Central football team playing season with a purpose
Eagles dedicating season to memory of fallen teammate Sean Davis
Pageland – The Central High School football team will be taking the field every week this fall with a greater purpose than just wins and losses.
Sean Davis.
A standout senior defensive back, Davis was killed in a random shooting at the Watermelon Festival in Pageland in July.
“He was one of the greatest kids,” Eagles head coach Jonathan Eason said of Davis, an All-Region selection from a year ago who would have been a 4-year starter and was being recruited by North Carolina A&T and Fayetteville State among others. “He was the heart and soul of this team. The guys really rallied around him. This season is going to be to for Sean. They really want to represent him well.
“He’s a great kid who ended up being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We’re going to do everything we can to honor him this year.”
“We’re trying to come back together as a team since we lost one of our leaders,” said junior quarterback Dwayne Louallen Jr. “We’re coming back with a better mindset and come together as a team to win a championship.”
Central was coming into the season with grand aspirations; now it has just a little bit more drive. The Eagles, who opened the season with a 12-0 win over Lewisville on August 22, returned nine starters on offense and seven on defense from last year’s squad that went 10-3 and reached the third round of the AA state playoffs.
Louallen will be in his third season behind center. Louallen completed 115 of 204 passes for 1,417 yards and 10 touchdowns while rushing for 519 yards and six touchdowns on 105 carries.
Lining up behind him will be senior running backs Ashten Wilson and Aiden Short. Wilson led in rushing with 858 yards and seven touchdowns on 123 carries. He caught 17 passes for 167 yards to finish with 1,025 yards of total offense. Short rushed for 723 yards and seven touchdowns on 121 carries and caught 13 passes for 258 yards and three more scores to finish with 981 total yards.
Senior Taveon Moore returns at wide receiver and will be joined by junior Darin Gaines. The tight end again will be junior Cody Branham.
The Eagles return four of five starters on the offensive line. Standout junior left tackle Brandon Streater (6-foot-4-inches, 260 pounds) is back along with senior right tackle Jared Moore (6-1, 200), senior right guard Jordan Caldwell (6-2, 250) and senior center Brandon Rollins (6-0, 250). Senior Dom Deese (6-1, 285) is the new left guard.
Central has two of its three defensive linemen returning in senior Eric Maddox and senior Isaiah Tyson. Sophomore Tahir Wise is the newcomer. Senior MJ Allen and junior Zee Allen return at linebacker. MJ Allen led in tackles with 80 to go with three tackles for loss, one quarterback sack and one interception.
The other linebacker will be senior Jakari Holloman, who transferred from McBee. He is being recruited by North Carolina A&T and Fayetteville State as well.
The secondary is led by Moore, who had eight interceptions last season. Senior Devin Kewolewski returns, and juniors Aiden Welch and Dylan Tomberlin will man the other spots.
Senior Lawson Hicks will handle all of the kicking duties.
“We’ve got a lot of pieces,” Eason said. “I think our seniors are great leaders.”
