Summerville Dukes It Out with James Island

By Roger Lee

HSSR Contributing Writer 

Summerville - A pair of highly-ranked teams went mano a mano Oct. 10 at McKissick Field.

Summerville edged visiting James Island 14-9 at Memorial Stadium. Both teams had some success moving the ball with a balanced mix of runs and passes, but ultimately the game belonged to the defenses. The constant rain didn’t help and many big plays were negated due to penalties.

“Conditions were awful, but our kids just made plays,” said Summerville coach Ian Rafferty. “We’ve been in these types of ball games before and we hung in there.”

The Green Wave, ranked fourth in the latest S.C. High School Football Media Class 5A Poll, improved to 6-1 with a 2-0 mark in Region 8A.

“James Island is a really good team, offensively, defensively and on special teams, so we knew this was going to be a dog fight,” Rafferty said.

The Trojans, ranked fifth, fell to 6-1 with a 1-1 region mark.

“We played tough, hard-nosed football,” said James Island coach Jamar McKoy. “Offensively we just couldn’t get it going tonight. When you play teams like this with a storied history you have to be able to execute on offense and score. Late in the game, we had a couple of penalties that set us behind the sticks and we couldn’t overcome it.”

Summerville struck first approximately halfway through the second quarter when running back Jayvyn Williams capped a long drive with a two-yard touchdown run. Nate Beaver added the extra-point kick.

Both Williams and James Island running back Malakhi Washington had some key carries.

On their last possession of the first half, the Trojans moved the ball inside the Summerville 5 with a 14-yard run by Raphael Puiu. With less than 30 second remaining before the half, quarterback Connor Dantzler scored on a keeper to put the Trojans on the board. Perhaps due to pressure, or some other reason, the holder on the extra-point kick jumped up and attempted a pass. The pass was incomplete, leaving Summerville with a 7-6 lead at halftime.

The Green Wave offense started the third quarter at its own 15-yard line after a flag negated a nice kick return by Teru Davis. After a punt, the Trojan’s took over at the Summerville 40.

Largely on runs by Dantzler and Washington, James Island moved the ball inside the Green Wav 10. However, the Trojans settled for a 20-yard field goal by Cody Lenhardt for a 9-7 lead halfway through the third.

On its first possession of the fourth quarter, Summerville drove 91 yards for the game-winning score. QB Max Stafford completed multiple passes to Davis and Jaiden Kelly-Murray and had a first-down run on the drive, which Kelly-Murray capped by leaping up over a Trojan defender to grab an 18-yard TD catch. Williams had a 15-yard scamper on the drive. Beaver’s second successful PAT gave the Wave the 14-9 lead.

On the ensuing possession, James Island receiver Jordan Simmons made some catches, including one for a first down. Then the Summerville defense wrapped pass break ups by Josiah Taylor and Kelly-Murray around a sack by Demarcus King to take over on downs with just more than four minutes remaining.

The Trojans’ defense forced a punt, but 77 yards stood between the James Island offense and a potential game-winning TD. The Green Wave defense held and forced a turnover on downs with 1:30 remaining.

Summerville travels to cross-town rival Ashley Ridge (4-3, 2-0) for another region game against the Swamp Foxes Oct. 17. James Island hosts region foe Fort Dorchester (3-4, 1-1) Oct. 17.