Bishopville – Would David Rankin have liked to see his Lee Academy football team defend its SCISA Class A football state title? Sure, but that didn’t happen. The Cavaliers came up short, falling to Patrick Henry Academy 35-28 in the championship game.
The fact that Lee made it back though made for a really good year in the veteran coach’s eyes.
“I thought we had a great season,” Rankin said. “Anytime you get to the last game of the season you’ve had a great year. We improved a bunch as the year went on. especially on defense.
“On the offensive line, we had to replace four starters. We lost one tight end. Defensively, I felt like we righted the ship in the middle of the year.”
The Cavaliers, who finished with a 10-3 record, had nine players selected to the All-Region 2 team. Six are seniors who were also selected to play in the AA-Class A North-South All-Star Game. They are outside linebacker Deshon Hadden, tight end Lance Freidenberger, defensive lineman Aubrey Boyce, defensive back William West, defensive back Clayton Catoe and linebacker Bryson Muldrow.
Hadden had 67 tackles and team highs with eight tackles for loss and seven quarterback sacks with two interceptions he returned for touchdowns. On offense, Hadden rushed for a team high 1,056 yards and 13 TDs while catching 11 passes for 201 yards and two TDs.
Catoe had a team high five interceptions, returning one for a score, while coming up with 28 tackles and nine pass breakups. He and West shared time at quarterback down the stretch, completing 24 of 31 passes for 570 yards and six TDs. He had 19 catches for 241 yards and three TDs beore moving behing center.
West had 55 tackles, one TFL and one INT returned for a TD. West rushed for 942 yards and 10 touchdowns and caught 10 passes for 169 yards and five TDs.
Boyce had 61 tackles, three TFLs and five sacks and three PBUs. Muldrow had 90 tackles, five TFLs, three PBUs and a pick. Offensively, he had 544 yards and six TDs rushing. Freidenberger had 11 catches for 274 yards and five TDs. He had 46 tackles, two TFLs and six sacks defensively.
The underclassmen selected All-Region were junior offensive lineman Trace June and sophomores Tucker Boyce and Kaleb Early at linebacker and kicker, respectively.
June had 73 tackles, 2 TFLs and five sacks on defense. Tucker Boyce led Lee in tackles with 101 to go with two TFLs and one sack. Early was 54 of 61 on extra point attempts.
BROWN, TOMLINSON ALL-REGION IN VOLLEYBALL
Lee Academy had two players make the All-Region 3-AA team in Alleigh Brown and Mazie Tomlinson.
Brown was also selected to play in the North-South All-Star Game.
All Rights Reserved | The High School Sports Report 1986-2021