Dantzler’s Four TD Passes Helps Life James Island Over Oceanside Collegiate, 41-21 In First Week Prep Football Action

By Billy G. Baker 

Publisher 

James Island — Senior Quarterback Brady Dantzler (6-1, 185) picked up where his brother (Connor) left off in helping lead James Island to a 12-2 season last season, by completing 8-of-16 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns in the Trojans 41-21 win over Oceanside Collegiate, who are the defending SCHSL AAA state champions. 

After the game, the HSSR interviewed JI defensive coordinator Horatio Blades who was filling in for head coach Jamar McKoy (104-48) who will miss the first two games of the under suspension from the SCHSL. 

“All our guys back this year, had good years playing together last season when he had 12 wins, plus Brady did a great job stepping up at quarterback tonight so I am not surprised about our success tonight against a quality opponent like Oceanside,” said Coach Blades. “We got great effort from our defense tonight and Rob Grant had a couple sacks from the defensive end spot and he and senior linebacker Bryson Bowers (5-11, 200) led our defense that put a lot of pressure on their quarterback all game and that was the plan coming into the game. (Bowers had a team leading 110 tackles as a junior).   

“Our receiving corps, led by Puiu, is such an outstanding group and this allows us to spread the ball all over the field,” said Coach Blades. “Mykell Warthen is a tough inside runner so we feel like we can hurt you passing or running.”

Coach Blades cited the strong leg of junior combo kicker Isaac Lorentz who handles place kicking and punting duties for the Trojans. Lorentz had several towering punts, and he had a coffin corner boot inside the five that helped flip the field.

OC is head coached by Brent LaPrad who is starting his third season as the Land Sharks head coach, after serving as an assistant in 2023. “We were unable to scrimmage anyone or have many live contact practices the past two weeks due to the heat, so I felt like we would not tackle that well coming into the game,” said Coach LaPrad. “I knew we might struggle on offense some without one of our top receivers Anthony Williams who has bene out with a hamstring injury. 

“We did not deserve to win this game,” said Coach LaPrad. “We have a very young group in the offensive line, and we didn’t protect our quarterback very well at all tonight. Our left tackle is playing both ways and he got worn down tonight. You just can’t get ready for a season practicing in the gym like we have been doing. 

“We are a good 7-on-7 team right now, but our challenge is to work harder, get in better shape, and become a solid 11-man football team,” said Coach LaPrad. “I learn more about my teams after a loss, then a win. I have a bunch of winners on this team, and they will bounce back in practice and get better focused for our game next week against a strong team from (Cannon High) from North Carolina loaded with four- and five-star prospects.

“Aiden did a solid job tonight when he had time to pass and Kelly-Murray showed why he is such an outstanding receiver, but we need more playmakers to step up on both sides of the football,” concluded Coach LaPrad. 

 The Trojan offensive line is led by Liberty senior commitment Isreal “Shank” Harris (6-3, 315). “Shank is the leader our offensive line group and they all played well up-front giving Brady time to find his open receivers,” said Coach Blades. 

The other Trojan OL contributors are Demontrai Cooper (6-2, 290) along with Anthony Simmons, Ridge Smith-Cooper (6-0,270), Dallyce Richardson, and center Brennon Hammond.       

 Dantzler, also a baseball stand-out, played with a lot of poise in his first career QB start. He threw touchdown passes of 82,61,80 and 33 yards during the game. He will certainly remember that his first three completions in the first quarter all went for TD’s that gave the Trojans a 21-0 commanding lead early. 

This game highlighted the talents of two outstanding quarterbacks, plus the talents of two receivers who could one day be catching passes in the NFL. Despite being sacked 8 times by a stout Trojan defense, led by DE Robert Grant (6-4, 245), OC quarterback Aiden Manavian (6-0,185), a summer commitment to Davidson, still managed to complete 23-of-38 passes for 339 yards and three TD passes of 5, 21, and 71 yards. 

Highly regarded junior Trojan WR Raphael Puiu (6-1,190) currently holds numerous major college offers after he caught 55 passes for 1,409 yards with 18 TD’s last season. Puiu was key in helping lead “The Island Boys” to a 28-7 first quarter lead with two touchdown catches from Dantzler of 61 and 80 yards respectively. 

The Land Sharks top receiver is senior Colorado commitment Jaiden Kelly-Murray (5-11, 175) who caught 9 passes during the game for 176 yards including touchdown receptions of 21 and 71 yards. Kelly-Murray, who transferred to OC after three seasons at Summerville, came into the game having caught 153 passes for 2,274 yards and 29 TD’s over the past two seasons.

The Trojan’s first touchdown came on an 82- yard bomb to junior WR Charlie Schrecker who used his speed to get behind the Shark secondary with 10:54 left in the first period. On their second possession of the game Dantzler found Puiu on the far sideline for a 61-yard scoring reception with 5:12 left in the opening period. 

Taking over at their own 30-yard line following a short punt, Trojan senior RB Mykell Warthen (5-8,200) scored on the first play to extend the lead to 21-0 with 3:10 left in the opening period after place kicker Issac Lorentz made his third PAT of the game. 

OC cut the deficit to 21-7 with .04 remaining in the first on a five-yard pass from Manavian to senior RB James O’Connor (6-0,215). 

Following a touchback on the kick-off from strong-legged Jackson Sumney, Dantzler tossed an 80-yard catch and run scoring pass to Puiu and the Lorentz PAT made it 28-7 starting the second quarter.

OC scored the only touchdown, by either team, in the second period, when Manavian tossed a 21-yard TD pass to Kelly-Murray and Sumney’s PAT made it 28-14 at the half.

Oceanside got possession first in the third quarter, and they seemed focused on establishing a running game with O’Connor. He lost four yards on consecutive off tackle runs and then a bad snap on third down forced a 4^th down punt. A roughing the punter call gave the Sharks new life at the 27- yard line but on their next play Trojan senior LB Bryson Bowers recovered a fumble at the 24-yard line.

After there was no scoring by either team in the third quarter, The Island Boy’s scored to make it a 35-14 game with 7:34 left in the game on a four-yard run by Warthen and the PAT by Lorentz. Then with 5:49 left in the game the Trojans scored their final points of the game on a 33-yard pass from Dantzler to junior WR Jordan Kendrick and the missed PAT made the score 41-14. 

 With 4:20 left in the game, OC closed out the scoring for both teams in the game when Manavian found Kelly-Murray on a streak-route down the center of the field resulting in a 71-yard scoring reception. Sumney’s PAT made the final score 41-21. 

One note from the game was the fact that OC senior WR Anthony Williams (6-1, 185) did not play in the game due to a severe ham string injury he suffered back in the Spring. 

Next week James Island will host South Florence while the Sharks will host Cannon High from North Carolina.