High school football notes: South Pointe's Derion Kendrick picks up UNC offer

The togetherness of Indian Land’s football team is illustrated by the players opting for a communal speaker to play music on the bus to and from road games, instead of diving into the individual worlds of their sets of headphones.

The players had to ask coach Michael Mayer’s permission. Mayer doesn’t care for his players’ taste in music, but “You can do it ‘til you lose” was his response.

Indian Land is 4-0, and 1-0 in region play after knocking off Cheraw 26-21 last week. The Braves thumped Indian Land 48-3 last season, but Mayer is coaching a different bunch of Warriors in 2015.

“Last year, any time we’d blow a lead we would end up losing the ball game and pointing fingers, and that type of thing,” said Mayer. “This year it seems like we blow a lead in every game and everyone just looks around and goes, ‘OK, we’ve got to score again.’ Then we’ll score one more time and hold them one more time, and somehow we’ve won the ball game. It’s interesting when you work with 16- or 17-year-old kids. Some years they fall apart, and some years they fight their tails off.”

It’s not just mental, Indian Land is playing better, especially on defense. Mayer’s team isn’t blessed with speed or athleticism, so group pursuit on the defensive side of the ball has been critical. Pursuing as a pack has helped Indian Land to a plus-five turnover margin, thanks to eight fumble recoveries from eight different players; Indian Land’s offensive fumble against Cheraw was its first of the season.

On defense, the first Warrior gets to the ball-carrier and slows him down.

“A lot of our turnovers have been caused by the second person,” Mayer said. “First person grabs them and then there is two or three more hauling butt to get there on pursuit and they’re knocking the ball loose.”

Indian Land’s next four games are on the road. The tough stretch starts Friday with 4-1 Chesterfield, and the chance for a big step toward a region title.

“We’re probably as opposite as you could get,” said Mayer, describing the two teams. “They’re throwing it all over the place, they’ve got speed to burn. We run the football, we play defense and we try to win the kicking game.”

If Indian Land continues to play the way it currently is, Mayer will be hearing a lot more of team’s music over the next month.

“Every now and then they’ll sing a song. You just shake your head and keep on driving, and hope they play good,” he said.

Indian Land and Chester win Lower State realignment appeal

The 2016 realignment is nearly set in stone, with just six schools involved in the last round of appeals Wednesday morning.

Indian Land and Chester were successful in the last round of appeals in getting their region, a new-look 3A region including Fairfield Central, Columbia and Camden, flip-flopped from the Lower State to the Upper State. The region switched with Region 4, which includes teams like Edisto, Strom Thurmond and Swansea that have historically competed in Lower State postseason tournaments.

Most of the other local regions are set, though Richland Northeast is one of the schools appealing Wednesday to either be reclassified or placed in a different region.

Region 4-5A: Clover, Fort Mill, Nation Ford, Northwestern, Rock Hill.

Region 3-4A: Lancaster, Ridge View, Richland Northeast, South Pointe, Westwood, York.

Region 5-3A: Camden, Chester, Columbia, Fairfield Central, Indian Land.

Region 2-A: Governor’s School (no football), Great Falls, Lamar, Lewisville, McBee, Timmonsville.

South Pointe’s timely bye week

South Pointe’s bye week couldn’t be better timed. Coming on the heels of the emotionally draining Northwestern rivalry game and in advance of the start of region play, the Stallions are able to get mentally and physically right.

Prior to last Friday’s loss, the Stallions hadn’t lost in almost a calendar year. Don’t be surprised to see them go on a similar streak again, starting next week against Union County.

Greg Ruff still without an interception this season

Speaking of South Pointe, its quarterback, senior Greg Ruff, has yet to throw an interception this season in 131 pass attempts. The elusive, 5-foot-9 lefty has thrown 16 touchdowns and completed 73 percent of his throws in the first five games of the season, producing a slew of highlights in the process. Making the zero interceptions even more impressive is the fact he was sacked six times Friday against Northwestern and spent much of the game on the run.

It’s tough to say if Ruff will get a chance to quarterback a college football team, simply because of his size. But he has a number of Division I FBS schools interested in his unique abilities, including Eastern Michigan – which got a commitment from one of his favorite receiving targets, Josh Wilkes – and Syracuse, among some others.

Kendrick picks up offer from UNC

One more bit of South Pointe news, sophomore Derion Kendrick tweeted Tuesday evening that he received a scholarship offer from North Carolina. The sophomore defensive back already held offers from Florida, Clemson and South Carolina.

The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder is ranked No. 34 in the country in the class of 2018 by 247sports. Kendrick has four offensive touchdowns in three games and has also been an ever-present at safety for the Stallion defense.

