One thing to know about each of the 12 tri-county football teams as season begins

Football teams across Sumter, Clarendon and Lee counties began their seasons on the gridiron on Friday, Aug. 21. With each new season comes a fresh batch of stars and a renewed sense of excitement for every program. As fall on the gridiron kicks off, here's one tidbit about each team to prepare for the season.

SCHSL PROGRAMS

SUMTER HIGH

Let's skip past the most obvious addition to the Gamecocks, as Drew Marlowe returns to Sumter High after a six-year stint at South Florence, which included two state titles.

Instead, one group to keep your eye out for this fall is Sumter High's spectacular backfield. It all starts with quarterback Frank Richardson, who is in his third season leading the Gamecock offense. His bruising rushing style, mixed with an expanded passing attack, should lead to a dynamic SHS offense this fall. Instead of the triple-option offense the Gamecocks ran last fall - which saw Richardson run for 1,424 yards and 31 touchdowns - Sumter High will run a power run offense that mixes in play-action passing and run-pass options.

Joining Richardson in the backfield are a pair of established backs. Reggie Shannon ran for 871 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, while Cleveland Pinkney IV added 885 yards and six touchdowns.

It remains to be seen how exactly they'll spread the carries in the Sumter High backfield, but the Gamecocks certainly have a talented enough stable of runners to be a terror on the ground this fall. And with a few more pass attempts mixed in to keep defenses honest, they might even have a little more room to run.

LAKEWOOD

We'll once again skip past the new head coach coming to the program, but Jerran Devlin seems to have the Gators moving in the right direction this fall.

Instead, let's focus on the quarterback situation at Lakewood. The Gators' primary quarterback this fall is sophomore Justin Wilder. The left-hander isn't afraid to pull the ball and run a bit, but he's shown an ability to sling it a little bit in the preseason. But he won't be the only signal-caller for Lakewood this season. Brian Brooks will do a little bit of everything for the Gator offense, including taking snaps under center. Brooks played quarterback early in his Lakewood career and will now have specific packages that take advantage of his dynamism in the backfield, as well as his ability to throw the football.

CRESTWOOD

The Knights bring back talent across their roster, but their linebacking group will be the focus today. Yachin Gamble and Ahmadre Ricks have been constants in the middle of the Crestwood defense, providing consistent tackling in the run game while also helping to suppress opposing passing attacks. Last season, Gamble had 79 total tackles, 20 tackles for a loss and an interception, while Ricks added 88 total tackles, 10 tackles for a loss and three picks.

Perhaps most importantly, they're constantly pushing each other to be better as two standout seniors at the same position.

"It's healthy competition," Gamble said. "We build each other up as men, even on and off the field. So, it's not just he gets a tackle, so I wouldn't get a tackle, but I'm making him better by driving him to do more tackles than me."

MANNING

The amount of continuity for Manning this fall is hard to overlook. The main seniors they're replacing are brothers Jontavious and Dontavious Canty, with Jontavious serving as the superstar two-way player for the Monarchs last fall. Typically, it can be difficult to replace a player who had such an extreme workload paired with immense success, but Manning had to play a month without their star running back-turned-linebacker because of a preseason hip injury, so several players returning this season had plenty of opportunities to earn experience.

The Monarchs have players who had at least part-time starting reps at nearly every position on both sides of the ball, so that level of continuity should help them start fast and gives them a golden opportunity to finally make that push to the SCHSL 2A state title game after consecutive deep playoff runs.

To shout out one player, CJ Robinson returns as a true two-way standout. He led the team in receiving a year ago, catching 43 passes for 843 yards and 15 touchdowns. He was the Manning passing attack. On defense, he was a shutdown corner who showed strong ball skills and an ability to force fumbles and block kicks. He broke up six passes, picked off two more, forced two fumbles, blocked two kicks and scored a defensive touchdown.

EAST CLARENDON

The Wolverines have their share of continuity from a year ago, as well, but let's highlight the offensive line. East Clarendon has big shoes to fill - quite literally - with the graduation of Xavier Smith, but they return the rest of their offensive line.

Walker Kirby, Koy Wright and Colten Baker remain the same on one side of the line, while Johnny Boyington moves back from tight end to guard. A rotation of defensive starters Jesse Floyd and Avery Lowery rounds out the EC line. With that much beef up front, a true stable of running backs, led by Skyler Cornelius and Picasso Brown, should have plenty of room to run.

SCOTT'S BRANCH

Clarendon County had some serious youth thriving last year, because Scott's Branch also has a ton of talent back from a year ago. This year's senior class has been the center of attention for the Eagles since they were freshmen for obvious reasons. Quintin Jackson, Nyren Bowman and Danny Ragin have been All-State-quality players for the past two seasons and show no signs of slowing down now.

