Five things to know headed into week 3 of Savannah area high school football
Benedictine lost its first game of the season on the road to one of the best teams in Florida, but the Cadets look to bounce back at home this week against Westminster.
Calvary Day is back in action at home after a bye week as the Cavaliers host a private school power in Eagle's Landing Christian.
Savannah Christian off to red hot start: How Savannah Christian's offseason work ethic paid off in blowout win at Islands
BC looks for lessons in loss to Miami powerhouse: What the Benedictine football team learned in lopsided road loss to Columbus of Miami
How Elijah Griffin of Savannah Christian became top national recruit: How Savannah Christian's Elijah Griffin has become one of the country's top football recruits
Here are five things to look for as Week 3 of the high school football season starts in the Greater Savannah area.
1. Benedictine
Benedictine coach Danny Britt was looking for positive takeaways from the Cadets 41-15 loss at Columbus-Miami and there are a few things that stood out for the Cadets.
A pair of young stars showed their playmaking ability and showed that the future is bright for Benedictine.
When cramping forced Za'Quan Bryan and Ack Edwards out late in the game, sophomore Na'Seir Samuels stepped into the fray and delivered with an excellent performance as he ran for 82 yards on eight carries -- including a 43-yard scoring run.
Sophomore Thomas Blackshear was coming off a great game in the blowout win over Jenkins in Week 1, and he had another memorable outing despite the loss to Columbus. Blackshear, whose cousin Travis is a former BC star now playing at Furman as a defensive back, had four kick returns for 168 yards for a 42-yard average.
Edwards continued his rugged, physical style of running -- gaining 58 yards on 10 carries before leaving the game. Quarterback Luke Kromenhoek showed off his running ability with 49 yards on 12 carries, while completing 12 of 22 passes for 120 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown pass to Za'Quan Bryan.
BC (1-1) is set to host Westminster at Memorial Stadium on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The Wildcats lost to Pace Academy 21-19 on Friday, after beating Lovett 14-0 in their opener. BC retained its No. 1 ranking among Class 4A teams by the Atlanta Journal Constitution
2. Calvary Day
Calvary Day had the week off after a dominating 49-6 win over Islands. Now the Cavaliers, ranked No. 4 in the state among Class 3A teams by the AJC, will host Eagle's Landing Christian, the No. 2 team from Class 2A.
Eagle's Landing Christian lost 37-14 to Blessed Trinity, ranked No. 5 among Class 6A teams by the AJC.
ELCA has a star running back in Brandon Hood, who rushed for 204 yards on 32 carries in a 50-49 win over Brentwood Academy of Tennessee. The junior has offers including Penn State, Michigan State, Boston College and Georgia Tech. He'll be running behind a line that includes 4-star tackle DJ Chester, a 6-5, 300-pounder whose offers include Auburn and Florida State, on one side, with Zechariah Owens, a 6-foot-6, 365-pound senior committed to Clemson at the other tackle spot. The Chargers also have a three-star rated quarterback in senior Charlie Gilliam, who has committed to Wake Forest.
Calvary will counter with a strong defense with blue chip recruits of its own with Troy Ford Jr. (committed to UCF) and defensive tackles Terry Simmons Jr. (committed to Duke) leading the way. And the Cavs have a star-studded offense of their own, lead by Jake Merklinger, the 4-star junior quarterback.
3. Liberty County
Liberty County continued its strong start to the season with a 32-12 victory on the road to beat crosstown rival Bradwell. The win came after a 32-29 road victory over Southeast Bulloch the week before when quarterback Carlos Singleton hit Ron Golden with a 27-yard scoring pass in the final seconds of the game.
Singleton and Golden were keys once again in the win over Bradwell. Singleton, the junior quarterback, completed 16 of 26 passes for 212 yards, with two more scoring strikes to Golden. Singleton also ran for 94 yards on nine carries and caught a touchdown pass from Golden on a trick play.
Golden, a junior, had five catches for 111 yards and two scores to go along with his first career touchdown pass.
Senior Nijia Battle led the Panther defense with seven tackles, including three for losses.
The Panthers (2-0) have a bye week before traveling to play at Pierce County (1-0) on Sept. 9.
4. Jenkins
Jenkins bounced back from a disappointing 45-0 loss to Benedictine in its opener to rally to beat Bluffton 34-21 on Friday, scoring 21 unanswered points in the final seven minutes to win.
Warrior coach Tony Welch was looking for stronger play from his quarterback and moved Troy Smith from tight end to behind center and the rally was sparked. The move allowed Welch to play Tavion Gadson and his brother, Lorenzo Cowan at tight end. Gadson recently committed to play at FSU as a defensive end, and anchors the defensive unit with his brother, also a blue-chip recruit. The duo's blocking opened things up for senior Joshua Pridgen and sophomore Jayaun Albert who combined to run for more than 300 yards and three scores.
Now the Warriors face a tough test as they travel to play at Richmond Hill in a non-region matchup Friday with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.
5. Savannah Christian
Savannah Christian has looked rock solid in its first two games as the Raiders have outscored Islands and Hilton Head Christian 123-13 to start the year at 2-0.
The Raiders have their entire starting offensive line back -- led by three seniors in Jep Hudspeth, Jackson Mercer and Cole Burnsed, with juniors Noah Lewis and Tyson Gross also important cogs in the unit.
Sophomore Zo Smalls has emerged as one of the top playmakers in the area. Smalls scored four touchdowns in both the wins and has rushed for 255 yards on just 11 carries (23.2 yards per carry).
Senior quarterback Paulus Zittrauer was on point in the win over Islands completing 7 of 9 passes for 178 yards. He hit junior David Bucey four times for 142 yards -- including a 36-yard scoring strike.
Bucey is also a key defensively at linebacker. He had six tackles with a forced fumble and fumble recovery against Islands. Sophomore defensive lineman Elijah Griffin had a sack among his five tackles and Logan Brooking had seven tackles and 1.5 sacks for the Raiders.
Coach Baker Woodward kept his team focused in his postgame speech. SCPS has a bye before a non-region home game against Battery Creek Sept. 9. The Raiders have back-to-back weeks against crosstown rivals after that as they host Savannah Country Day on Sept. 16 before going on the road to face Calvary on Sept. 23.
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Five things to watch for in third week of Savannah area prep football
