We had a full slate of 11 games and all but a couple of our Lowco squads in action, but we’ll start out with the game that has been airing on WHHI all weekend, the Lowco-on-Lowco showdown between rivals Thomas Heyward and John Paul the 2nd, although … can you really call it a rivalry if one team has never beaten the other?
It’s a fair question, but it’s a moot point, because Christian Tilton did what Christian Tilton does when the cameras show up and rolled up 247 rushing yards on 22 carries while scoring all four JPII touchdowns and a two-point conversion to lead the Golden Warriors to a 28-21 home win on opening night, their first win in seven meetings with the Rebels.
Sebastian Slusne and Daniel Snyder anchored a strong defensive effort for JPII, which limited dangerous Thomas Heyward star Tony O’Banner to 159 yards from scrimmage and only allowed Tony O’Touchdown to find the end zone once on the ground and once on a kickoff return. Trust me, that qualifies as containing Tony.
If you haven’t seen the full replay yet, catch it this week on WHHI, but don’t take my word for it. Marcus Walsh had the call on WHHI, and he assured us it was an instant classic Friday night on Lowco Pigskin Live.
We had another Lowco-on-Lowco clash at Battery Creek, and Wes Kerr was there to see the Dolphins make their debut under new coach Ed Susi, but it was elder statesman BJ Payne and the Hilton Head Seahawks who shined on opening night under the lights. It was a big night for Jackson Bibee, seen here plunging over the goal line for the first score of the night, before back to back kickoffs ended up in the end zone thanks to Hilton Head Nathan Apy and Creek’s Damien Freeman to make it 14-6. But Bibee took over from there and finished with three touchdown passes, including two to Jake Huggins, who is on the other end of this dime on the run. Seahawks roll 39-6.
I made the trek to the intra-Lowco showdown at Colleton County, where new head coach Adam Kinloch has renewed the energy around the program, but the Hampton County Hurricanes came to town with a whole new persona, and it’s built around a nasty defense. The wrecking crew led by Emerson Jarrell, Trenton Robinson, and Mandrell Sanders pitched a shutout on opening day, and Zion Dobson played through an injury to rack up 140 yards and a touchdown on the ground to start the very first Hurricane season in Hampton County with a 10-0 road win.
In other action taking place in the Lowco, Beaufort Academy pulled off another big-time win, rallying past Pinewood Prep for a 27-23 triumph on the back of Devonte Green, who rushed for 152 yards and two touchdowns and had five tackles, a forced fumble and an absolutely ridiculous pick-6 to help BA move to 2-0 through Week 0. Do that math.
Patrick Henry routed Cross 55-0 in Bluffton, with two TD passes and a touchdown run from Hugh Fairey, while Bethesda Academy hammered Hilton Head Prep 50-7, and Savannah Christian humbled Hilton Head Christian Academy 49-0.
The defending state champion Beaufort Eagles dropped their opener on the road, as Class 5A Cane Bay scored a pair of late touchdowns to break open a close game and pull away 29-10, but a trio of Lowco squads opened with road wins, as Owen Bayes threw two TD passes and rushed for another score and Jeremiah Curry had a big night on both sides of the ball in the Bluffton Bobcats’ 41-6 win at Beach, Maurice Brown scored twice to lead Ridgeland to a 27-12 win at St. John’s, and Colleton Prep’s Cole Davis rushed for 241 yards and two TDs and threw a touchdown pass to lead the War Hawks past Florence Christian 33-23.
New ranking drop Monday afternoon, and we’re almost done rounding up all the stats from Friday night, so we’ll let you know how the polls shake out and highlight some of the stars of Week 0 tomorrow.
Justin Jarrett, Lowco Sports
Last Night in the LowCo
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August 2023
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