South Pointe coach Strait Herron confirmed the offer shortly after Kendrick made the announcement.

Lewisville gets off the snide at North Central

Lewisville faced North Central last Friday, the first of three straight unbeaten opponents - Lancaster (4-0) is next, followed by undefeated McBee, which comes off a bye week and will not have lost. If there was a game circled on the Lions’ schedule, North Central was it and Will Mitchell’s squad took advantage.

The young Lions had struggled defensively this fall, but shut North Central down in a 12-8 win, holding the previously unbeaten Knights to 94 total yards of offense. Lewisville sacked the Knights six times and had 16 – sixteen! – tackles for loss, to go with an interception and a fumble recovery.

Northwestern ranked nationally

Northwestern’s surge since its season-opening loss to Byrnes has seen the Trojans enter MaxPreps’ national computer rankings at No. 90.

South Pointe drops to No. 2 in 3A

South Pointe’s narrow loss to Northwestern dropped the Stallions a spot in the latest 3A state rankings, released Tuesday. Hartsville, the team South Pointe beat for the 2014 3A state title, ascended to the top spot. The Trojans’ win saw them climb into a tie for fourth with Fort Dorchester, while York also edged up to seventh.

Lancaster continues to climb, moving up to No. 9 in 3A this week, while Fort Mill (4A) and Indian Land (2A) are both still receiving votes for the top-10.

4A

1. Spartanburg; 2. Byrnes; 3. Hillcrest; T4. Fort Dorchester; T4. Northwestern; 6. Westside; 7. York; 8. Dorman; 9. North Augusta; 10. Lexington

Others receiving votes: Westwood, Dutch Fork, Ashley Ridge, Sumter, Fort Mill, Conway, Gaffney

3A

1. Hartsville; 2. South Pointe; 3. Greer; 4. Seneca; 5. Chapin; 6. Belton-Honea Path; 7. Airport; 8. Myrtle Beach; 9. Lancaster; 10. Hilton Head Island

Others receiving votes: Southside, Hanahan, Marlboro County, Union County

2A

1. Dillon; 2. Batesburg-Leesville; 3. Newberry; 4. Abbeville; 5. Timberland; 6. Lake Marion; 7. Strom Thurmond; 8. Woodruff; 9. Fairfield Central; 10. Pendleton

Others receiving votes: Saluda, Chesterfield, Indian Land, Loris, Andrews

1A

1. McBee; 2. Bamberg-Ehrhardt; 3. Christ Church; 4. Allendale-Fairfax; 5. Calhoun County; 6. Lamar; 7. Cross; 8. Lake View; 9. Whitmire; 10. Williston-Elko

Others receiving votes: Southside Christian, Hunter-Kinard-Tyler, C.E. Murray, Estill

Tri-County Coaches’ Awards

4A schools

Offensive player of the week: Jerry Howard, Northwestern- junior running back ran for 167 yards and a touchdown and caught five passes for 57 yards and another score during the Trojans’ win over South Pointe.

Offensive lineman: Garrett Lutz, Clover- Lutz’s 95 percent blocking grade and nine pancake blocks helped Clover rush for 378 yards during its loss to Blythewood.

Defensive player: Jacorius Logan, York, and Corbin Tesimale, Nation Ford- Logan made 12 tackles, including two for a loss, during York’s 40-20 win over Boiling Springs. Tesimale was equally effective, making 12 tackles, with two for a loss and a sack in Nation Ford’s third straight win last Friday.

Defensive lineman: Logan Rudolph, Northwestern- junior defensive end made six tackles and had four sacks for a combined loss of 24 yards against South Pointe. Rudolph also forced a fumble.

Special teams: N/A

1A, 2A, 3A schools

Offensive player of the week: Pha’Leak Brown, Chester- freshman running back had another big game with 12 carries for 169 yards and three touchdowns during the Cyclones’ win over Lower Richland.

Offensive lineman: Tyresse McCree, Lancaster- graded out at 94 percent with four pancake blocks and no sacks allowed during Lancaster’s win over Camden.

Defensive player: Quan Young, Chester- senior strong safety made 10 tackles and broke up three passes during Chester’s blowout of Lower Richland.

Defensive lineman: Najaylin Sanders, Lewisville- defensive lineman had nine tackles, three tackles-for-loss and two sacks during Lewisville’s dominant defensive performance against North Central.

Special teams: Chris Blakeney, Indian Land- senior’s 75-yard kick return during the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ game against Cheraw set up the winning touchdown in a 26-21 contest.

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 6:30 PM with the headline "High school football notes: South Pointe's Derion Kendrick picks up UNC offer."