Dorchester Put In The Work All Season
By Dennis Brunson
hssr.com Associate Editor
St. George – The Dorchester Academy football team came up shy of the ultimate goal of winning the SCISA Class A state championship. The Raiders reached the semifinals of the playoffs before losing to Colleton Prep Academy 22-16 to finish the year with a 9-2 record.
That being said, DA head coach Michael Nelson could find no fault in the effort put forth by his players to achieve that goal.
“I’m proud of the work our guys put in all offseason and all season long to give us a chance to compete for a state championship,” Nelson said. “We fell short of our goal, but we are excited about getting back next season.”
Dorchester won its first eight games of the season, including a 28-14 triumph over Colleton Prep. However, the Raiders lost to eventual state champion Williamsburg Academy 36-21 to decide the region championship in the regular-season finale.
Dorchester had 12 players selected to the All Region 1-Class A team. They were senior quarterback/free safety John Quattlebaum, senior running back/defensive end John Whetsell, senior tight end/middle linebacker Abe Shuler, senior cornerback/wide receiver Landon Holly, senior tight end Bradley Sievert, junior offensive guard/defensive tackle Will Quattlebaum, sophomore fullback/noseguard Warren Judy, sophomore running back Reed Almers, sophomore guard/noseguard Jac Carn, freshman guard/noseguard Matthew Byron, junior center/defensive tackle Jack Whetsell and junior wide receiver Noah Risher.
John Quattlebaum completed 81 of 116 passes for 1, 162 yards and 10 touchdowns against just two interceptions. He also rushed for 117 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries.
John Whetsell was the workhorse of the offense. Whetsell carried the football 200 times and rushed for 1,607 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Shuler was Quattlebaum’s favorite target as he had 31 receptions for 462 yards and four touchdowns. Risher had 21 catches for 368 yards and seven touchdowns, and Holly had 10 catches for 110 yards and one score.
Almers and Judy took full advantage of their opportunities to run the football. Judy rushed for 492 yards and seven touchdowns on 53 catches, while Almers ran for 399 yards and six scores on 58 carries. Judy also caught five passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns.
The Raiders will graduate six seniors from this team, five of which were All-Region selections. However, Nelson expects the beat to simply go on.
“We are losing six seniors and have some big shoes to fill, but our guys are ready to accept the challenge and continue the strong tradition of winning football at Dorchester Academy,” he said.
