Stags still have target on their backs

Wade Spees
The Post and Courier

Bruce Ellington and the Berkeley Stags will look to run away with another Region 7-AAAA title. But losing a quarterback and two running backs leaves a big void on offense.

If the coaches' predictions are accurate, there will be few easy games this fall in Region 7-AAAA.

The Berkeley Stags, the defending region champion, get the nod as the team to beat heading into the season, but the indication is there isn't much separating them from Goose Creek and Stratford. However, nobody is looking past the rest of the league as guaranteed wins.

"What I've seen in the last three or four years is a tightening at the bottom," Stratford coach Ray Stackley said. "What makes our region so tough is our strength from top to bottom. I think the team that's going to be a surprise team is James Island. They've done some nice things over there. And I would never count out Wando."

The region has a slightly different look this year. Orangeburg-Wilkinson's brief association with the Lowcountry teams has come to an end, leaving the region at five teams.

Because of that, the schedule will have a different feel. Instead of stacking all of the region games at the end of the year, they will be sprinkled throughout the season amid the non-region games.

2007: 11-3, 5-0

COACH: Jerry Brown (24th season, 16th at Berkeley)

RETURNING STARTERS: 9 (2 offense, 7 defense)

PLAYERS TO WATCH: WR/DB Bruce Ellington, QB Kory Brown, RB Trent Majors, LB Bobby Gadsden, DL Jamichael Beckford.

OUTLOOK: With seven returning starters, the defense will have to carry the team, especially at the beginning of the season while the offense gets settled. ... The Stags lost nine starters on offense from last year's region championship team, including the quarterback and top two running backs. Coach Jerry Brown said his team is converting to an option-oriented plan based on the type of personnel he has. "We lost all our skill people last year. You can't recruit in high school, so you have to adapt to what you've got. You can't recruit to run the system you want," he said.

NOTES: Berkeley has won two state championships — in 1994 and 1996 — under Brown, who earned his 200th career coaching victory in 2007. ... The Stags reached the state semifinals in Division II-AAAA last season and lost 29-19 to Beaufort. ... Junior Bruce Ellington has an opportunity to emerge as Berkeley's next offensive weapon. He had over 300 yards and five TDs receiving last year, while essentially playing as a third or fourth option. ... The defense allowed an average of only nine points per game during a nine-game winning streak in 2007.

2007: 8-4, 4-1

COACH: Chuck Reedy (7th season)

RETURNING STARTERS: 7 (4 offense, 3 defense)

PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Donta Brown, OL Daniel Berg, OL Garrett Welch, OL Caleb McCutcheon, LB Malcolm Howard, LB Dontavia Reid, DB Albert Kirk.

OUTLOOK: The Gators are young and inexperienced on defense, so they might be prone to some judgment errors early on. However, coach Chuck Reedy said this might be the fastest unit he's ever had, so it could have the speed and athleticism to make up for its mistakes. The offense has only four returning starters, but it is in the right place to have success — three linemen and a third-year starter at quarterback. The key will be how well the rest of the backfield develops, so that opponents don't key on QB Donta Brown. "I'm cautiously optimistic about this team," Reedy said. "We just need to put all the pieces together. We've got a good nucleus."

NOTES: This is Donta Brown's third year as the starting quarterback, and Reedy is full of confidence in Brown's abilities running Goose Creek's pass-option offense. He ran for 538 yards and 18 touchdowns while throwing for 1,150 yards. ... Senior Caleb McCutcheon is moving to center after starting at tight end the past two seasons. ... Junior defensive back Albert Kirk has run the 40-yard dash in 4.47 seconds.

2007: 6-6, 3-2

COACH: Ray Stackley (24th season)

RETURNING STARTERS: 9 (6 offense, 3 defense)

PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Tyler McDonald, WR Francis Lloyd, OL Antonio LaFortune, OL James Fulton, OL Adrian Williams, OL Tray Ardis, DB Brant Salley, DL Lawrence Rose, LB Johnny King.

OUTLOOK: The strength of the team will be right up front on offense, where three seniors and a junior return as starters on the offensive line to protect quarterback Tyler McDonald. On the other side of the ball, the early concern has been finding the right players to fill out the defensive front seven. Beyond that, the biggest priority for the Knights has been to bounce back from last year's uncharacteristic 6-6 season, in which their 58-game region winning streak was snapped. "Sometimes you play at a high level for such a long time that you get complacent. We have to get back to some things where our kids get hungry," coach Ray Stackley said.

NOTES: As a junior, McDonald passed for 1,273 yards and 9 TDs while rushing for 348 yards and 5 TDs. ... As a sophomore last year, Francis Lloyd had 23 receptions for 277 yards with a TD. ... Defensive back Salley had four interceptions, including one returned for a TD.

2007: 3-8, 2-3

COACH: Bob Hayes (9th season)

RETURNING STARTERS: 9 (3 offense, 5 defense, 1 special teams)

PLAYERS TO WATCH: RB Lee Oree, LB D.J. Davis, WR Zach Hart, DB Jonathon Singleton, DE Michael Klein, OL Terrell Manigault, OL Kevin Williamson, TE Josh Wattay, K Sims Parker.

OUTLOOK: The Warriors will have a difficult time cracking the top three to guarantee themselves a playoff spot. The positive is that on defense, the five returning starters are spread across the line, linebackers and secondary. ... How quickly the Warriors adapt to a new offense will be critical in how well they are able to compete. "It was time to go to something different. We got out of the spread and have gone to a two-back option attack," coach Bob Hayes said. "We're basically a split-back veer team now. Realistically, it's slow going."

NOTES: Junior Lee Oree was a 1,000-yard rusher for the Warriors as a sophomore. ... Senior linebacker D.J. Davis was the team's leading tackler in 2007 with 109. ... Senior safety Jonathon Singleton had 60 tackles. ... Senior Parker Gaston and junior Michael Paul each got time at quarterback last season. Gaston appears to be the starter heading into this season.

2007: 1-10, 0-5

COACH: John Patterson (8th season, 2nd at James Island)

RETURNING STARTERS: 10 (6 offense, 4 defense)

PLAYERS TO WATCH: DL Leon Smith, DL Alston Richardson, LB Conner Bailey, LB Carter Dupree, OL Chad Hamilton, OL Terrence Cromwell, TE Matt Johnson, RB Sha'ron Elliott, WR Ryan Nichols, RB Martel Johnson.

OUTLOOK: The Trojans struggled last year against the entire league and expect to be better, but they have a lot of ground to make up. "The thing is we weren't strong enough to sustain a block or get off a block. We weren't physically good enough to compete," said coach John Patterson, who also said the players dedicated themselves to the weight room in the offseason to fix the primary problem. "The kids did a nice job of buying into what we were doing. They've worked hard, and now we're at a point where we need to develop football players. We could be markedly better, but you don't know if the record will indicate that."

NOTES: Senior Leon Smith is the team's best college prospect. Patterson describes the 6-1, 275-pound defensive lineman as a strong athlete with explosive speed who could play linebacker. ... Though they didn't combine for a lot of yards last season, Sha'ron Elliott and Martel Johnson bring experience to the backfield. ... Patterson said he's gotten a good infusion of talent from last year's junior varsity team, which competed for the region title.

Reach Bill Henley at bhenley@postandcourier.com.

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