Nation Ford head football coach); Brian Lane (Clover head football coach); Marcus Surratt (Lancaster head football coach); Adam Hastings (Indian Land head football coach); Zac Lendyak (Catawba Ridge head football coach); DeVonte Holloman (South Pointe head football coach); Dean Boyd (York head football coach); Victor Floyd (Chester head football coach); Will Mitchell (Lewisville head football coach); DeMarcus Simons (Great Falls head football coach); and Todd Shigley (Andrew Jackson head football coach).
This story was originally published September 29, 2020 at 3:26 PM.
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