The Pee Dee Jamboree of Champions football will be held at the Dillon Memorial Stadium in Dillon on Friday, August 11 beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Latta will face Chesterfield at 6:00 p.m., and Darlington will face Lake View at 7:00 p.m. Scotland County will face Hartsville at 8:00 p.m., and Chesterfield will face Dillon at 9:00 p.m.
Dillon Head Coach Kelvin Roller welcomed everyone to the luncheon event held at Twin Lakes Country Club at noon on Wednesday, July 12.
Coach Roller thanked Firehouse Subs of Dillon and Environmental Systems Testing Services of Conway for their help with this Jamboree.
There will be two 12-minute quarters. The tickets will be $10 each. No bags are allowed in the Dillon Memorial Stadium, and everyone must go through metal detectors.
Latta Head Coach Brandon Iseman has 13 returning seniors this year, and the team is returning a lot of experience. “We are looking for a good season,” stated Iseman.
Chesterfield’s Head Coach Jonathan Eason has 3 returning seniors this year but he also has lots of freshmen and sophomores. He remarked, “The players have been buying in to our play scheme, Quid Clark and Aidan Shortt, just to name a couple.”
Darlington’s Head Coach Jamie Johnson exclaimed “We are excited about this season. We have talent with great skills with 60 or 70 practicing in the mornings. Kenny Dukes will be a good receiver for us. Darlington’s defense is fast and good. We look forward to playing Lake View,” said Johnson.
Lake View’s Head Coach Daryl King looks forward to a good jamboree. “Lake View has not been hit by anyone nor have we hit anyone,” stated King. “Lake View’s kick-off and punt special teams should be good. We are still learning how to line up for a 4/3 defense,” exclaimed King. “We have 50 plus kids or so. We have lost a lot of production from last year. Three kids returned from last year on offense. Our kids are a pleasure to coach. We run a lot at the end of practice…we have a long way to go!” remarked King.
Scotland County’s Head Football Coach Richard Bailey and team will face Hartsville at the 8:00 p.m. slot in the jamboree. Bailey stated, “We have had a good summer. We have a good fan base when we win or tie. We returned 5 on the offense this year from last year and 4 on the defense from last year plus we have 2 other players from defense last year that were injured but are now healthy. We look forward to playing a new opponent. We have returned lots of guys from last year. However, defensively we need some help,” remarked Coach Bailey. Coach Bailey will coach the defense this year.
One of Hartsville’s Coaches, Coach Brian Feus, filled in for Head Coach Jeff Calabrese who was attending the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Hartsville has lots of players and a good number of returning players with experience.
At 9:00 p.m., Cheraw will face off against Dillon. Cheraw’s Head Coach Andy Poole quickly stated that no one could complain about giving up points. Coach Poole said “We scored 55 points and lost a game last year!” Poole remarked “We have around 45 kids on our team. We will start 5 freshmen this year on offense. We are cautiously optimistic. We will find out how we are when we scrimmage Dillon. Two of our best players from last year are playing college ball this year. We look forward to playing Dillon.”
Dillon’s Head Coach Kelvin Roller thanked everyone for agreeing to play in the jamboree. “We have a new defensive coach this year. I am turning over the play calling to Jacob this year,” stated Roller. Roller has been calling plays since 2007 for Dillon. Roller remarked “We have had a great off season in the weight room with our new weight coach. We have had a great summer! We have a dynamic receiver, a great sophomore quarterback, and 2 good receivers. We have good skill guys. Our quarterback has gotten bigger and stronger this off season. Some of our players will play both ways up front. It is going to be tough to replace such players as Chris McCollum (#5), and Anthony “Sleepy” Grant is also gone. He, too, will be difficult to replace. We are missing some of our offensive line from last year,” remarked Roller. Cheraw has won 4 state championships.
Roller also stated that these teams in the jamboree will offer some good matchups.
So, mark your calendars for Friday, August 11, and be at the Dillon Memorial Stadium prior to 6:00 p.m. to witness some great scrimmage football!
