Friday night was the final week of the preseason for many public school football teams that were holding jamborees and scrimmages.
It also was Week 0 for the S.C. Independent School Association, and three local teams opened the regular season. Here is a look at which players, teams stood out from jamborees and SCISA openers:
Area teams start strong in SCISA
Cardinal Newman 24, Cannon School (NC) 21: Running back Caleb Ford scored three touchdowns and Wake Forest commitment Freddie Gillens sealed the game with a sack and forced fumble in the Cardinals’ season-opening win.
The game was moved to North Carolina because of Cardinal Newman’s wet field conditions.
Ford, the Gray Collegiate transfer, rushed for a school-record 404 yards. He put the Cards up 24-21 in the fourth quarter with a 15-yard run on fourth-and two.
Gillens ended the game with a forced fumble that was recovered by Brady Murphy.
Ben Lippen 20, First Baptist 0: Jamere Crooks picked off two passes and returned one for a touchdown to give the Falcons a win.
Running back Braden Marye went over 100 yards on the ground and had a TD, and Josh Cobbs also added a score. Defensive lineman Kellen George had two sacks.
Northside Christian 41, Greenwood Christian 14: The Crusaders rallied from an early third-quarter deficit to roll to a win in their season opener.
Northside trailed 14-7 with 10:52 in the third quarter but didn’t allow a score the rest of the way. Running back JR Kinard rushed for 165 yards and had three touchdowns for Northside. Sam Burks added 146 yards, a TD and also returned an interception for a touchdown. Hudson Schick also returned a fumble for a TD.
Chapin Kickoff Classic
Gray looks sharp in the final tune-up: The War Eagles clicked on both sides of the ball in their 34-0 win over American Leadership.
Gray Collegiate is making the move up from 2A to 4A and has the pieces to be contenders. The War Eagles’ front four of Moe Singleton, Ethan Raysor, Zeb Taylor and LJ Holley (injured, didn’t play) will cause all kinds of problems for offenses.
Gray has a solid QB in Tyler Waller and a dynamic running back in BJ Montgomery and an improving offensive line. Zion Job and Quinton Stroman made plays at receiver. Gray coach De’Angelo Bryant thinks receiver Caleb Berry could be a star in the making.
One of Gray’s tasks will be surviving a rough non-region schedule against the likes of James Island, Baylor School (Tenn.) and Dutch Fork before going into Region 4-4A.
Growing pains for ALA: American Leadership, the second-year charter school in Lexington, is playing its first season on the varsity level. The Patriots will have their share of growing pains as former Spring Valley coach Robin Bacon tries to build the program.
ALA has a few pieces to build around, but the biggest things are depth and confidence. Bacon said they have just over 30 players on the roster and a few were missing Friday night.
Clinton is legit: One of the best performances of the night came from Clinton in the 18-7 win over Blythewood. The Red Devils, No. 2 in the Class 2A poll, were dominant with its spread version of the wing-T.
DJ Clark made some big plays at running back, and their offensive line could compete on any level and is led by Division I prospect Tre Aiken.
Ridge View’s offense will be fun: The Blazers have all the makings of one of the top offenses in the area.
Everyone knows about junior receiver Jordon Gidron , the top-ranked player in South Carolina for the Class of 2026. But RV’s other receivers, Hayden Morris and Darius Carter, also made their share of plays. Aidan Keffee is a versatile back, running and catching out of the backfield. Sophomore Tre Howard will continue to get better in his first full year as a starting quarterback.
Ridge View’s defense also forced three turnovers. The biggest thing for the Blazers will be cutting down on the numerous penalties it had Friday night.
Lexington County Sports-A-Rama
McAulay shines for Wildcats: Lexington had to replace a lot of skill position players and several on defense, but the Wildcats looked impressive when the first-team defense was on the field. The result was a 21-7 win over Airport.
Senior Matthew McAulay is a star in the making at linebacker. He stayed in the Airport backfield nearly as much as the Eagles’ quarterback. Defensive tackles Artem Kalinkin and Isaiah Saxon controlled things up front with defensive end Nathan Escoe also showing great promise.
McAulay could end up factoring in a lot of different ways for the Wildcats. He is the backup quarterback, can play tailback when needed, but right now his biggest presence is on defense.
Wolves building on last year’s momentum: White Knoll might not have missed a beat. Last season, the Timberwolves finished 14-1 with the lone loss coming in the Class 5A state title game with Dutch Fork.
Senior Landon Sharpe is back at quarterback, and he already looks to be in midseason form. Sophomore Tiyon Fanning returns at running back and the White Knoll is solid up front with Donovan Sims and Jeadon Johnson leading the way.
The brother combo of senior Devin Geronomi and junior Caleb Geronomi will end up doing a lot of things for the Timberwolves. They started in the secondary last season but will likely see time at wide receiver this year. Caleb Geronomi had several big plays on Friday in a 14-7 win over Gilbert.
Indians, Gators have setbacks: Gilbert and River Bluff have some things to figure out with the season just a week away. Both started slowly and need to find a way to get their playmakers involved more often.
The Indians have a solid 1-2 punch at running back in Trevon Williamson and Jaylen Jay along with solid pass catchers in receiver Krew Morris and tight end Connor Gooding. They seemed out of sync early against White Knoll. They have first-year coach Ozzie Exume along with a first-year starter at quarterback in Cooper James but there are enough weapons that the Indians should have an explosive offense.
River Bluff has a three-year starter at quarterback in Parker Murray and East Carolina commit Stephen Collier at tight end or wide receiver. But the Gators also looked off offensively in a 14-3 setback to North Augusta. Hayden Myers shows promise at running back. If the Gators are going to be a factor in a stacked Class 5A, they have to make sure those three carry the load offensively.
Friday Scores
Regular Season
Ben Lippen 20, First Baptist 0
Cardinal Newman 24, Cannon School (NC) 21
Northside Christian 41, Greenwood Christian 14
Preseason
Catawba Ridge 7, Westwood 0
Chester 38, Richland Northeast 0
Fairfield Central 26, Orangeburg-Wilkinson 0
Irmo 17, Summerville 14
Northwestern 15, Dutch Fork 14
Chapin Kickoff Classic ( at Chapin HS)
Gray Collegiate 34, American Leadership 0
Midland Valley 19, Spring Valley 0
Clinton 18, Blythewood 7
Chapin 10, Ridge View 10
Kershaw County Jamboree ( at Camden)
Calhoun County 7, North Central 0
Lugoff-Elgin 13, Lamar 7
Blackville-Hilda 6, Camden 0
Lexington One Sportsarama ( at Lexington HS)
Fox Creek 28, Pelion 0
North Augusta 14, River Bluff 3
White Knoll 14, Gilbert 7
Lexington 21, Airport 7
Richland One Sportsarama ( at Memorial Stadium)
CA Johnson 0, Keenan 0
Whitmire 8, Eau Claire 0
Dreher 21, Columbia 0
AC Flora 14, Lower Richland 13
Strom Thurmond Jamboree
Barnwell 6, Saluda 0
Newberry 28, Batesburg-Leesville 14
Strom Thurmond 35, Brookland-Cayce 7
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