Goose Creek - If the Goose Creek Gators football team is to win a fifth consecutive region championship, they will do so with a team that begins the 2023 season far less experienced than the previous four championship teams.
Head coach Jason Winstead begins his sixth season at the helm with the most inexperienced team he has fielded since his first season. The Gators will start the 2023 campaign with a bevy of first-year varsity starters.
“A good many of the starters were either varsity backups who may have seen some action last year, or they were on the junior varsity team,” Winstead reports. “I’m not making excuses, it’s just where we are right now. I definitely think we can become a really competitive football team but I also understand we’re going to suffer through some growing pains. We’ll try to grow up and survive the non-region schedule and hopefully we can make a run in the region again.”
The Gators opened the 2023 season at defending AAAA state champion South Florence, returning home with a 55-14 loss.
Goose Creek’s non-region slate of games are among the toughest in the state. The Gators will face another defending state champion, Beaufort, as well as Fort Dorchester (top 5 n AAAAA), Summerville (top five in AAAAA), Blythewood and Sumter (top 10 in AAAAA). Last year, the Gators were 0-6 against that same schedule before winning all four of their region 6-AAAAA contests to claim the region title.
Defensively, Winstead says only one projected starter this season saw extended time last season on defense. There are a handful of seniors in the lineup but most were backups last fall.
Up front, projected starters include seniors Camron Dottery, Zion Freeman and Darone Rivers, along with sophomore Malachi Washington.
Three of the set starters at linebacker are juniors Fred Mouzon and Devante McNeil, and senior Zion Kendrick. The fourth linebacker has yet to be determined.
The veteran of the secondary is sophomore corner Jordan Ravenel, who saw extensive time as a freshman. Junior Jayden Deweese and senior Jaden Stevens also are starters on the back end.
On offense, the Gators have some experience at the skill positions but will have just one returning starter along the offensive line. Anchoring that line will be senior Maurecio Summers, who is moving from tackle to center this fall. Other projected starters include juniors Dallas Lee and Trey Adams at tackle, and juniors Kingston Hughes and Xzavier Johnson at guard. Winstead expects sophomore Zion Richardson to see time at guard as well.
Junior Johaeva Williams will run the offense at quarterback, He was the backup last season while working at running back and is a solid dual-threat performer.
Sophomore Malik McGowens is the top running back. He rushed for more than 600 yards as a freshman. Junior Travon Goss also will see action.
The receiving corps is a solid unit, led by senior Davion Malloy, a recent commitment to Army. Senior Evan Daniels and senior Ashton Drayton, a transfer from Hanahan, also will be key threats in the passing game. Sophomore Jalen Grant also figures into the mix.
Daniels returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the season opener.
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