Sophomore wide receiver Montre Miller (6) is taken down near mid-field in Saturday’s jamboree in Irmo. (Photo/Ross Burton)
IRMO – On Saturday the Westwood Redhawks participated in a Richland vs. Lexington football jamboree. Several teams played each other, and the score was kept cumulatively, with the Lexington Schools outpointing the Richland schools 77-63.
Westwood was in the last pair of schools to play. Their opponent was the host team, the Irmo Yellow Jackets. Westwood won, two touchdowns to one, but could not pull off the overall victory for Richland County schools.
The Blythewood Bengals also did their part in the effort to lift Richland County to victory, nipping the Timberwolves of White Knoll 21-14 in their 3 p.m. contest.
Heading into the nightcap, Redhawk head coach Rodney Summers said he wanted to use the jamboree to try some new things and perfect some others before this Saturday’s season opener at River Bluff.
“We want to take a look at Jalen (Smith) at quarterback. We haven’t seen him in the scrimmages,” Summers said. “Special teams, too. Tonight is the first time we go live on special teams. We want to stay healthy on offense and defense. Tonight we will polish up some things we haven’t really perfected yet, as well as things we know we can do. We want to feel good about ourselves and be ready for next week.”
The run-heavy Redhawks held their top two ball carriers out of Saturday’s scrimmage, giving some of Westwood’s younger tater toters a chance at some game-like experience.
“At running back we are holding out Rudy Mitchell and Andrew Plante,” Summers said before the kick, “and playing our young guys, Jaylon Riley and Devon Preston. We’re doing that so we don’t have to rely on the number one guys, and also because we don’t want to risk their health in a jamboree.”
The Redhawks will start their regular season on Saturday at River bluff High School at 7:30 p.m. The Bengals open Friday at Rock Hill, while Fairfield Central hosts Brookland-Cayce. Defending 8-Man SCISA champs Richard Winn Academy, meanwhile, travels to Charleston Collegiate.
For a complete rundown of all fall sports at all of your local schools, see our 2015 Fall Sports Preview inside the Aug. 21 edition.
