New head coach Fleming happy with first spring football practice at Scott's Branch

Summerton – Patrick Fleming was in charge of his first spring practice as a high school football head coach last month. Fleming was hired as the head coach at Scott’s Branch at the first of the year, coming over from fellow Clarendon County School District high school Manning.

That meant he was able to start working with his players immediately, but spring practice was the first time he was able to do so in a purely football capacity. He was happy with how the 10 practices unfolded.

“We were just really trying to introduce the guys to the system,” said Fleming, who was an assistant coach for 17 years at Manning, his alma mater where he was an All-State linebacker. “They’re getting to see how a real program is run and how we do summer workouts as well. I’m very pleased with the progress and the potential I’ve seen so far.”

Fleming inherits a program that struggled mightily last season. The Eagles were winless in 10 games and allowed 435 points while scoring just 78. The closest they came to a victory was a 38-32 overtime loss to St. John’s in the fourth game of the season.

Fleming said he had around 25 players attend spring practices and those numbers have been the same through the early portion of summer workouts. He and his coaching staff are slowly starting to put the pieces together as to who will be where on the depth chart.

“It's kind of a work in progress,” Fleming said. “The depth chart is around 50 percent filled out.”

The Eagles already have their starting quarterback in place in rising junior Javien Conyers. He came with Fleming from Manning where he was the starting QB on the junior varsity team.

         “I really like Javien’s arm, his feel for the game,” Fleming said. “He's turned into a real good leader.”

         The Eagles have a trio of rising sophomores in Nyren Bowman, Quintin Jackson and JD Dixon which has impressed Fleming. All three saw significant time last season as freshmen.

         Bowman led the team in tackles with 58 and caught five passes for 222 yards and a score. Jackson had three catches for 102 yards and a TD with 27 tackles, while Dixon had 23 tackles.

         “Most of those guys will be 2-way players,” Fleming said.

         Fleming believes great progress has already been made with better things yet to come.

         “Since I've been here since January. I really think the kids are buying in and believe in what we’re doing,” he said. “Everything is a new experience and we’re teaching them the basic fundamentals of football. We have a  lot of raw talent. We're just working, just grinding to implement our program. We’re looking to do some good things.”