At press time, I’m playing the role of the Monday Morning Quarterback. It’s just a quick look back on the Pickens 47-41 win over Easley in overtime last Friday night.
First, the fan turnout of the game is something I did not expect. Especially, from the Blue Flame section that was packed and after a 1-9 season last year. Tons of “Beat Easley” t-shirts filled the hometown bleachers.
Second, the way that the Pickens football team took the field before the game in a militaristic way. Coach James Reynolds played and graduated from The Citadel and I love that military structure as a Marine Corps veteran. They (marched) left from their practice field at Pickens High School, walked through the hometown bleachers and then onto the football field.
“You’ll be able to hear the music when they get close,” said one Pickens fan to me at the front gate.
Victory Speech: The victory speech of Coach Reynolds to his team after the overtime victory, standing at midfield. It was classic! He made it clear to his players to give God all the glory.
Easley QB: For Easley, the one thing that really stuck out to me was the foot speed of junior quarterback Jay Stoker. He got injured last season and played golf for the Green Wave, and I did not expect that quickness from him in the open field. The 50-yard run he had – on the final play of regulation with the score tied at 41 – was almost like something from ESPN (Chris Berman … “He could – go – all – the – way.”) I think the Stoker-Kadin Davis connection is going to be pretty good this year for their passing game, but I think next year (with both of them returning) it could be outstanding.
But to the credit of them, they did leave their mark in the school’s record books that Grant Stallard reported. Stoker set a single-game record for the most passing yards with 408. Congrats! Davis, with his 237 receiving yards, also ranks in the top five among Green Wave receivers all time. Sky is the limit for this Green Wave 1-2 punch.
Just a couple more of those long passes from Stoker last Friday night (for completions) and he has over 500 yards. It was an old-fashioned shootout as they say.
Pregame predictions: (This was just some “fun picks” for local sports fans. Most of them were from Easley and just rooting for their hometown team.)
It’s a couple hours before the big football game between Easley and Pickens. I just got done digging up close to 20 predictions for this storied rivalry that is just 10 minutes apart.
It was fun to hear the local football fans talk about what this rivalry used to be like and their reasoning why they favored one team.
But it was tough for some of the fans to predict a final score – like 1990 Pickens High School graduate Kevin Doyer.
“I’d love for Pickens to win every single game,” said Doyer, a former running back for the Blue Flame.
Doyer did, however, pick the Green Wave to win the big rivalry game. However, I don’t think he will be too heartbroken if Pickens pulls out an upset victory under the bright lights.
Carey Beard (1968 Pickens HS grad): Easley 27-13
Marian Bowden (works at Poor Richards Booksellers): Easley 21-13
Randy Bray (1966 Daniel HS grad): Easley 28-24
Don Campbell (lives in Anderson): Easley 24-17
Johnny Clark (lived in Easley last 20 years): Easley 27-14
Stephaniue (Posey) Coleman (1998 Pickens HS grad): Pickens 28-20
Kevin Doyer (1990 Pickens HS grad): Easley 28-20
Alex Dye (1988 Easley HS grad): Easley 14-10
Christy Garrick (1995 Easley HS grad): Easley 22-17
Jonny Hodge (son is Jack who is the starting DE on Pickens varsity team): Pickens 24-16
Noah Kane (works at Amicis): Easley 25-12
Ken Martin (the dad of Holden who is an EHS assistant fb coach): Easley 28-10
Matt Martin (has worked at Main Street Barbershop the past 10-plus years): Easley 31-13
Jeff McAlister (1990 Easley HS grad): Easley 17-14
Jimmy Messer (owner of Main St. Barbershop): Easley 28-10
Richard Neubanks (has lived in Easley the past 50 years): Easley 21-7
Hobart Satterfield (1963 Easley HS grad): Easley 28-21
Randy Smith (grew up in Easley in the 1940s, 50s and 60s): Easley 21-7
Christy Taylor (2006 Easley HS grad): Easley 32-12
Gary Youngblood (1970 Easley HS grad): Easley 35-14
Green Wave Hoops: Easley High School’s Drey Jackson, RJ Stack and Malachi Ramey have all been invited to E.P.I.C. Hoops Elite 64 Camp.
The camp will feature the best underclassmen (2027 and 2028) in the state of South Carolina. The camp will be held on September 15th in Columbia.
RJ and Drey were invited to the camp last year as well. This is Malachi’s first invite. All three of these guys are in the 2027 class.
“All players were invited based off of their performances from last year and over the Spring/Summer,” said EHS varsity coach Derrell Jackson. “All three players have improved in various areas of their games during the off season. They all had great travel ball seasons with their respective clubs and garnered numerous accolades, write ups, and college camp invites.”
Clary sparks Daniel in opener: Daniel High School’sfootball team, led by sophom*ore signal caller Grayson Clary who threw for 147 yards and three touchdowns, rolled to a 41-21 victory over Chapman in their season opener.
Easley and long-snappers: It sounds like Easley High School grad Carter Owen, beginning his freshman season at Anderson University, will be starting in their first game of the season as the long-snapper. The first home football game ever for Anderson University will be on Saturday, Sept. 7 when they host St. Andrews with a 1 p.m. kickoff.
Nate Merchant, another Easley High School grad, is also listed as a long-snapper for Coastal Carolina’s football team (he is No. 35 this season).
Clemson-Georgia game sold out: The last couple of weeks, the big question has been: Are you driving to Atlanta for the big game? One prediction was that Georgia was a 14-point favorite for the game. The stage is set, though, for No. 1 ranked Georgia to do battle with No. 14 Clemson. It is sold out and will kick off at noon ET in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, and it will be nationally televised on ABC.
EHS School Yearbook Archives: Ten years ago, Deequon Arnold is pictured carrying the football and the caption said he was scoring an “unbelievable” touchdown. The sports stories get better, too, as you get older.
