Dillon – With seven starters returning on the offensive side of the football and nine on defense, expectations are high for Marion High School in the 2023 season. And seeing that those returnees come from a squad that went 8-3 last year and won MHS’ third straight region title heightens the possibilities.
“We’ve got a good group coming back with some leadership, some veterans,” said Swamp Foxes head coach Brian Hennecy following a 7-on-7 competition at Dillon High School.
Hennecy, who will begin his third season as the head coach of his alma mater, believes his team has taken full advantage of its spring practice and summer workouts to date.
“We've been involved in several 7-on-7 passing leagues and have done quite well,” Hennecy said. “Other than that, we've been weightlifting every day and practicing for an hour and a half each day.
“We had eight spring practices, mainly shirts and shorts. A lot of our guys were involved in spring sports, so we wanted to make sure that they were concluded before they took part in spring practice. So that allowed us to work some younger players and we’ve got some folks some experience.”
Two players who didn’t get a lot of time in during the spring were Gabriel Cusack and Quay’sheed Scott. Cusack was playing baseball while Scott was participating in track and field.
However, if Marion has anyone who can afford to miss a few spring practices it’s this senior duo. They have been on the varsity since their freshman years, and they helped Marion light it up last year in the passing game.
Cusack, the quarterback, completed 91 of 174 passes for 1,917 yards and 30 touchdowns against just seven interceptions. He also ran the football 62 times for 327 yards and seven TDs.
Gabriel has developed into a great quarterback,” Hennecy said. “He can throw, run, makes his reads. He also plays a little bit of defense for us. I think he's DI (NCAA Division I or Football Bowl Subdivision). Hopefully someone will get him down the road in the recruiting process."
Scott caught 30 passes for 852 yards and 14 scores while running the football 41 times for 513 yards and six touchdowns. He also returned both a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown.
As a defensive back, Scott had six interceptions, returning two for scores, to go 18 unassisted tackles, 17 assists and three pass breakups.
Those numbers led to Scott being named the Region 8-AA Player of the Year to go along with being selected to the South Carolina Football Coaches Association All-State team.
Also, Scott has garnered the attention of several colleges with 20 offers, according to Hennecy, many of them FBS schools. Among those to offer him are Southeastern Conference school Kentucky along with Appalachian State, Charlotte, Georgia Southern, James Madison, Marshall, Old Dominion, Troy and Miami (Ohio).
Scott is scheduled to announce his commitment on Tuesday, the Fourth of July.
"Quay'sheed has accelerated his level of play throughout the years,” Hennecy said. “He made scores last year in every way possible, both on offense and defense. He has really stepped up his game.
“He's had a very good time in the process of being recruited, and I think he's ready to commit and focus on his senior season.”
Hennecy said there is concern over solidifying the offensive line even though the Swamp Foxes return three starters. They are 6-foot-2-inch, 270-pound left tackle Jhamorious Rollins, right tackle Jabari Swinney (6-3, 230) and left guard Maurice Hughes (5-10, 210).
Cusack and Scott will be joined in the defensive secondary by fellow senior Tyshawn Sanders, who has several collegiate offers.
While the Swamp Foxes have been very successful in the regular season the past two seasons, they have gone out in the first round of the state playoffs each season. While Marion was facing a No. 4 seed as region champion each year, the foes happened to be perennial AA powers Barnwell and Cheraw, respectively.
“We've told them that their total body of work speaks for itself with three straight region championships and four straight Tobacco Bowls, 16 wins last two years, 30 wins for the senior class that just graduated,” Hennecy said. “Unfortunately, the margin of error is three, four, five plays in each game. That's what happens in the playoffs. Everybody starts anew and you've got to make sure you're ready. I think our preparation has been there, it's just been a matter of a turnover here, a penalty there. Hopefully we can get over that hurdle this year.
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“I feel like our kids have understood our total body of work speaks for itself.”
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