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Senior Braiden Eagen is one of the starting pitchers for Fort Dorchester this season.
Jordan Wright is one of two Fort Dorchester players named to the 2024 Region 7-AAAAA Boys Basketball All-Region Team.
Cazz Williams goes in for a bucket during Fort Dorchester’s win over Ashley Ridge Jan. 26
Senior quarterback Charles Watson will be missed at Fort Dorchester next season.
Larry Gamble Photo Editor, HSSR Photos from the Ft Dorchester vs Summerville game on 10-27. Summerville defeated Ft. Dorchester 48-28 to post an undefeated regular season and secure the region championship. High resolution prints and digital downloads from this event are available at www.LarryGamble.com by clicking this link to the photos.
North Charleston - Dorchester County rivals Ashley Ridge and Fort Dorchester opened region 7-AAAAA play on Friday night with both teams looking to stay in the early race for the region title. Fort Dorchester rallied from an early 14-6 deficit, intercepted three passes, and put two backs over 100 yards in a 40-22 homecoming game victory. The Patriots improved to 3-2 with their win. “We needed a win,” Fort Dorchester coach Josh Smith said. “We feel we have a good football team but we knew we were playing a good football team. Our guys played well. We played hard and we made some big plays. Real proud of the defense. They showed up well after a bad night last week.” In addition to the interceptions, Fort Dorchester had two defensive stops inside their own 10-yard line in the second half. This a week after giving up 48 points and more than 500 yards in a loss to Gaffney. Running backs Ryan Campbell and Davian Brown each topped 150 yards rushing in the game. Brown had more than 100yards after halftime and finished with 162 yards. Campbell scored on runs of 67 and 31 yards and finished the night with 191 yards. Ashley Ridge entered the game with a 5-0 record but the Patriots were clearly the best team they had faced in the early season. The game got off to an inauspicious beginning for Ashley Ridge as Trevor Kalisz was intercepted by Fort Dorchester’s Romaun Parson. With great field position, the Patriots scored on six plays as Davion Brown ran in from two yards out. The score came after a conversion on fourth-and-nine with a 19-yard scramble by quarterback Charles Watson. The Swamp Foxes needed nine plays to score as Kalisz hit Derrick Salley on a fourth-and-nine pass that covered 36 yards. The extra point made it 7-6. Salley caught a 40-yard pass to set Ashley Ridge up at the Fort Dorchester 15-yard line. Three plays later Kalisz and Salley combined on an eight-yard score to give the Swamp Foxes a 14-6 lead with 1:08 left in the first quarter. Fort Dorchester reached the Ashley Ridge four-yard line early in the second quarter but failed on fourth down. Late in the first half, sophomore running back Ryan Campbell broke free on a 67-yard run to cut Ashley Ridge’s lead to 14-12. A second interception, this by Jordan Wright, gave the Patriots the ball at the Ashley Ridge 22. With :52 seconds remaining in the half, Watson hit Monty Johnson on a 12-yard score and the Patriots went into halftime with a 19-14 lead. Kalisz passed for 127 yards in the first half with Salley grabbing three passes for 84 yards. Campbell ended the half with 101 yards rushing. Fort Dorchester opened the third quarter with an 80-yard scoring drive on seven plays. Brown’s 40-yard run was a big play on the drive then Watson connected with Mul-ty Snider on a 33-yard touchdown pass, converting on fourth-and-14. Watson threw for 138 yards in the game. Salley, however, made his presence known on the ensuing kickoff, racing 95 yards for the score. A two-point conversion cut Fort Dorchester’s lead to 26-22 with 8:34 left in the quarter. On Ashley Ridge’s next possession, Jaden Acosta had a 29-yard run and Salley caught a 36-yard pass to set the Swamp Foxes up with a first-and-goal at the Fort Dorchester five-yard line. Salley totaled more than 175 yards in the game. Fort Dorchester’s defense, however, stood tall and forced a turnover on downs at the two-yard line. As the game moved into the fourth quarter, Ashley Ridge moved into Fort Dorchester’s 30-yard line. Back-to-back penalties gave Ashley Ridge possession inside the 10-yard line but Sam Williams intercepted a Kalisz pass to the endzone to end the threat. The Patriots responded quickly offensively, going 80 yards on just five plays. Brown had two runs of14 yards and Watson hit tight end Jalen Barry on a 48-yard touchdown pass, pushing the Patriots to a 33-22 lead with 8:49 left in the game. Campbell struck again for Fort Dorchester, scoring from 31 yards with 5:44 left in the game and pushing the Patriots to a 40-22 lead.
Larry Gamble Photo Editor, HSSR Photos from the Gaffney vs Fort Dorchester game on 9-22 in North Charleston. High resolution prints and digital downloads from this event are available at www.LarryGamble.com by clicking this link to the photos.
