Nelson looks for Dorchester football team to clean things up before playoffs
Reed Almers having strong season in first year as feature back
St. George – Dorchester Academy football head coach Michael Nelson wasn’t the happiest camper in the world on the Saturday morning following the Raiders’ 25-20 loss to Colleton Prep Academy on October 2 in a battle of No. 1 teams in SCISA. And Nelson actually was a camper, at a campground with students as part of a school-related activity.
DA, the No. 1 team in the High School Sports Report Class A poll, had taken a 20-19 lead with just under four minutes remaining in the game. A miscommunication on kickoff strategy led to CPA, the top-ranked team in AA, returning the kickoff for a touchdown for what would turn out to be a 25-20 victory.
“I felt like we should have won last night,” said Nelson, whose team fell to 5-2 on the season. “We played good enough to win. We're playing well, but we’ve got to clean some things up."
Nelson pointed out Dorchester had allowed touchdowns on wide receiver screens and kickoff returns for scores in each of the past two games.
“Other than things like that everything has been good,” he said. “It’s just a matter of being consistent for four quarters.”
The Raiders have been outstanding running the football, averaging 273 rushing yards a contest through the first six games. They have been led by junior Reed Almers, who has 962 yards and 15 touchdowns on 154 carries.
Almers was a secondary back last year behind John Whetsell. Nelson is impressed with how well Almers has adapted to the feature role considering he’s a key defensive cog as well.
“Reed has done a great job, going over 1,000 yards,” Nelson said. “He’s done all of that while being a rock for us between free safety and outside linebacker. He’s hardly ever off the field, playing close to 100 plays a game.”
Junior Warren Judy had 360 yards and five scores, and freshman Carter Proctor had 216 yards and three TDs.
With the big running numbers, Nelson offered praise to his offensive line. He also feels the passing game is making strides with junior quarterback Carter Beeks getting the football mainly to senior Noah Risher and junior Graham Varnadoe.
Beek had completed 39 of 75 passes for 638 yards and nine touchdowns. Risher had 16 catches for 253 yards and five TDs, while Varnadoe had 14 grabs for 218 yards and two scores.
Junior defensive lineman Matthew Byron leads the defense. He was second in tackles with 34 with a team high 11 tackles for loss. Junior defensive back Ryan Galliard led in tackles with 36 to go with five TFLs. Almers also had five TFLs.
