Cantrell completes first spring practice as Kingstree football head coach
Blazers looking to improve upon 4-7 record in first known season at Class A level
Kingstree – Brandon Cantrell is preparing for his second season as the football head coach at Kingstree High School. However, he just completed his first spring practice with the Blazers.
Cantrell wasn’t hired until June of last year, so there was no opportunity for a spring practice. He is hoping getting a spring in will pay dividends as Kingstree prepares for its season opener against Marion on Thursday, August 20.
“We were getting the younger guys up to speed in what we’re going to do on offense and defense,” Cantrell said. “For the older guys it let us get them reacclimated to what we did last year.”
The progress made in the spring has carried over to the summer workouts as well.
“June’s been good to us so far,” Cantrell said. “We’ve been hitting the weightroom four days a week, and we’ve been able to get a lot accomplished when we go outside and practice. The kids have progressed pretty good. Getting ready for the games, getting bigger, stronger and faster.”
The Blazers return five starters on offense and six on defense from last year’s 4-7 team. Kingstree went 3-3 in Region 7-AA which allowed it to reach the state playoffs. It lost to Central in the first round.
Returning to lead the offense is rising senior quarterback Randy McFadden. His first year as a starter came last year. Cantrell believes a big year could be coming his way.
“We’re looking for big things out of him, Cantrell said. “He has all the tools. We really poured into him. We threw the gambit at him last year. He was learning the offense, learning where to put the ball. He needs to minimize mistakes this year.
“He has the athletic ability to be a Region Player of the Year type player. Hopefully that will bode well for us when the season starts.”
Kingstree will be making changes to what it does both offensively and defensively. Former Kingstree head coach Will Lampkin, who gave Cantrell his first assistant’s job while at Kingstree, will be calling the offense.
“Putting in some new wrinkles will be some of the things he brings to the table,” Cantrell said. “I’ll put my two cents in, of course.”
The Blazers will be making adjustments on both sides based on personnel. Cantrell is happy with his skill players returning. His concern right now is on both sides of the line as they lost many starters.
Juniors Maurice Burgess and Lazarus Moyd, who started at left tackle and left guard, respectively, last season, are back.
Defensively, Kingstree does have senior strong safety Maleek Dukes returning. He was selected as the Region 7-AA Defensive Player of the Year after recording 60 tackles, 11 quarterback sacks and eight quarterback pressures to go with two fumble recoveries and three pass breakups.
Also back is senior inside linebacker Mark Pickard, who was an honorable mention All-Region selection.
The biggest change for Kingstree this season, however, is in not only its region, but its classification as well. For what is believed to be the first time in school history, Kingstree will be competing at the Class A level.
That being said, the Blazers have not been set up with an easy row to hoe with their region, which will be Region 9. Other members of the region are Andrews, Carvers Bay, Hannah-Pamplico, Hemingway and Johnsonville.
“Our region is a solid region,” Cantrell said. “Every team will be good. It will be tough competition in our region for sure.”
The Blazers will have a 4-team scrimmage at Manning along with Timberland and Georgetown on August 6. It will be playing host to the Lake City Jamboree (Lake City’s field is being worked on and won’t be ready in enough time) on August 14.
