Cross football rounding into playoff form

By David Shelton

Senior Writer

Cross – With the loss of 11 seniors and having a roster this fall that includes only five seniors, Cross head football coach Shaun Wright expected a few growing pains early on.

Those growing pains came in losses to Timberland (43-14) and Lake Marion (7-6, OT) in consecutive weeks. While the losses pained the coach, it also helped the team grow.

Entering an Oct. 11 game against Scott’s Branch, the Trojans sit with a 5-2 record overall and off to a 3-0 start in region 5-A. Those three region wins were impressive as they beat Military Magnet (56-0), Branchville (56-7) and St. John’s (70-0).

“Sometimes a loss can do you some good and I think those games we lost sort of showed our team that we needed to be more consistent and clean some things up,” Wright said. “The whole focus is the region, getting that No. 1 seed for the playoffs.”

Cross has remaining region games with Bethune-Bowman and Baptist Hill, as well as Scott’s Branch.

Senior Karmello Jones is having a season to remember this fall, posting big numbers at running back and linebacker. Jones leads Cross in rushing with 827 yards and has scored 15 touchdowns. Six of those touchdowns came in the win over Branchville. He added four more scores in the following game against St. John’s. Jones also is the leading tackler defensively, racking up 47 total hits.

“We played on a Monday and a Friday. I don’t think I’ve ever had a guy score 10 touchdowns in less than a week,” Wright said.

Sophomore running back Mah’ky Green was slowed early by injury but is up to 382 yards and five touchdowns on only 32 carries.

Sophomore quarterback Tyler Harris, a first-year starter, has passed for 789 yards and eight touchdowns. Six of those scoring tosses have gone to Caden Ramsey, who has 21 receptions for 421 yards. Lavell Joyner and Preston Fuller also have more than 100 receiving yards early on.

Working along a rebuilt offensive line are tackles David Wigfall and Michael Bennett, guards Dakari President and Orin Schultz, and center Jailyn Broughton.

Broughton also starts on the defensive line and has 36 tackles and three sacks in seven games, while Wigfall, a linebacker, has 33 tackles and eight tackles for loss.

William Grant has 30 tackles and eight tackles for loss while Bennett has six tackles for loss.

Ramsey, at safety, has seven interceptions in seven games and has returned two picks for touchdowns.