Gaffney Quarterback RIley Staton had huge game
Patriots score on first seven possessions as former coach, athletic director is honored
By Billy G. Baker HSSR Publisher Summerville — The annual Dorchester County Football Jamboree was hosted at Summerville High on John McKissick Field on August, 18 th with Ashley Ridge, Fort Dorchester, Woodland and Summerville all competing in two quarter scrimmages. Summerville won their scrimmage over Woodland 20-6 and over Fort Dorchester 7-6 in the night-cap. Ashley Ridge defeated Woodland 7-0 in the second scrimmage of the event. In the third scrimmage of the night Fort Dorchester defeated Ashley Ridge 14-0. Comments From Head Coaches To HSSR Publisher Billy Baker Following Scrimmage: Woodland head Coach Eddie Ford: “We just wanted out kids to come in and compete against some larger schools,” said Coach Ford. “We did not want to kill ourselves and have any injuries, Our goal was to come and play, do things the right way, and if we get beat, we get beat. “We have got to learn how to finish drives. We also have to learn how to quit making mistakes that kill drives. We have a young group, with a new quarterback ( ). We needed the experience of playing into two bigger schools to help our kids gain experience. “Mental toughness is definitely what we need to work on Monday in practice,” said Coach Ford. “The kids didn’t quit, and they kept fighting and played hard. I thought we could have played a little bit better but we will bounce back.” Key Woodland Players in the game: OL- Kam Pringle (6-7,325-SC) RB T.J. Wrigh t, DL Antonio Ford (5-11, 300) Season Opener: Bethune- Bowman Comments From Ashley Ridge Head Coach Jeff Tate: (Came From Wren High School) “Well, the first quarter tonight we ran two plays, and won 7-0 and in the second quarter we ran about 20 plays and had 50 yards worth of penalties so we experienced good and bad tonight,” said Coach Tate. “A few of our team leaders right now are senior tight end DC Simmons, senior receiver Derrick Salley , senior offensive lineman Isaiah Richardson , and Makhi Palmore , a senior defensive lineman. These guys have played well in our scrimmages and showed good leadership so far.” Ashley Ridge Prospects: Cody Peterson , OL (soph), Simmons, Salley Top Juniors: WR- Nivay Picou , RB Jayden Acosta Season Opener: Host Cane Bay Thursday 8-24 Comments From First Year Fort Dorchester Head Coach Joshua Smith : “It was good to get out on some live competition, somebody besides ourselves,” said Coach Smith. “We found some things that worked well and we find some thongs we need to work on. We have some good film from these two scrimmages to look at with our players and see where we can correct some mistakes. We as coaches as correct everything, we made a mistake on tonight. “I found out tonight that we keep fighting, even when we get down. It was good to see our offense come right back down the field and score when they (Summerville) went up.” Note: (Fort D will use two quarterbacks equally) “We used both of our quarterbacks tonight, Charles Watson and Bennett Riffer and right now they are like co-starters. Each of them brings a different element at different times. We are very high on our sophomore running back Ryan Campbell and he had some good runs tonight. I also love the big boys we have blocking u-front. (OL returnees include LT Tyrik Deas , RT Marquis Wilson & LG Preston Murphy ) “On defense some of our leaders are defensive linemen Jayden Acevedo and Malachi Watson long with linebacker Marcus Moon and defensive backs Jalen White and Jonathan Howard . We have a lot of guys stepping up and making plays.” Season Opener: At Beaufort 8-25 Comments From Summerville head coach Ian Rafferty Starting 4 th Season At Summerville: “We came out fast on our scoring drive against the Fort and that is how we like to play on offense,” said Coach Rafferty. “We still have a lot of work in front of us. Our defense gave up a lot of yards when they (FD) came down and scored after we scored. “We had around 10 players who missed the scrimmages tonight due to injuries, or other issues. I like our over-all talent top to bottom this season. Our new strength coach has done a very good job getting us bigger, stronger and faster over the summer.” Goals For the 2023 Season: “It has been a while since we won a region championship (2018) so that is one of our key goals, and we would like to go undefeated at home this season,” said Coach Rafferty. “Of course, we would like to take that next step and play for a state championship this season.” Key Senior Leaders For The Green Wave: WR Yannick Smith (6-3,200) (ECU Commit) DB Ryland Mitchell (6-1, 175), Army Commit , RB/FB- Trae Green (5-10,225) OL- Adam Traylor (6-1, 170), DL Jacob Cotterill (6-4,265) Army Commit, Key Juniors: DL Ray Middleton -(6-4, 315) & Dontrell Izzard (6-2, 305), OL- Jaderio Lott (6-3, 350) Ike Rutherford - LB-6-0,210 Key Transfer: QB Jaden Cummings (From Hanahan) Season Opener: At Carolina Forest 8-25
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