The first Friday night of the high school football season in the Greater Savannah area was marred once again by unruly fans as host Calvary Day and Beach had to call their game off at halftime after a fight broke out under the Cavalier stands.
But the product on the field was impressive to watch as Calvary was rolling ― up 27-0 at the half, and declared the winner of the game.
There were a number of memorable games by teams and individuals in Week 1, including New Hampstead’s win over South Effingham on Thursday night.
Here’s a look at the highlights on the field in Week 1 of the season in the Greater Savannah area.
Calvary Day 27, Beach 0
A strong game by host Calvary Day was marred by unruly fans as the game with Beach was called off at halftime over safety concerns.
Sophomore quarterback James Mobley IV, making his first start after the graduation of four-year starter Jake Merklinger, now at Tennessee, looked excellent as the left hander completed 8 of 10 passes for 174 yards. He connected with Doopah Coleman on a short pass over the middle and the senior turned on the jets en route to an 83-yard touchdown.
Coleman, who has offers from a host of Power 4 schools, had three catches for 131 yards and the score, and also rushed for 15 yards and a touchdown on three carries.
Senior Corey Blount ran for 57 yards on five carries and sophomore Brexton Bell had 15 yards on two carries and a four-yard scoring run. Skooter Cherry also had a four-yard touchdown run and ran for 27 yards on three carries before leaving the game with an ankle injury.
Jalen Hicks and Emerson Lewis had interceptions for the Cavaliers (1-0).
Shareefe Morgan, an All-Region first-team pick as a defensive back for Beach as a junior, had three catches for 36 yards.
Bryan County 20, Johnson 12
Anddreas McKinny scored on a run of about 20 yards with 1:46 to lead Bryan County to a non-region win over visiting Johnson.
Senior Trevor Lanier, coming off of shoulder surgery, added a 3-yard scoring run and Ger’Bravion Collins returned a kickoff for a touchdown for Bryan County (1-0).
Senior safety Mike Smith picked off two passes, deflected another and had a fumble recovery for Bryan County, while delivering a key block on McKinny’s game-sealing scoring run, Coach Cherard Freeman said.
Johnson scored on a fumble recovery of about 40 yards by defensive back Michael Jackson. Senior quarterback Brayden Hurst added a scoring pass to Isaiah Scott for the Atom Smashers (0-1).
Savannah Christian 35, Whitefield Academy 7
The Raider ground game excelled as SCPS defeated visiting Whitefield Academy in a game at Pooler Stadium.
Senior running back Zo Smalls, who recently committed to play at Charleston Southern, rushed for 175 yards and a pair of scores for the Raiders, according to Nathan Dominitz of the Prep Sports Report.
Jaden Miles added three rushing touchdowns while running for 112 yards on eight carries, while Kenry Wall added 67 yards on eight carries for SCPS (1-0), which will host New Hampstead at Pooler Stadium on Friday, Aug. 23.
Bradwell Institute 11, Liberty County 3
The host Tigers won their cross-town rivalry game with Liberty County for the second year in a row.
Wide receiver Tyon Jones came in to play quarterback after Carlito Savea sprained his knee and the senior scored the only touchdown of the game on a quarterback draw of about 40 yards, Bradwell coach Deshon Brock said.
The Tigers added two safeties ― one on a snap out of the end zone and another by defensive end TJ Tigner. Defensive back Khamari Griffin had a big game for the Tigers (1-0) with five pass break ups, Brock said.
Other scores
Charlotte Country Day 22, Savannah Country Day 21
Lowndes 42, Jenkins 7
MCA 22, Islands 0
Edmund Burke Academy 42, St. Andrew’s 0
Citizen’s Christian 30, Memorial Day 8
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: Friday night highlights: Calvary, Savannah Christian and Bryan County win
