East Clarendon football team focused on region title
Wolverines travel to Kingstree on Friday in key game in wide open Region 7-AA race
Turbeville – The East Clarendon High School football team felt it had its back up against the wall going into its home game against Clarendon County School District rival Manning on September 26 at Shad Hall Field. The Wolverines were coming off of a 20-14 loss to Lake City, not only their first loss of the season but also coming in their first Region 7-AA contest.
If EC wants to win the region championship, there is no margin for error over its final five contests. It got the first one behind it, scoring the game’s final 20 points to come away with a 26-12 triumph.
“For us it was big because we looked at it as a must win,” said East Clarendon head coach Larry Cornelius, whose squad improved to 5-1 on the season. “Having lost the first game in region play, we knew if we wanted to keep that goal alive we had to win. I don’t think no one is going undefeated in the region, so we have to win out.”
The loss to Lake City perhaps stung a bit more because the Panthers were winless coming into the contest. The Wolverines were 1-1 going into a bye week. Their final four games are at Kingstree on October 10 followed by a home game against Mullins, on the road against Atlantic Collegiate Academy and at home against Marion over the next three Fridays.
“We had a hard week of practice,” said Cornelius, who led the Wolverines to their first win over the Monarchs since 1981. “We beat on each other for three days. We wanted to come out and show that we were better than that. We showed a lot more fire and teamwork.”
East Clarendon has carried on in good fashion despite losing its top player, senior Takoda Cornelius, early in the season opener. Takoda, Coach Cornelius’ eldest son, had started at quarterback the two previous seasons, but the plan was to utilize him at wide receiver as well as taking snaps behind center. He was also a starting safety.
“It definitely changed what we do,” the head coach said in regards to adjustments made with Takoda’s absence. “Defensively, we had to have someone come off the bench (freshman Skyler Cornelius, Takoda’s younger brother). Having Takoda makes us a lot better team, but it’s good to see arguably your best player goes out and we’re still successful. In the end, it’s a team game and you can still win ball games. It’s the next man up concept.”
Skyler Cornelius is the leading rusher with 495 yards and six touchdowns on 95 carries. Senior Taquan Wilson has 201 yards and a score on 50 carries, backup quarterback Blease Hardy has 137 yards and two TDs, and Picasso Brown has 128 yards and four touchdowns on 30 carries.
Sophomore Gavin White was slated to be the primary quarterback, and he has stepped up. He completed 42 of 76 passes for 553 yards and six touchdowns against just two interceptions.
“Gavin has been excellent,” Coach Cornelius said. “He wants to be a perfectionist, and is sometimes a little too stiff. We’re trying to get him to just let things fly off his shoulders and keep moving forward. He’s done a great job.”
Linebackers Thomas Fitts and Mike Woods are the leading tacklers with 33 and 52, respectively. Defensive lineman Jaylon Barron has 12 tackles for loss, while Fitts has 10 and Woods and linebacker Jesse Floyd have seven apiece. Floyd also has 2 ½ quarterback sacks to lead the team. Defensive back Brown has two interceptions.