Jackson's flexibility on offense continues to be a weapon. He missed some time with injuries last season and still managed to throw for 500 yards and six touchdowns, while rushing for 454 yards and six touchdowns and catching 18 passes for 306 yards and another four touchdowns. Bowman is a dynamic linebacker who will move inside this year to provide a real boost to the Eagles' run defense, while Ragin remains a monster up front on the defensive line.

Scott's Branch has talent across the board. Now it's time to see if young quarterback Kaleb Minger is ready for the challenge of leading this offense. The Eagles are extremely confident that he'll answer the bell.

LEE CENTRAL

Speaking of young teams, Lee Central was extremely young last year with several sophomores in key spots. The Stallions are most excited about their trench play, especially on defense.

While LCHS lost star lineman Savion Williams to graduation, they bring back some strong play up front. They have seven players between the defensive line and outside linebacker that they're really excited about, with the likes of Kendall Johnson, Kedrick Toomer, Drevion Wright, Darius Toney, Kivon Hopkins, Jamarion Johnson and Imari Toney. If they can shut down the run on defense and run teams into the ground on offense, it will lead to success in Bishopville.

SCISA PROGRAMS

WILSON HALL

The Barons will have a new look this fall after graduating a massive senior class from last season. That outgoing group of seniors played in three consecutive SCISA 3A state championship games, but Wilson Hall doesn't see this as a re-loading year.

If Wilson Hall will be successful this fall, their defensive front seven will be critical. They return Reese Wilson and Wyatt Meyers on the defensive line, while leading tackler Peyton Gilley is back at linebacker. Wilson and Gilley will also anchor the Baron offensive line. With that trio at the helm, Wilson Hall will work to slow down some potent offenses, as they will face Hammond and Williamsburg Academy, two of the powerhouses of their respective classifications, on their regular season schedule.

LAURENCE MANNING

Laurence Manning also has a new head coach this year with David Rankin adding another local SCISA program to his long history of coaching success. Throughout this fall the combination of Rankin's typically run-first offense with their dynamic quarterback, Grainger Powell, will definitely be something to keep an eye on.

Powell has been a consistent passing threat throughout his high school career and is more than capable of scrambling for additional yardage. He passed for 1,747 yards and 13 touchdowns with just three picks a year ago and has his top passing target, Scoop Dennis, back in the fold.

LEE ACADEMY

Moving from one team with a new head coach to another, Lee Academy seems to have renewed energy under Johnie Moreno.

One player to keep an eye on this fall is Landen Olson, who shifts from running back to quarterback this season. Lee Academy plans to move guys around their offense this season and will not be afraid to use Olson's legs to their advantage, either. They've been heavily dependent on the now graduated Andrew Bowers during the last two seasons, but they plan to spread the ball around a bit more this year, so the entire weight of the offense shouldn't land on Olson's shoulders. That said, a strong quarterback is a great player to build an offense around, so his play under center will be important this fall.

CLARENDON HALL

The Saints are beyond hungry this fall after going winless in each of the last two seasons. One thing that stood out when they came to The Sumter Item Football Media Day, presented by Hines Furniture, to open August was their desperation to stop that streak.

"And so, we were just trying to keep that flame going, trying to learn to hate to lose," head coach Shane Wallace said. "Don't worry about the win, just hate losing and get that anger in you that forces you to go back out on the field when you don't want to during practice, during these hot days of summer, because let me tell you, it's been hot. And these boys have showed up every day, and I'm super proud of them. I think we're going to do it this year. I think we've got that attitude where we're going to refuse to lose."

Almost the entire team is back this season, with one important addition. Joey Hatchell returns at quarterback after missing most of the season because of injury. If the Saints can keep him upright, Clarendon Hall will have a much better chance of getting back into the win column more than once this fall.

THOMAS SUMTER

The Generals have plenty of reasons to be excited about the upcoming fall, especially on offense.

Jace Williams came during the summer last year and was electric, passing for 2,481 yards and 20 touchdowns. While Williams watched his top receivers graduate, he also had the chance to work with his current pass-catchers for an entire offseason, which should pay dividends, as he aims to throw for 3,000 yards and 30 touchdowns.

"I feel a lot more settled in this year. Coming in last year, it's not easy to come into a new team in the summer and try and put up a lot of numbers. But I feel a lot more settled in. I feel like I can play more free," Williams said. "I feel like I know my teammates a lot better, being able to grow that connection in the offseason and go into the season with that chemistry. It's a really, really nice thing to have. So, being on the same page with everybody too, it's really good."