Get in touch
555-555-5555
mymail@mailservice.com

Young Dillon Christian football team off to 1-6 start

Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor • Oct 06, 2023

Head coach Donell Stanley believes Warriors can finish strong

            Dillon – When Dillon Christian School began its first season under head coach Donell Stanley with a 21-14 victory over Calhoun Academy, things looked very promising for the Warriors.

 

           While Stanley still sees plenty of promise in his squad, he admits it has been a struggle since the opener. Dillon Christian has only scored 38 points in the six losses since then.

 

           What makes matters worse is the fact the Warriors had a legitimate chance to win three of those games. They only lost to Clarendon Hall 12-9, 7-6 to Calhoun in a rematch and 12-0 to Dorchester Academy.

 

           “We’ve definitely had our chances in some of those games,” said Stanley, the former University of South Carolina and National Football League offensive lineman. “We've got a young team and we just have to keep working hard to get to where we want to go. We’ve got a lot of inexperienced players. We’ve just got to build on what we’ve done and learn from the bad.”

 

           The other three losses have come against three quality teams. The Warriors lost to 3-3 SCISA AA Carolina Academy 23-0, to defending Class A state champion Lee Academy 35-7 and to defending Class A state runner-up Thomas Heyward 49-16.


           Stanley said Dillon Christian often has been its own worst enemy on offense.

 

           “A lot of the stuff is us shooting our own self in the foot,” he said. “We will get ourselves in the red zone and then get ourselves out of the red zone with penalties, bad snaps and penalties.”

 

           Stanley said the Warriors’ defense has been solid for most of the season. Jackson Outlar in the secondary and middle linebacker Ron Bracey have been the defensive leaders, according to Stanley.

 

           “Our defense has been really been good, so that’s why I was disappointed last night (the loss to Thomas Heyward on September 29). We’re just a very young team, and we’ve got to continue buying in and gain that experience.

 

           “It was an 8-8 game, and we just couldn’t get a stop, and their offense stayed on the field.”

 

           Dillon Christian has three games remaining in the regular season, on the road against The King’s Academy on October 6, at home in a rematch against Lee Academy on October 13 and at home against Thomas Sumter Academy on October 27.

 

           Both TKA and TSA are winless on the season.

 

           “I love to see how our guys respond win or lose,” Stanley said. “I think we’re still in a good place to win three games. I’m never going to give up on them. We’re going to take the best things and try to learn from them.”

