Hawks Hang On in Thriller to Open Season 1-0

By Rob Gantt Special to the HSSR HANAHAN - Two Berkeley County football programs locked horns in a controlled scrimmage Thursday, Aug. 6, and both team's leaders came away somewhat pleased with what they saw. Hanahan coach Milan Turner and Stratford coach Dennie McDaniel were less concerned with the scoreboard and more focused on the small things as the Hawks and Knights battled on the turf at Hanahan's Hawk's Nest facility by Bowen's Corner Elementary. "I'm very pleased with our effort," McDaniel said. "Our attitude has to get a bit better. We had some plays where we broke down in some stuff. We've just got to get out of our feelings and play the next play. That's a young team for you. We've got some maturing to do. We'll do that in the early part of the season. Overall, I thought it was a pretty good performance for a young team." The Class 5A Knights are replacing quite a few starters off a squad that won 10 games and advanced to the third round of the playoffs in 2025. The Knights figure to be able to build around their front seven on defense. Offensively they were hit hard by graduation, though. In terms of returning impact players, the Class 3A Hawks are in a better situation on offense. They bring back a three-year starter at quarterback in big junior lefty Tripp Gallus (6-5, 231). A few other playmakers are back, too, including receivers Grayson Mathes and Quamel Grant . Turner's bunch finished 6-6 in 2025. "For me, I want to see a physicality and a toughness from our kids," Turner said about the first scrimmage. "I told them before we started. I said be violent between the whistles. We know they're going to make some mistakes and obviously we want to try to minimize those. We want to see things like running to the football, all the things that don't take talent. Those are the things I have to see. If I don't see those, we've got a lot of work to do. I feel like we saw that." During Hanahan's opening set of offensive plays, Gallus hooked up with Mathes for an 81-yard touchdown pass on a tunnel screen and Grant over the middle for an 80-yard scoring strike. Stratford defensive lineman Kermit Davis got the Knights on the board with a sack and fumble return for a tally. When the situational scrimmage moved to red zone work, Knights running back Malachi Breland reached paydirt twice, while quarterbacks Dathan Haywood and Caleb Lott tossed touchdowns to Denzel Lazo and Jayden Lee. The Hawks recorded three scores from the red zone, with running back Xavier Sabback scoring on the ground and Gallus distributing his third and fourth touchdown tosses to Jesiah Smith and Evan Knight. During goal-line possessions, which capped the scrimmage, Breland crossed the goal line for the third time and Haywood hooked up with Tyrese Simmons for a score. Sabback capped the scoring for the Hawks with a touchdown run out of the wildcat formation. Earlier, Stratford defensive back Jayden Judge and Hanahan safety Landon Hubler snagged interceptions. Mathes snuffed out Stratford's first drive with a pick in the end zone. The Hawks host Cane Bay Friday, Aug. 14, in a scrimmage. "Now, it's about shrinking the amount of mistakes," Turner said. "We've got tape of this. We want to identify those mistakes: what were mental errors, what were physical errors and what did us as coaches do. Maybe it was us that didn't put our kids in position to be successful." Stratford suits up in the Moncks Corner Lions Club jamboree Aug. 14 at Berkeley High School. "It's going to be a quick opportunity for us," McDaniel said. "We've only got two quarters but we want to make it as game-like as possible. I want to see us clean up the silly penalties and get better at just playing the next play."