By Billy Baker
•
20 Aug, 2023
By Billy G. Baker HSSR Publisher Summerville — The annual Dorchester County Football Jamboree was hosted at Summerville High on John McKissick Field on August, 18 th with Ashley Ridge, Fort Dorchester, Woodland and Summerville all competing in two quarter scrimmages. Summerville won their scrimmage over Woodland 20-6 and over Fort Dorchester 7-6 in the night-cap. Ashley Ridge defeated Woodland 7-0 in the second scrimmage of the event. In the third scrimmage of the night Fort Dorchester defeated Ashley Ridge 14-0. Comments From Head Coaches To HSSR Publisher Billy Baker Following Scrimmage: Woodland head Coach Eddie Ford: “We just wanted out kids to come in and compete against some larger schools,” said Coach Ford. “We did not want to kill ourselves and have any injuries, Our goal was to come and play, do things the right way, and if we get beat, we get beat. “We have got to learn how to finish drives. We also have to learn how to quit making mistakes that kill drives. We have a young group, with a new quarterback ( ). We needed the experience of playing into two bigger schools to help our kids gain experience. “Mental toughness is definitely what we need to work on Monday in practice,” said Coach Ford. “The kids didn’t quit, and they kept fighting and played hard. I thought we could have played a little bit better but we will bounce back.” Key Woodland Players in the game: OL- Kam Pringle (6-7,325-SC) RB T.J. Wrigh t, DL Antonio Ford (5-11, 300) Season Opener: Bethune- Bowman Comments From Ashley Ridge Head Coach Jeff Tate: (Came From Wren High School) “Well, the first quarter tonight we ran two plays, and won 7-0 and in the second quarter we ran about 20 plays and had 50 yards worth of penalties so we experienced good and bad tonight,” said Coach Tate. “A few of our team leaders right now are senior tight end DC Simmons, senior receiver Derrick Salley , senior offensive lineman Isaiah Richardson , and Makhi Palmore , a senior defensive lineman. These guys have played well in our scrimmages and showed good leadership so far.” Ashley Ridge Prospects: Cody Peterson , OL (soph), Simmons, Salley Top Juniors: WR- Nivay Picou , RB Jayden Acosta Season Opener: Host Cane Bay Thursday 8-24 Comments From First Year Fort Dorchester Head Coach Joshua Smith : “It was good to get out on some live competition, somebody besides ourselves,” said Coach Smith. “We found some things that worked well and we find some thongs we need to work on. We have some good film from these two scrimmages to look at with our players and see where we can correct some mistakes. We as coaches as correct everything, we made a mistake on tonight. “I found out tonight that we keep fighting, even when we get down. It was good to see our offense come right back down the field and score when they (Summerville) went up.” Note: (Fort D will use two quarterbacks equally) “We used both of our quarterbacks tonight, Charles Watson and Bennett Riffer and right now they are like co-starters. Each of them brings a different element at different times. We are very high on our sophomore running back Ryan Campbell and he had some good runs tonight. I also love the big boys we have blocking u-front. (OL returnees include LT Tyrik Deas , RT Marquis Wilson & LG Preston Murphy ) “On defense some of our leaders are defensive linemen Jayden Acevedo and Malachi Watson long with linebacker Marcus Moon and defensive backs Jalen White and Jonathan Howard . We have a lot of guys stepping up and making plays.” Season Opener: At Beaufort 8-25 Comments From Summerville head coach Ian Rafferty Starting 4 th Season At Summerville: “We came out fast on our scoring drive against the Fort and that is how we like to play on offense,” said Coach Rafferty. “We still have a lot of work in front of us. Our defense gave up a lot of yards when they (FD) came down and scored after we scored. “We had around 10 players who missed the scrimmages tonight due to injuries, or other issues. I like our over-all talent top to bottom this season. Our new strength coach has done a very good job getting us bigger, stronger and faster over the summer.” Goals For the 2023 Season: “It has been a while since we won a region championship (2018) so that is one of our key goals, and we would like to go undefeated at home this season,” said Coach Rafferty. “Of course, we would like to take that next step and play for a state championship this season.” Key Senior Leaders For The Green Wave: WR Yannick Smith (6-3,200) (ECU Commit) DB Ryland Mitchell (6-1, 175), Army Commit , RB/FB- Trae Green (5-10,225) OL- Adam Traylor (6-1, 170), DL Jacob Cotterill (6-4,265) Army Commit, Key Juniors: DL Ray Middleton -(6-4, 315) & Dontrell Izzard (6-2, 305), OL- Jaderio Lott (6-3, 350) Ike Rutherford - LB-6-0,210 Key Transfer: QB Jaden Cummings (From Hanahan) Season Opener: At Carolina Forest 8-25