By Billy Baker 17 May, 2024
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Moncks Corner — In a Lower State AAAAA softball play-off game continued from a second inning rain-out the night before, (May, 15), between Berkeley (19-9) and Chapin (22-8) , the home standing Stags won a pitcher’s duel 2-0 to advance to play Summerville on May, 17. The Stags have a tall order on their plate needing to defeat the top-ranked Green Wave twice in order to advance. The state championship series is scheduled to begin on Monday at the upper state champion s home field. Game two will revert back to the lower state’s team home field on Wednesday. If a third game tie-breaker is needed it will be played at neutral site on Friday (May, 24). After the win Berkley head coach Kelly Dillon shared some thoughts with the HSSR. “In my tenure at Berkeley this is our third trip to the Lower state finals and I am so proud of my team and the adversity they have overcome this season,” said Coach Dillon. “We have had some adversity with the weather and we lost one of our key players to an injury recently ( Savannah Scott ) and we have remained tough and focused on our goals anyway. “We played small ball in the bottom of the 6th because when you need just one run to win you play to win,” said Coach Dillon. “I am very thankful; for a great bunting team. Every time I have asked for it to be put down, they have put it down so I am very proud to our commitment to the cause.” ( Courtlyn Cox delivered a perfect bunt that advanced the runner into scoring position in the bottom of the 6 th inning.) “We know we have a challenge going over to Summerville on Friday needing to win two games and you never know what might happen,” said Coach Dillon. “We are hungry and we are on a mission and we are playing moment to moment so we hope to at our best on Friday.” Chapin head coach Cal Sayger is wrapping up his 7 th season at Chapin. ”we have been fighting the weather all during the play-offs,” said Coach Sayger. “We just made too many mistakes in this game tonight. We have the program on sound footing. We have won back-to-back region titles and I very proud of the commitment all of our players have made to the success tour program.” Coach Sayger is saying good bye to four seniors. They include pitcher Aspen Mayers , Ella Maychiva k, third baseman Andree Dircks , and outfielder Alexia Evans . “These girls have been in the program since the e8th grade a d they will be missed,” said Coach Sayger. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the 6 th inning. The Stags Rileigh Ballentine led off with a single to center field. Courtlyn Cox’s Sac bunt moved Ballentine over to second base. She moved over to third, on a passed ball, while Brooklyn Moon was batting. Moon singled in Ballentine for the first run of the game. Ansley Riddle then doubled, barely missing a home run against the fence in deep center field. This hit put runners at second and third with one-out. An RBI ground-out by Camden Valicek scored Moon to give Berkeley all the runs they would need to win the game. Berkeley pitcher Reese Watson worked all seven innings, allowing only four hits. Watson’s six strike-outs in the game now gives her 201 on the season in 120 innings pitched with an ERA of 1.20.
By Roger Lee 17 May, 2024
Pinewood Prep claims the 2024 SCISA 3A Boys Soccer Championship
By Roger Lee 17 May, 2024
Pinewood Prep claimed the 2024 SCISA 4A Girls Soccer Championship. 
By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor 17 May, 2024
Game 2 on Friday at 6 p.m. at West Florence
By Larry Gamble 17 May, 2024
Larry Gamble Photo Editor, HSSR SCISA Softball Championship play kicked off on May 13th, 2024, with teams playing an intense two days of games hoping to make a sweep to victory in the best of three game series to crown State Champion this week. The HSSR photojournalist was at Colleton Prep for their home stand in the Softball Championship Game 2 against Clarendon Hall on May 15th. Clarendon Hall won Game 1 at home 6-1 on Monday. For Game 2, they were on the road home hoping for a sweep to close the deal for the State Title. In a tense, pitching duel game, the Saints managed hold off the determined War Hawks in a 3-2 victory to earn their third state title. More photos from this game are available by following this link or the one below. High resolution prints and digital downloads from this event are available at www.LarryGamble.com by clicking this link to the photos.
By Larry Gamble 16 May, 2024
Larry Gamble Photo Editor, HSSR SCISA Softball Championship play kicked off on May 13th, 2024, with teams playing an intense two days of games hoping to make a sweep to victory in the best of three game series to crown State Champion this week. The HSSR photojournalist was at Laurence Manning for their home stand in the Softball Championship Game 2 against Hammond on May 14th. LMA won a very exciting Game 1 at Hammon 5-4. For Game 2, the Swampcats were home hoping for a sweep to close the deal for the State Title. LMA won 9-0 to earn another State Championship. More photos from this game are available by following this link or the one below. High resolution prints and digital downloads from this event are available at www.LarryGamble.com by clicking this link to the photos.
By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor 16 May, 2024
AAAAA, AAA. AA, Class A series set to begin on Monday, AAAA on Tuesday
By Larry Gamble 16 May, 2024
Larry Gamble Photo Editor, HSSR SCISA Baseball Championship play kicked off on May 13th, 2024, with teams playing an intense two days of games hoping to make a sweep to victory in the best of three game series to crown State Champion this week. The HSSR Camera was at Pee Dee for their Baseball Game 1 against Hilton Head Christian. HHC went on the win 3-1 in Game 1 at Pee Dee. for Game 2, the Pee Dee traveled to Hilton Head Christian where HHC won 12-4 to sweep the series and win the State Title. More photos from this game are available by following this link or the one below. High resolution prints and digital downloads from this event are available at www.LarryGamble.com by clicking this link to the photos.
By David Shelton 16 May, 2024
S ummerville - Ashley Ridge rallied from an early 4-0 deficit, scoring two runs with two outs in the top of the seventh to beat Summerville, 5-4, forcing a decisive game for the AAAAA Lower State title. Summerville led by 4-0 after two innings but Ashley Ridge scored a run in the third and two in the fifth to close to within a run. With nobody on and two outs, down to their last strike, Ashley Ridge got hits from Ryan Bruno and Cooper Godsave to keep the inning alive. Andrew McLaughlin then delivered a two-run single to give the Swamp Foxes a 5-4 lead. McLaughlin had two hits in the game. Summerville managed only three hits with Banks Knight delivering a two-run bloop single to give the Green Wave their 4-0 advantage. After game one, inclement weather moved in and it was decided to play the championship game on Thursday at Summerville at 6:30 p.m. The winner will play Lexington in the best-of-three state championship series beginning on May 18.
By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor 16 May, 2024
Lexington, Laurens, Hanahan, Southside Christian will play for state titles
More Posts
Share by: