By Craig Brown
The Dillon Christian School Warriors hosted a jamboree on Friday, August 16, with visiting teams from Trinity/Byrnes School, Florence Christian School, and Robert E. Lee Academy.
Trinity/Byrnes requested not to play Florence Christian, resulting in the Warriors playing one quarter against Florence Christian School and one against Robert E. Lee. The constant rain did little to assist any of the teams passing attacks and this was definitely a running backs game.
Second year QB Will Brown has no problem when the ball is wet and his receivers are falling down because he just tucks the ball in and runs. Brown was only able to complete two of five passes for 25 yards with an interception but added 19 yards on four carries.
Brown had an ace in the hole with a much improved Kelvin Stackhouse at tailback. Stackhouse danced his way to 113 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Stackhouse looks in good physical shape as he showed no signs of letting up against these two larger schools. When the regular season begins, look for Brown and Stackhouse to work together for some long gaining plays.
Other backs that had success were Ellison Rourke with six yards on two carries; Anthony Williams got nine yards on one carry; and Jake Boykin picked up seven yards on a carry.
The Warriors played Florence Christian and although the yardages were about even, the Saints managed the matchup’s lone score from a Warrior mistake. The kick failed leaving the Saints with a 6-0 lead. The Warriors made two good drives that ended with them losing the ball inside the opponents red zone. Warrior down linemen Ben Boykin, Hunter Tyner, Tyler Davis, Bradley Patterson, David Williams, and Douglas Bullock kept the Saints and Cavaliers out of the backfield.
The Saints and the Cavaliers both wore blue and white uniforms and although slightly different many of the fans did not notice the change up. The Warrior defense kept the Cavalier offense out of the red zone with Warrior tailback Ellison Rourke picking off a Cavalier pass and racing 56 yards for the touchdown. Will Brown’s kick put the Warriors up 7-0.
The Warrior defense was now wet and muddy and ready to play. The Cavaliers were larger in physical size and number of players but the Warriors were rid of butterflies and nervous nellies and were playing as a team with determination. On the Warriors’ next offensive possession, Stackhouse got the ball four times and crossed the goal line from 18 yards out for the warrior’s second touchdown. Brown’s kick put the Warriors up 14-0 and the game would end with this score.
On defense for the Warriors, Matthew Price had five tackles, four assists; Mark Minges had four tackles, five assists, and a fumble recovery; Ellison Rourke had four tackles, two assists, and an interception returned 56 yards for a touchdown; Luke Price had four tackles, two assists; Hunter Tyner had three tackles, three assists; Ben Boykin had two tackles, three assists; Jake Boykin had two tackles, three assists; Anthony Williams had two tackles with two assists; Heath Freitas had three tackle assists; and Bradley Patterson added a tackle assist.
The players and the coaches learned a lot about their capabilities for this season and matched up against two very good teams to test some of their new plays and players. The Warriors will be at home this Friday to kick off the regular season as they host Colleton Preparatory Academy Warhawks from Walterboro, South Carolina, with game time set for 7:30 p.m.
