For the first time this season, every area team that played during last week’s weather impacted schedule faced a region opponent. So the stakes were high. And for the second week in a row I counted at least a dozen-and-a-half players who posted a stat line that could earn them a player of the week award. But in addition to mining the statistics, we consider the strength of the competition and, most importantly, the impact a player made on winning when we determine which player to name the Best of the Best from the seventh week of the high school football regular season. Let’s scan the area for our winner.
Big Numbers in Blowout Wins
Several of the top running backs and quarterbacks lit up the scoreboard in blowout victories. Barnwell’s Tyler Smith (four touchdowns and 98 yards on seven touches combining rushing and receiving), Thomson’s Jontavis Curry, (three touchdowns and 86 yards on six carries) Harlem’s Jason Williams (two touchdowns and 88 yards on four carries), and Hephzibah’s Telly Johnson (four touchdowns and 186 yards on 16 carries) were wildly efficient in #3 Barnwell’s 42-0 win over Edisto, #5 Thomson’s 54-0 win over Josey, Harlem’s 54-12 win against Cross Creek, and Hephzibah’s 37-6 rout of Salem.
Signal callers Maleik Williams (Silver Bluff) and Cameron Austin (Barnwell) also had their way in easy wins. Williams completed 9 of 13 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns while his Bulldogs opened region play with a 49-0 win over Fox Creek. And Austin completed all five of his passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns.
Chasing From Behind
Region leaders Brunswick and Denmark-Olar both shutdown upset attempts by Grovetown and Ridge Spring-Monetta, respectively. But in an attempt to keep things close, junior quarterback Amare Clark and senior athlete Cardelle Rudolph posted eye popping numbers in the passing game for Grovetown, and junior Deante Hopkins did his share of damage on the ground for RS-M.
Clark completed 24 of 43 passes for 246 yards and four touchdowns while also scrambling 16 times for another 125 yards and a touchdown. Rudolph was a frequent target, and he tallied nine receptions for 182 yards and a touchdown in a 56-39 loss to region favorite Brunswick. The Warriors (3-3, 0-2) trailed by as many as 31 points against the undefeated Pirates.
Ridge Spring-Monetta fell to 1-5 overall and 1-1 in region play after Thursday’s 53-37 loss to Denmark-Olar (4-1, 3-0). The Trojans managed to take a brief 21-19 lead early in the third quarter, but 26 unanswered points during the next 12 minutes by the Vikings quickly put the game out of reach. In defeat, Hopkins piled up 221 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries. And he made 10 tackles on defense.
Keeping the Dream Alive
Juniors Beans Hunt (16 carries for 215 yards and three touchdowns) and James Pride (15 carries for 188 yards) helped Thomas Jefferson Academy and Laney, respectively, stay undefeated in hard fought victories. Both teams are on a mission as Thomas Jefferson’s senior class is trying to earn their fourth state championship, and Laney is off to its best start in 20 seasons.
Both teams rely heavily on the run, an approach that worked especially well in the heavy winds caused by Hurricane Ian. Laney gained a total of 286 yards on the ground and four players (Brenton Potts, Angus Myrick, Willie Booker and CJ Holmes) rushed for touchdowns in a 28-18 road win over a proud Washington County program.
Beans Hunt (16 carries for 215 yards and three touchdowns) led the way for TJ, which found itself in a fight against Augusta Prep. Prep kept the Jaguars off the scoreboard until late in the second quarter. But then Hunt scored three touchdowns on three consecutive possessions on the way to a 20-6 homecoming game win. The first of Hunt’s scores came from 90 yards out, and the third from 72. Those touchdowns can be seen in this video:
Tailor-made for Victory
Speaking of a team’s strength being perfectly suited for the conditions, Lakeside earned a dramatic 21-20 win over Evans after trailing 20-2 in the first half by using a relentless running attack and a dangerous special teams weapon. The Panthers out-gained Evans 283 yard to 168. Senior Temarcus Elam rushed 11 times for 133 yards, including this 84-yard scamper that began in a sea of bodies that Lakeside’s linemen cleared from Elam’s path:
Lakeside didn’t gain a single yard passing, but junior quarterback Jason Whitaker knew the assignment when he refused to go down on a pair of consecutive rushes that ultimately cut the deficit to 20-18 midway through the third quarter:
But if this week’s Best of the Best were to come from this game, it would have to go in the direction of senior place kicker Will Hattaway, whom the Lakeside coaching staff calls “Mr. Automatic” on the team’s official roster. Hattaway drilled two field goals, including a 32-yarder with nine seconds left in the second quarter to make it 20-11, and the go-ahead kick from 37 yards with 2:59 left in the third quarter.
