Berkeley opens season with win at Ashley Ridge

Summerville – Talent and college prospects were all over the field in Monday night’s season opener between Summerville and Stratford. It was the 44th meeting between the two schools. The two talented rosters clashed a few days later than planned after having to postpone the scheduled game on Friday night due to heavy rains and localized flooding. The extra three days wait fired up both teams even more and the play was as hot as the temperature. Summerville, the second-ranked team in the AAAAA statewide poll, walked away with a 35-30 win. The first half was akin to a prize fight as both teams stuck with jabs except for a few big plays. Stratford took the early 7-0 lead when running back Meliq McGowan threw the first hay-maker, scoring on a 73-yard run to take a 7-0 lead. McGowan is a transfer from Goose Creek and rushed for nearly 200 yards. After a few punts Summerville tied the game on a 28-yard run by Cam Grayson. With 3:18 left in the first quarter, Stratford quarterback Jachin Davis scored on three-yard run, set up by a 44 yard pass to Jaden Davis. The Green Wave kept pace, tying the game at 14 after a pop pass from Max Stafford to Zion Jenkins resulted in a 21-yard touchdown. The first minute of th third quarter was explosive. Summerville needed 27 seconds to take the lead with Stafford hitting Terue Davis with a 39-yard touchdown pass. After a Summervile penalty on the score, Stratford took a short kickoff all thr way to the Summerville 20. McGowan made it hurt with a touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage to tie the game at 21. Summerville struck quick with Jayven Williams scoring on 54-yard run with 7:20 left in the third quarter. Williams rushed for more than 100 yards in a balanced run game. McGowan answered with 50-yard run to the Summerville 12-yard line. Davis scored from a yard out Stratford’s extra point was blocked, leaving Summerville with a 28-27 lead with 4:43 left in the third. The Green Wave continued their offensive success, scoring a touchdown with 11:23 left in the game on Jayven Williams one-yard run. Summerville led 35-27. The Knights answered with a field goal of 34 yards from Renzo Gorritti making the score 35-30 with 9:45 to play in the game. After forcing a punt, Stratford was backed up to their own eight-yard line on third down with 7:13 to play. Stratford ended up punting with Summerville taking over near midfield. A fumble by Jaiden Kelly-Murray gave the Knights a first down and a pass interference penalty moved the the Knights over midfield. With 1:56 to play, Stratford faced a fourth-and-22 from the 43 and a pass fell incomplete with 1:35 remaining. Summerville was able to run out the clock. Summerville will stay at home for Friday’s game against AAAA No. 1 ranked South Florence while Stratford travels to the upstate for a game at Daniel High. Summerville head coach Ian Rafferty missed the game due to an SCHSL practice violation.

