With the season officially kicking off Aug. 18 for Week 0 games, Lexington County high school football games used jamborees and scrimmages to ramp up the preparation for the season.

On Aug. 11, six county teams participated in the Lexington Sports-A-Rama at River Bluff High School.

In the opening game, Airport and new head coach Shane Fidler defeated Pelion 14-7. The star of the game was Airport running back Amari Lewis, who ran for two touchdowns. The first score was from nine yards out and the second was a big play from 67 yards out. The Airport running game and Lewis should see improved numbers this season with Appalachian State commit Dylan Barbrey anchoring the offensive line and with several key returning players in the trenches. Senior cornerback Brendan Powe also recovered a fumble in the game.

Lewis finished the afternoon with an impressive 111 yards on only nine carries to go along with his two touchdowns. Quarterback Jesse Ray Hoover completed five of his eight passes for 69 yards.

“I am proud of how we faced the adversity of giving up a score on a fourth down, which is a moment we can point back on throughout the season about how we came out and scored on the next drive,” Fidler said. “However, we must improve our fundamentals of blocking and tackling overall if we want to have a great season. Our kids are buying in, it’s just a matter of repetition every day on the little things we need to do to be successful. We appreciate the Lex1 schools inviting us to be a part of their event.”
Airport’s first game will be on the road against Swansea.

Pelion head coach Dann Holland told the Chronicle earlier this off-season that tackling on defense was one of his biggest concerns coming into the season. The Panthers struggled to get some Airport runners down and it allowed the Eagles to establish a run game. The Panthers still have one more week to prepare for their season opener Aug. 18 against Bethune-Bowman at home. It’ll be a tough challenge for the Panthers and Holland said that the game will have to be won in the trenches.

“We made two crucial mistakes that cost us two touchdowns,” Holland said. “For this week, Bowman has four phenomenal athletes that are big and fast. We have to keep them contained at all times. Our linemen are the key to this game. How they control the lines of scrimmage will decide the outcome. First day of prep was good. Hopefully we get better weather throughout the week to make practices more manageable.”

White Knoll defeated Gilbert 7-0 in the second game at River Bluff. The only score of the game was a touchdown pass from Landon Sharpe to Hassan Lee. The Timberwolves are expected to be a sleeper in Region IV-5A this season with a plethora of experienced players including several three-year starters. The scrimmage was a good sign for White Knoll as they roll into their Aug. 18 season opener against Orangeburg-Williamson on the road with some positive momentum.

Gilbert, on the other hand, has more time than anyone in Lexington County to prepare for their season opener. The scrimmage loss was seen as a good measuring stick contest to see how they fared against a school much bigger than theirs according to coach Chad Leaphart, who also scheduled a joint practice with River Bluff back in July.

“It was good for our guys to go up against a really good 5-A football team Friday night. We learned a lot about areas we need to improve and can focus on getting better for our first game on Aug. 25 vs. Batesburg-Leesville,” Leaphart said.

In the nightcap at Sports-A-Rama, River Bluff defeated Lexington.
The win was a good tune up for River Bluff who will start their season off against Lugoff-Elgin Aug. 18. River Bluff will also face Lexington again on Oct. 6.

Lexington will go back to the drawing board and try to regroup before they host West Florence Aug. 18 to begin their season.

The Sports-A-Rama wasn’t the only jamboree and scrimmages that took place. At Fairfield Central, Gray Collegiate beat Chapin 28-6 and Irmo defeated Mid-Carolina at the Aun & McKay Football Classic.

Northside Christian also got some quality reps in as they defeated Bethune-Bowman 13-8 in their final pre-season tune up. Sam Burks ran for a 65-yard touchdown and Matt Diaz ran for a five-yard touchdown to account for the Crusaders’ points. Defensively, J.R. Kinard recorded an interception and Hudson Shick collected two tackles for loss along with a sack. The Crusaders will start their season on the road at First Baptist School.