Kingstree football looking to take big step in 2024
Five Jaguars selected to All-Region 8-AA team
Kingstree – The Kingstree High School football team has taken small steps of progress in its first two seasons under head coach Brian Smith.
The Blazers went 5-6 in their first season under Smith, who came to KHS along with the players he coached at fellow Williamsburg County school C.E. Murray after the schools merged. It was the first time Kingstree had won five games since 2008, and it finished third in Region 8-AA.
The Blazers went 5-7 in the just completed season, again finishing third in Region 8. The forward progression came in the fact they beat Timberland 14-12 in the first round of the state playoffs. That was the school’s first playoff victory since 2013.
Now Smith doesn’t see why KHS can’t make some major advancements in the program’s direction.
“This year we had a great year, finishing better than we did the year before,” Smith said. “Now we're looking to take the next step, see if we can win it all, win a state championship.
“We were 14-14 heading into the fourth quarter before we just let things get away from us,” Smith said in reference to the 51-20 loss to Andrew Jackson in the second round. “Hopefully we’ll be able to take the next step,.”
Kingstree will have to attempt to do so without nine seniors, including four who were selected to the All-Region team in James Brockington, Ja’Shaun Dorsey, Terrance Scott and Rodney Bryant. Junior Mychael Wallace was also named to the All-Region team.
Brockington was selected to play in the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl and has college offers from The Citadel, Newberry and UNC Pembroke. He was a standout on both sides of the line. He finished with 57 tackles, a team high 20 tackles for loss and three quarterback sacks. He also had four quarterback pressures, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and two blocked punts. As a guard, he graded out at 93 percent or higher in each game and had 18 pancake blocks.
“We’ll definitely miss his presence on both sides of the ball,” Smith said of Brockington. “He’s just a heck of a person and a great kid. We’re going to try to replace him, but it won’t be easy.”
Dorsey was a 2-year starter at quarterback. He led the Blazers in rushing this season with 719 yards and six touchdowns on 116 carries. He completed 50 of 154 passes for 762 yards and six touchdowns. As a defensive back, he had 25 tackles, one TFL and one pass breakup. Dorsey has an offer to Clark University as a defensive back.
Scott had 71 tackles, 60 of them solo stops, as a linebacker. He also had nine tackles for loss, three sacks, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and a safety.
Bryant was an all-region selection as a linebacker. He had 36 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and a defensive touchdown. On offense he carried the ball 94 times for 634 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Wallace was an All-Region selection as a center on offense and a tackle on defense. He graded out at 92 percent to go with 10 pancake blocks while having just one bad snap during the season. On defense, he had 30 tackles. 11 tackles for loss and forced a fumble.
DUKES, MCKNIGHT ON ALL-REGION VOLLEYBALL TEAM
Makayla Dukes and Jaiden McKnight were selected to the All-Region 8-AA volleyball team.
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