 By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Walterboro – Hurricane Erin passed without much fanfare but Monday night in Walterboro a Hurricane from Varnville blew through Cougar Stadium leaving a path of destruction as Hampton County opened their season with a 59-13 victory over Colleton County. “We had a couple penalties early in the game but after we scored that first touchdown we got rolling,” said Hampton County head coach Rob Hanna. “There was a point in the second quarter that we didn’t touch the ball offensively for three straight drives. We had a defensive score, kick return for a score and a blocked punt for a score. All three phases played great, we still have some things we have to clean up but overall happy with the game.” The Hurricane’s also had a little extra motivation after seeing on MaxPreps that Colleton County had beat them 75-0 on Friday night. Coach said his players saw that and they weren’t happy about it. They wanted to prove a point. The game started like a lot of first games with both teams and the official making early mistakes in the game but after Colleton County’s second punt the Hurricanes made landfall and the rout was on. The Cane’s went 75 yards in seven plays to score their first points of the new season as Jaylen Singletary capped off the drive with an 11-yard touchdown run. He added the two-point conversion and the Cane’s led 8-0. On the drive Singletary had four carries for 40 yards and quarterback Tarell Grant also ran for 30 yards on the drive. After another Colleton County punt, the Hurricanes needed just one play as Karinton Sabb raced around the left end and went untouched for a 49-yard touchdown. Rafe Sullivan added the extra point for a 15-0 lead. Things continued to go bad for the homestanding Cougars. On their next possession the center snapped the ball over the punter Nicholas Jones head. Jones ran back and recovered the ball in the end zone for a safety for the Hurricanes and a 17-0 lead. On the free kick the Hurricanes Desmond Mathis returned it for a touchdown but a penalty wiped it out. However, on their first play after the penalty Grant hit Sabb for a 50-yard touchdown pass and the lead ballooned to 24-0. The Cougars put together their best drive of the first half on their next possession as they went 59 yards in six plays. Kenari Koger finished the drive with a four-yard run up the gut for the score. Jones added the extra point to make the score 24-7 Hurricanes. Quarterback Gail Fraizer was 2-3 for 46 yards on the drive with a 35-yard completion to Dustin Davis . The Hurricanes would essentially end the game without an offensive snap the rest of the quarter. Singletary got things started with a 75-yard kickoff return for six. Next, Grant would cause a fumble, pick it up and ramble 38 yards for another score. Special teams would be responsible for the last score. On fourth down the Cougars were punting from their end zone when Ty’Quavian Jones came up the middle to block the punt and Kaveon Tyler recovered the ball in the end zone for another Cane’s touchdown. Sullivan added all the PAT’s and the teams went to the half with the Cane’s up 45-7. The second half was a formality. Singletary scored for the third time when he went 57 yards for another touchdown. D’Andre Capers - Dobson would finish the Cane’s scoring as he scored on a 19-yard run up the middle. Sullivan was good on the PAT’s. The Cougars would score the final points when Trevy Manigo busted up the middle to score from the 12-yard line as time ran out. Both teams will operate on a short week as the Cougars (0-1) travel to Woodland while the Hurricanes (1-0) will head to Allendale to take on area rival Allendale- Fairfax.

AC Flora Captains for Game 1 Against Westwood.

Dillon's WR Zay Robertson in action in 2024.

Williamsburg Academy's Caden Morris at the FTC Jamboree.

Ashley Ridge defensive lineman JT King pressures the Woodland quarterback during the 2025 Dorchester County Showdown.

By David Shelton Senior Writer – Change can be a positive thing and the Trinity Collegiate football program has made a change at the top, one they hope can lead the program into championship contention. Shawn Fagan was hired in March as the new head coach of the Titans but wasn’t able to begin his 2025 season preparation until May. The new coach has been busy at meeting and learning his returning players but also working to encourage new faces to join the field. “The numbers were a concern but it’s getting better,” Fagan reports. “We will probably add some once school starts as well. We have 11 seniors and our first group can be very competitive. Depth is our biggest concern right now.” Fagan is the former head coach at Cathedral Academy and spent time recently as an assistant at Pinewood Prep and St. John’s Christian. He has a solid foundation of how he wants his team to play. “We will try to use our talent at quarterback and running back and be multiple offensively,” he said. “We want to be physical on defense. We won’t limit ourselves through. If we have to open up the entire playbook we will. The guys we have are buying in and the talent we have returning will help us complete. We are very talented at some spots and we need those guys to produce for us.” Fagan expects senior Davidson Lynch to be the starting quarterback. Lynch saw time last season and his strengths are throwing the football. He totaled 1,346 yards and 12 touchdowns through the air last season, Desmond Williams and Jyell Preston will be the go-to receivers while Robert Mack and Andre Jackson are productive veterans in the running game. Mack had nearly 600 yards rushing while Jackson averaged seven yards per carry. Anchoring the lines of scrimmage are veterans Jonathan Cottingham and KJ Allen. Linebackers Mac Burch and William Wilcox anchor the defense. Both had more than 100 tackles last season. The Titans will open the 2025 season against Pee Dee Academy, the defending class AA state champions.

Week Zero is August 15 with Week 1 set for August 21-22

He takes over AD role from Brian Hennecy, who remains as the football head coach