Goose Creek – Though they failed in their bid to win a fifth consecutive region championship, the Goose Creek football team was able to earn a spot in the Class AAAAA playoffs.
The Gators lost to rival Stratford, 38-35, in the final game of the regular season. That loss cost the Gators the region title and dropped the overall record to 5-5 on the season.
In the first round playoff game against West Ashley, the Gators jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter lead but struggled to slow down the Wildcats’ rushing game. The season ended with the home loss, 30-21. West Ashley rushed for more than 300 yards in the contest.
The defense was a problem area for the Gators all season as coach Jason Winstead returned only one full-time defensive starter from last season. Goose Creek allowed an average of 34 points per game and yielded 30 or more points in seven of 11 games.
Offensively, Goose Creek looks to be solid for next few years as two of their leading players were sophomores.
Sophomore quarterback Kymani Clary and sophomore running back Meliq McGowan put up big numbers offensively this season. Clary finished the season with more than 2,100 passing yards and 19 touchdowns. McGowan rushed for 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns during the season.
The leading receivers for the regular season were seniors Evan Daniels and Shy’Juan Grant. Senior Davion Malloy was leading the team in receptions and yards before getting injured midway through the season.
In cross country, both the boys and girls teams competed in the region 6-AAAAA meet in late October. The boys team finished fifth in the team standings. The top Gator runner was Uriel Peters. The senior finished 16th overall in the race,
Senior Travis White finished 24th and junior Aiden Donovan was 27th. Seventh-grader Dalton Gillespie ran in 31st and eighth-grader Alden Reid was 33rd. Allan Quiaem, Dexter Easler, Gage Girard and Braiden Collins also ran in the event but did not figure into the team scoring.
Participating in the girls meet were Chloe Braun, Abigail Cerano, Uriah Peters and Jasmine Wallace.
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