‘A great feeling’: Defending state champ Green Sea Floyds adds another first to resume
On a night in which Green Sea Floyds honored its senior student-athletes, an underclassman stole the show in a 62-7 romp over Hemingway.
Junior Jaquan Dixon tallied over 200 total yards and found the end zone five times to lead Green Sea Floyds (8-1, 2-0 Region 6-A) to its first football region championship in school history, capping off a strong regular season in defense of last year’s Class A state championship.
“It’s a great feeling to bring home a region title and to win it at home in front of our community is special,” said senior quarterback Bubba Elliott. “We’re just trying to change the culture here at Green Sea Floyds. This senior class wanted to leave a legacy for the other classes to follow, one where football is competitive and can be something to be proud of (for the community).”
The celebration got underway quickly for the Trojans, as they intercepted Hemingway quarterback Jameaine Washington on the Tigers’ first drive and turned the takeaway into points. Three consecutive rushing scores, one each by Elliott, Anwain Graham and Dixon, would give Green Sea Floyds a 28-0 advantage before Hemingway found the end zone on a tipped pass that went the distance. Dixon would batter the Tiger defense for three more scores before the halftime break. The second half would see a running clock and two more touchdowns by the home team, one by Dixon and another by Aaron Graham.
“I think sometimes it’s difficult to go into a game where you’re facing an opponent that hasn’t won a game. Our guys are smart and have played Hemingway for years, so they know better than to look at the record of the team and instead look at the film, where they have some really standout players,” said Green Sea Floyds coach Donnie Kiefer. “They stayed focused, we didn’t play perfectly, but we made some adjustments and rallied to the occasion to play well enough.”
Due to the closing of Creek Bridge, a region opponent last year, and the region championship secured by the Trojans, the team will not hit the field until the second round of the Class A playoffs – two weeks from tonight. The break is something Kiefer is looking forward to with his team and coaching staff.
“We talked about it all week that we needed to come out and play sharply before two weeks off,” he said. “We didn’t want to come out and stink it up, then have two weeks off before getting ready for a playoff game. So, we took it as a positive, that we get a couple of weeks to heal up our guys that are a bit banged up, get a break from competition, and scout potential opponents that we could see down the road. We also have a chance to install some new formations and plays that we haven’t put on film yet to add a few wrinkles as we move into the playoffs.”
The break isn’t something Dixon and Elliott were expecting coming into the season, but both echoed their coach in saying it will be a good opportunity for the players to reset.
“I’m going to watch film, keep working hard in the weight room and hit the practice fields. I keep thinking about football around the clock, so this break isn’t going to get it off my mind,” Dixon said. “We worked hard to win the region and it means a lot to us, Green Sea (Floyds) couldn’t do it back in the day, but this generation came up with great talent and we used it to go very far.”
Dixon, the leading rusher on the Grand Strand with 1,296 yards, is a weapon that the Trojans have yet to exploit to his full potential, due in large part to the offense they run and the weapons available.
“Jaquan is a great back and has grown tremendously from year to year,” Kiefer said. “He’s one of those players that doesn’t get his number called a certain number of times a game, but is productive week after week. We have a few guys that are like that, where we want to get them the ball and then we look at the stat sheet and it doesn’t show.”
While he’s quick to deflect attention, Dixon has put in the work to carry the load for Green Sea Floyds, should they need him to do more. Rather than talk about his skillset on the field, he highlighted his offensive line for their great work to open holes for him.
“They work hard every day, Monday through Thursday, and show out on Friday,” he said. “Those guys are amazing at clearing the way for our offense to really take off and make us look good. Our offense wouldn’t be nearly as productive as it is without those guys taking pride in doing their jobs every play. I love them so much; they block hard and don’t miss blocks. They make it as easy as seeing the hole and taking off.”
If the Trojans are destined for a repeat performance of last year’s playoffs, Elliott and Dixon will have a lot more of ‘seeing the hole and taking off’ in front of them this season.
HEM 0 7 0 0 – 7
GSF 21 28 13 0 – 62
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
GSF – Bubba Elliott 11-yard pass to Ethan Damron (Freddy Seratto kick) 11:20
GSF – Anwain Graham 10-yard run (Seratto kick) 5:24
GSF – Elliott 1-yard run (Seratto kick) 00:14
Second Quarter
GSF – Jaquan Dixon 10-yard run (Seratto kick) 7:12
HEM – Jameaine Washington 51-yard pass to Tyrek Brown (Brandon Marin kick) 6:44
GSF – Dixon 49-yard run (Seratto kick) 6:36
GSF – Dixon 29-yard run (Seratto kick) 4:13
GSF – Elliott 11-yard pass to Dixon (Seratto kick) 00:22
Third Quarter
GSF – Dixon 33-yard run (Kick blocked) 7:41
GSF – Aaron Graham 7-yard run (Seratto kick) 00:00
Fourth Quarter
None
Statistical Leaders
Passing
HEM - Jameaine Washington 8-24-127-1-3
GSF – Bubba Elliott 4-6-54-2-0
Rushing
HEM - Jameaine Washington 7-45
GSF – Jaquan Dixon 8-197 4TDs
Receiving
HEM – Nigil Singletary 6-68
GSF – Ethan Damron 2-32 TD