Quality Teams Compete In Jamboree of Champions Hosted By Dillon High

By Billy G. Baker

Publisher

Dillon — The Jamboree of Champions Jamboree, hosted by Dillon High School on August, 16, was comprised of five competitive games between West Florence and Richmond County, Chesterfield versus Lake View, Darlington versus Latta, Hartsville versus Scotland County, and the night cap game was between Dillon and Cheraw.

The HSSR interviewed each coach involved with a team in the high-profile Jamboree with a brief recap of each game. Each game involved a two-quarter scrimmage.

Richmond County Beat West Florence 14-7:

Richmond County scored first on an 83-yard scoring reception from QB Evan Hodges to Jade Hamilton. West Florence came back in the second period to tie the score the score at 7 on a pass from QB Avery Weaver to Jaden Perkins. Richmond County won the game 14-7 on a pick-six late in the second quarter.  

Coming off to rare back-to-back 5-6 seasons Richmond County head coach Brad Denson shared a few thoughts with the HSSR afterwards: “This is my first year as head coach at my alma mater and I was born and raised here and coached here for 14 years before coming the head coach this season,” said Coach Denson. “The kids have bought in to what we are wanting to do. We have high hopes after two back-to-back 5-6 records in Richmond County and that is not like us at all.

“Right now, we have zero college offers on our team and that is a shame and colleges need to get here and check out our players,” said Coach Denson. “Joe parsons is our leader on defense and Tehran Smith is another leader on defense.

“On offense we are really young with only one starting senior,” said Coach Denson. “We also have only two offensive starters back in the offensive line.”

Comments from Jody Jenerette of West Florence: “I love this football team so much and it is one of my favorite teams I’ve ever had,” said Coach Jenerette after the scrimmage. “They care about each other and they care about West Florence football and they do what they have to improve and get better. “We will be a very good football team before it is over.”

Some team leaders coming into the season include Keyshawn Johnson and Lavern Evans, they are two players who stand-out for us without a doubt,” said Coach Jenerette. “Our goals and expectations are same as everybody’s and we hope to win it all. We hope to find a way to win a game, or two, we were not supposed to win, make the play-offs, and keep on playing.

“We play South Florence to start the season and with this bad rain we’ve had we have not really had much of a chance to work on our special teams,” said Coach Jenerette. “We have a lot of catching up to do over the next week before we play our first game.”

Lake View Beat Chesterfield 14-7:   

Lake View all-state candidate Tyrell Foxworth got the Wild Gators on the board first with a 30-yard touchdown run in the first period to give LV a 7-0 lead. Chesterfield tied the score on a 70-yard TD pass from QB Bryce Adams to Jaquavious Clark (6-2, 192). The Wild Gators scored mid-way through the second period on a 25-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Kason Herlong to Ashton Locklair to give his team the win.

Comments from Lake View Head Coach Daryl King: “Some of our key leaders are quarterback Kason Herlong who is starting for his third season along with running back Tyrell Foxworth,” said Coach King. “We  also feel good about our first year starting center Chase Brice who took his first snap at center tonight.”

Coach King said that other returning starters include offensive linemen Chris McGill, Lance Floyd, and Tyree Ford. The defense will be led by the return of linebackers Landon King, Seth Desee, and Dawson Hunt.

“Our expectation every year is to play for a state championship and we never set our expectations any lower,” said Coach King. “We didn’t get in any of the scrimmages because of the weather. This scrimmage was what I thought it would be. We needed to work on timing issues and getting plays in on time.

“We start the season on Thursday night with Marion and they will be a lot bigger, stronger and faster than we are,” said Coach King. “We will have our hands full with them fort sure.”

Comments From First Year Head Coach Matt Quinn At Chesterfield: “For our first time out, I am pleased,” said Coach Quinn. “We had some things to clean up but you do not scout for a jamboree. We put our defense in some tough situations against Lake View’s offense. I thought the defense played well for the most part.

“Some of our leadership players are Quay Clark who is a big-time receiver and quarterback Bryce Adams is a good leader,” said Coach Quinn.  “We had a lot of newcomers play well tonight led by first year player, junior outside linebacker Derrick Lockhart in his first year of football after being a basketball player most of the time.  

“Our offensive line played well tonight and they are led by Page up-front,  Xavier Rivers, Porter, and Deaver,” said Coach Quinn.

Marion will start the 2024 season against Johnsonville.  

Darlington Defeats Latta 14-0:

Running back Trey Hailey scored twice for Darlington on two short runs to lead his team to a 14-0 win over Latta in game three of the jamboree. 

Lata had several good drives during the game and junior QB Jayden Alford had several nice runs. The Vikings missed a field goal from the 15-yard line with 1:24 left in the scrimmage.

Comments From Second year Darlington Head Coach Jamie Johnson: “Our defense is pretty good, and they get after it, so if we can continue to play good defense and not turn it over on offense, I think we have a shot at a very good season,” said Coach Johnson. “Our whole back field is back and running back Troy Hailey  is back and he is as tough as nails and I would take that kid over anybody.

“Our defensive line  is really good led by Treyshawn James, Nydrez Walls, Shadreck Holmes and Dedrion Durant,” said Coach  Johnson.  “On defense we have seven starters back and on offense we have seven starters back.”

QB Jaylen Augustus (6-5, 180) is a junior expected to have a good season for the Falcons. NyQuan Williams is a top DB also back.

“We have never hosted a playoff game in our new stadium and that is certainly one of our goals this season,” said Coach Johnson. “Hopefully, we can host one this year and give our fans something special.” Darlington will begin the 2024 season against Lamar.