Hattaway described the difficulty of the field goals in a tweet Saturday when he said, “Both field goals were into tropical storm wind.” Hattaway also executed a successful onside kick to open the third quarter that gave an extra boost to Lakeside’s comeback.
https://twitter.com/WilliamHattawa1/status/1575950264670261249?s=20&t=A5HB4PF8IMC-hk-n_WCuEw
North Augusta nose guard Jaydon Eason is the Best of the Best from Week 7
But unlike all the players listed above, this week’s honor will be awarded to a player who didn’t rush or pass for a touchdown, or score points in the kicking game, or even touch the football. North Augusta’s 6-foot-one-inch tall and 275-pound junior nose guard Jaydon Eason earned week seven’s Best of the Best award because of the way he helped North Augusta’s defensive line control the line of scrimmage and contain South Aiken’s potent rushing attack during a 24-20 come-from-behind road win for the Yellow Jackets.
Eason recorded 10 tackles, including one for a loss, all during the second half when North Augusta overcame a 20-10 deficit. South Aiken’s dynamic rushing duo of quarterback Terrence Smith and running back Jevon Edwards entered the game averaging a combined 357 rushing yards per game. Eason and company held the duo to 223 Thursday. And more importantly, the defense kept the Yellow Jackets in the game during a 14-minute second half stretch when the offense couldn’t get anything going.
On four consecutive possessions while the Yellow Jackets trailed 20-17, North Augusta’s defense stopped South Aiken cold. First, Chavous Peyton ended what appeared to be a promising Thoroughbred drive by making a perfectly targeted tackle on Edwards that made the football pop straight into the air before falling into the arms of Colyn Moore at North Augusta’s 44-yard line with 5:57 left in the third quarter. On the following possession, DJ Bookard tackled Smith in the backfield on third-and-5 to force a South Aiken three-and-out. The next time South Aiken possessed the football, L.J. Tillman ruined a potential first down conversion of third-and-eighteen by stripping the ball loose from Ethan Bentley after a big gain.
Xzavier Anderson recovered the fumble to put North Augusta’s offense in position to erase the 20-17 the gap. But a 28-yard field goal in “tropical storm wind” proved too difficult, and the defense was called upon to make another stop with 6:08 remaining. When South Aiken took over on its own 16-yard line, it immediately met trouble when Eason stuffed the run twice at the line of scrimmage with help from Isaiah Weathersbee, who had a fine game with seve]n tackles, one tackle for a loss and a fumble recovery. The ensuing punt was shanked, giving North Augusta possession inside the red zone.
Stalwart running back DJ Curry scored the game winning touchdown two plays later to help the Yellow Jackets start 1-0 in region play by defeating the defending region champion. Curry rushed 25 times for 131 yards and one touchdown. Fellow senior Colson Brown completed 10 of 13 passes for 144 yards, including one to Taylon Washington for 11 yards and another to Evan Waldhauer for 67.
Smith and Edwards were brilliant in defeat. The junior Smith rushed 16 times for 105 yards and a touchdown, and he completed 10 of 18 passes for 118 yards. Edwards rushed 18 times for 118 yards and two touchdowns.
Fuller and Staley Pose the Next Test for the Yellow Jackets
After handling South Aiken, North Augusta will look forward to the second region game this coming Friday at Aiken High. The Hornets handled Airport 21-7 in their region opener. Aiken’s standout juniors Jayden “Bus” Fuller and Braylon Staley will bring reputations for being among the area’s most talented players into the game against North Augusta, which will decide which team will be the leader halfway through the four-game region schedule.
Fuller shared his highlight reel and stats from Friday’s win on Twitter. His explosion off of the defensive line and pursuit of the ball carrier will take your breath away.
And the talent possessed by Staley (see below), who caught two touchdown passes and snagged an interception Friday, jumps off the screen as well.
