Scott's Branch looking to overcome slow start
Eagles' State working with young, inexperienced squad
Summerton – Head coach Randall State admits the first two weeks of the football season were not pretty for Scott’s Branch High School. The Eagles were outscored 56-0 by Hunter-Kinard-Tyler on August 18 and lost to Manning 50-0 on August 25.
“A lot of our guys have never played football before,” said State, who is in his second year as head coach. “We've got five returners, six returners, so it's going to be pretty ugly early on. We're going to try and fix some stuff and iron out some mistakes, get some guys in the right places and try to do better next week.”
Scott’s Branch turned the ball over five times against the Monarchs. The Eagles had three players take snaps at quarterback in Nigel Lawson, Randy Williams and Quintin Jackson.
“We look for Manning to try and make us better every year, but I don't know if that happened tonight,” he said. “Hopefully we got better. We're going to get better. I don't know if that's going to turn into wins, but we're going to get better.
“We’re learning lessons, a lot of young guys. We've just got to go to Game 3 and iron out some things.”
Scott’s Branch is traveling to Great Falls on September 1.
In his first season with the Eagles, State led them to a 4-7 record with the use of three talented seniors making up the vast majority of the offense. They were Tyler Kind and Randy Gibson, who alternated between quarterback and wide receiver. Ernie Calloway was the main running back.
State, who led Marion to the AA state championship game in 2020, now is looking for some people to fill their shoes.
Seeing time at running back are Jamauri Calloway, Nyren Bowman and Jordan Kind, Tyler’s brother. Jackson will see time at wide receiver along with Majestic Hatcher. Danny Ragin is the tight end.
“We've got to find a way to get the ball to guys who can make plays,” State said. “Jordan Kind is one of those guys. We’ve got to throw it to him, have him run multiple sweeps. We're going to try and get it to him and have him make plays.
DeWayne Fludd is the left tackle with Toby Mauldin lining up beside him at guard. Jovary Watson is the center while the right side has ZyMiere Coard at tackle and Javier Lawson at guard.
Fludd, Watson, Ragin and Javier Lawson start on the defensive line. Zion Thompson, Deshawn Blanding and Leander Smith are the linebackers while King, Bowman, Nazaiah Richardson and Marcus Coard make up the secondary.
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