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Byrnes, Summerville ranked in national football poll
Sunday, August 06, 2006
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BY PHILIP M. BOWMAN
It's that time of the year. National high school football polls are being released and two teams from the Palmetto State are included in one of the more authoritative polls. Byrnes is No. 6 in Student Sports Fab 50, while Summerville is No. 22.
Byrnes will become the first team in the state's history to win five consecutive state titles if the Rebels can again capture the championship this December at Williams-Brice Stadium. And with the new playoff format, their opponent could be the Green Wave.
The team is led by Clemson commit Will Korn, who threw for 4,164 yards last fall in leading the Rebels to more than 8,000 yards in coach Bobby Bentley's explosive attack.
Byrnes' defense will be led by linebacker Stanley Hunter, who is also heading to Clemson.
If you want to see why Byrnes is so special, you can do so without leaving your living room.
The Rebels will host Florida power Glades Central at noon Aug. 26, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.
The week after, Byrnes travels to Cincinnati to play in the 2006 Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge.
The Rebels will play Moeller, which has claimed seven mythical national championships. The game will be played at the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium.
Moeller, if you remember, became a football fixture in the 1970s when Gerry Faust was the coach.
Faust made the head coaching jump from high school to the University of Notre Dame in 1981. He lasted only four years in South Bend and went 30-26-1.
If you miss the Glades Central-Byrnes game on television, you might be able to catch Byrnes battle Gaffney on Fox Sports.
The Spartanburg Herald-Journal reports that the schools will sign a contract with Fox to televise the game, which will be moved from Oct. 20 to Oct. 19. Gaffney is the defending Big 16 state champ, while Byrnes won the Division II-AAAA crown last year.
Summerville, meanwhile, won't be on national television, but expect the Green Wave to get a lot of national attention.
The team's star is wide receiver A.J. Green, but you don't get ranked in the top 25 in the nation with only one standout.
Thirteen starters are back from a team that lost a heart-breaking 33-32 decision to Gaffney in the Big 16 state championship.
The Green Wave's offensive line has more beef than a butcher shop, and four of the players up front are returning starters. T.J. Thomas is 6-3, 275, Andrew Tucker is 6-7, 284, Richard Spain is 6-4, 279 and David Richmond is 6-4, 272. The other projected starter, Michael Tumbleston is 6-1, 270
Just how big is that line, and how will it stack up against the competition?
Well, The Citadel's projected starting front five goes 6-4, 265; 6-1, 290; 6-3, 284; 6-5, 295 and 6-5, 291.
Quarterback Reid McCollum has the potential to pass for 2,000 yards, while kicker David Behr is almost automatic on PATs and accurate of field goals.
There's talent on the defense, as well.
Josh Gaddist is a lockdown cornerback, while Matthew Kingdom is a linebacker who runs like a safety. Shawn King is a big-time prospect who roams the secondary. Senior Jon Montjoy and junior Andrae DeWeese anchor the defensive line.
Lakeland (Fla.) heads the Students Sports poll. Lakeland went 15-0 and dominated undefeated St. Thomas Aquinas in the Class AAAA state championship. Fourteen starters return from that undefeated team.
Rounding out the top five are Hoover, Ala.; Lufkin, Texas, Cincinnati, St. Xavier and De La Salle from Concord, Calif.
) as the top high school QB's that I have seen in real game situations. Moeller will have their hands full in the Herbstreit Classic.