Comments From Latta Head Coach Brandon Iseman: “This was a test we needed tonight,” said Coach Iseman. “Darlington was a very athletic team and a powerful team and we needed that test to see who we really are right now.

“We are not short on ability, we just have to work on the little things and find a little more focus,” said Coach Iseman. “Some of our leaders back are Amir Rogers at linebacker along with receiver MaKinley Wallace. Our starting quarterback (Jaylen Alford) has been moved from receiver and tonight was his first snaps at quarterback in a game tonight.”

Latta will start the season at East Columbia High, NC on August, 23.

Hartsville versus Scotland County Plays To 14-14 Tie

Hartsville pulled most of their starters early in the second quarter with a 14-7 lead that helped allow Scotland County, NC to tie the game late in the second period. The Red Foxes are led by veteran RB Hykeem Waters and he scored on a 40-yard run in the first quarter. The other Red Fox TD came on a 20-yard run by junior RB Kylif Miller and Xavier Robinson made both of his PAT’s. 

Scotland County QB Ji’San McPhatter tossed touchdown passes of 20 yards to WR Nasiah McLean and a 31- yard scroing strike to Quantavious Everette to account for both of their scores.

Comments from Hartsville Head Coach Jeff Calabrese After The Game:  

“We are very blessed to have a player like Waters and he is a pleasure to coach,” said Coach Calabrese. “We had 10 new starters out there on offense tonight. I was very pleased with their progress and how hard they have worked.

“Our new quarterback, EJ Smith, had been playing receiver and running back for us but he stepped up when we graduated a three-year starter,” said Coach Calabrese. “Our three defensive ends Chris Price, Jordan Davis and Jackson Chavis all played well along with our two nose guards.

“We always sub in a lot of players in the second quarter because all our guys battle hard and we like to get as many of them in the game as possible,” said Coach Calabrese. “I was proud of the effort tonight but we have a few things to clean up.”

Hartsville will host Carolina Forest this week to start the season.

Comments From Scotland Couty Head Coach Richard Bailey:

“To be fair, Hartsville subbed in a lot of players after the first couple series and they had a very strong first group,” said Coach Bailey who is also the head Shrine Bowl coach for North Carolina this year. “We played much better on defense tonight then we did a scrimmage the other day. 

“On offense we had three sophomores at one time tonight,” said Coach Bailey. “We are young in a lot of places but we do have several experienced players back also. Our all-region quarterback Ji’San McPhatter is back and Quantavious Edwards, and DaQuan Gibson are our best skill guys.

“Our best offensive lineman is Isaiah Locklear (6-3., 300) and he is probably going to a Shrine bowl lineman,” said Coach Bailey. “Morrison, at defensive end is another one of our senior leaders who has a chance to be a better good player.”

Scotland County will start the 2024 season at Dillon on August, 23.   

Dillon defeats Cheraw 21-3:

 Running back Jamarion Fling broke tackles, the entire game and scored the Wildcat’s first touchdown on an 8-yard run early in the first quarter. Dillon next made it 14-0 as QB Rahmad Hamilton tossed a 10-yard scoring pass to highly regarded junior receiver Zay Robertson. Robertson caught a 49-yard scoring pass from Hamilton late in the second quarter to make it 21-0. Steven Rojas made all three PAT’s.

Cheraw avoided the shut-out when Charlie Phiilips made a 26-yard field goal in the waning seconds of the scrimmage. 

Comments from Dillon head coach Kelvin Roller:

“Fling and all our running backs ran the ball well tonight, and the offensive line blocked well also,” said Coach Roller. “We finally got Kyheim Lester (6-4, 265) to come out and play football from the basketball team and he is developing well at left tackle for us. Kiele Pompey (6-1, 230) will be at left guard and he is one of the strongest, if not the strongest player on our team.

“Nicholas Byrd (5-10,230) has done a good job at center so far and Mishad Gilchrist is at right guard and Ke’Shawn Ray is starting at right tackle so with football being a developmental game it will take time for the offensive line to develop but Coach Parker is doing a great job with them,” said Coach Roller.

Coach Roller is very high on WR/DB Zay Robertson. “He is a tremendous receiver with great hands and speed and he is going to be a special player. I honestly think he is one of the best receivers in the state.”

Rahmad Hamilton has ben moved from WR to QB. “I thought Rahmad did a really good job tonight,” said Coach Roller. “At the quarterback position you need to get reps and he has only been at the position for a few weeks but he is getting better every day.”

Some of the Nasty Cats of defense cited include DL Azavion Deberry (6-0,270) along with linebackers Keriyon Brown (5-10, 185), Daniel Capehart (5-11, 195) and Kelvien Manning (6-2, 170). Dan Graves, Robertson, and Fling provide depth in the secondary.

“This was just a jamboree tonight and our real season starts next week with Scotland County,” said Coach Roller. ”Our guys played fast and physical tonight and that is what we coach them to do.”

Comments From Cheraw Head Coach Andy Poole:

“This is our first time out going against the number one team in 3-A and Dillon is a quality ball club and I thought our kids responded pretty well,” said head coach Andy Poole. “Some of them got big-eyed their first time in action.”

Coach Poole complimented the play of Nick Gordan who came in and moved the offense as a Wild Cat quarterback late in the second period. “He came in and gave us a god spark,” said Coach Poole.

Coach Poole cited the offensive line as the leadership focus coming into the season. ”Guys like Ed Meeks, Caleb Terry, John Campbell and Bernard Joyner give us four seniors up-front and they do a good job pushing people around.”

Cheraw will start the season on August, 23 against McBee.